Papers by Madeleine Antonellos
The Digital Games Research Association, 2020
This paper examines key discussion points among VR-interested Reddit users regarding a controvers... more This paper examines key discussion points among VR-interested Reddit users regarding a controversial case of VR groping reported in 2016. Through a mixed-methods approach that includes qualitative thematic analysis and quantitative coding, this paper identifies four key discussion themes: 1) Conceptualization-what is the act of groping? 2) Ethics-what is (un)acceptable about the act? 3) Action-what should be done about it? and 4) Vision-what does this act mean for the future of VR? Within these themes, most comments were dedicated to the questions of whether the act of groping in VR constitutes sexual assault or sexual harassment, whether it is the individual's responsibility to respond to this act, and whether this act causes harm. These results assist in the formation of a framework for understanding and addressing concerns related to unwanted sexual behaviours in VR and other digital play spaces.
Conference Presentations by Madeleine Antonellos
DiGRA Australia National Conference, 2022
Individuals are developing careers in gaming-related fields, enabled by performing digital labour... more Individuals are developing careers in gaming-related fields, enabled by performing digital labour (Dorschell 2022) in various environments, including competing in esports tournaments (Johnson & Woodcock 2021), or streaming gameplay on platforms like Twitch.tv (Johnson & Woodcock 2017). However, research into career pathways in gaming-adjacent practices like cosplay, and cosplay photography, which leverage similar techniques and approaches to digital labour, have had less representation, to date. This paper will investigate the role and impact of photographers, as cultural intermediaries (Woo 2012), in the Australian cosplay industry; focusing on the case study of Leigh Hyland, professionally known as Steamkittens. It will analyse the approach behind his Steamkittens project, the design of a digitised system for facilitating his labour practices and how his work has specifically impacted the Australian cosplay community.
The research was conducted using a digital ethnographic approach to methods, which considers the ‘embedded’ and ‘embodied’ nature of digital technology use in the ‘everyday’ life of individuals (Hine 2015). Data collection methods included semistructured interviews, participant observation at gaming and pop culture convention sites in Australia in 2021-2022, and online observation in digital cosplay communities and social media spaces. The Australian cosplay industry is a digitally-mediated community where professional cosplayers, who monetise their practices, intersect with non–professional – “hobbyist” – cosplayers. This paper has found that cosplay photographers like Steamkittens act as important ‘cultural intermediaries’ (Woo 2012) in the industry. Steamkittens and his team help cosplayers to professionalise or express themselves online, by capturing high-quality photographs of their work, free of charge, at pop culture conventions around Australia, which can be instantly shared with their audiences on social media.
Steamkittens provide each cosplayer with a set of these digital photographs, which act as assets that can be leveraged in their digital labour practices. The professional quality of the photography offered by Steamkittens helps cosplayers express specificpersonality attributes or stylistic traits of the character they are dressed as. For some cosplayers, this heightens the role-playing experience and can physically represent the labour put into the costume by displaying it in its best light. For others, these photographs are leveraged to contribute towards the production of professional personas in these spaces. Each photograph is captured in consultation with the cosplayer, with Hyland opting to craft each shot around a cosplayer’s desired mode of self-presentation. In order to facilitate the process, Steamkittens and his team have created and implemented a system that digitises the organisation, creation and dissemination of their cosplay photography services.
By analysing the complex, interconnected physical and digital labour processes of Steamkittens and his team, this paper will contribute further insights into the emerging research space of digital labour and career pathways in gaming-related disciplines.
Proceedings of DiGRA Australia 2020, Feb 6, 2020
Workshop Presentations by Madeleine Antonellos
The Role of Information in Shaping Public Perceptions of Climate Change
ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2023
Workshop presentation at ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI2023).
Wo... more Workshop presentation at ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI2023).
Workshop Title:
HCI for Climate Change: Imagining Sustainable Futures
From Character to Creation: Materialities, Practices and Identities in Cosplay
DiGRA International Conference, 2023
Conference presentation at the Fashion and Gaming Cultures Workshop, part of the 2023 DiGRA inter... more Conference presentation at the Fashion and Gaming Cultures Workshop, part of the 2023 DiGRA international conference.
Theses by Madeleine Antonellos
Minor Thesis, submitted as part of qualification achievement for the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at The University of Melbourne, 2018
In the “Age of Icons”, a digital echo of the self emerges in an online ecology where representati... more In the “Age of Icons”, a digital echo of the self emerges in an online ecology where representations of the self and others are signified in virtual, globally networked profiles. In digital spaces, real and online friends, followers and connections collide. Social media platforms have evolved into dynamic and malleable communicative spaces, that guide an individual’s construction of a ‘profile’ on their network. The ‘profile image’, provides options for a user to express a visualisation of themselves, alongside multimodal presentations of personal content. This technologically-mediated icon of self, can portray a user’s actual or desired physical appearance, an identity that translates from the “real world” into online expressions of cultural, social and emotional values. Through developing an online presence, in singular, or inter-connecting, social accounts or platforms, this thesis asks the question: how do we construct representations of ourselves online, using our social media profile pictures?
Building on recent literature surrounding online image production, dissemination, and identity formation on social media, I have collected and coded extensive, qualitative data – gathered through semi-structured interviews – with a small study group of 21-35-year-old social media users. This thesis presents a thematic analysis of the process of creating an online identity and explores the adaptation of this online marker of identity to technological features of social media accounts. Finally, it examines impacts of profile pictures in the daily lives of social media users, where online and offline realities can intersect. The chosen case study is ‘profile images’: the literal, or figurative, public face a user wears when interacting in online, social media platforms. The thesis considers the interplay between varied forms of self-expression, and conceptions of identity in a user, as they live offline and online through their use of social media profiles.
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Papers by Madeleine Antonellos
Conference Presentations by Madeleine Antonellos
The research was conducted using a digital ethnographic approach to methods, which considers the ‘embedded’ and ‘embodied’ nature of digital technology use in the ‘everyday’ life of individuals (Hine 2015). Data collection methods included semistructured interviews, participant observation at gaming and pop culture convention sites in Australia in 2021-2022, and online observation in digital cosplay communities and social media spaces. The Australian cosplay industry is a digitally-mediated community where professional cosplayers, who monetise their practices, intersect with non–professional – “hobbyist” – cosplayers. This paper has found that cosplay photographers like Steamkittens act as important ‘cultural intermediaries’ (Woo 2012) in the industry. Steamkittens and his team help cosplayers to professionalise or express themselves online, by capturing high-quality photographs of their work, free of charge, at pop culture conventions around Australia, which can be instantly shared with their audiences on social media.
Steamkittens provide each cosplayer with a set of these digital photographs, which act as assets that can be leveraged in their digital labour practices. The professional quality of the photography offered by Steamkittens helps cosplayers express specificpersonality attributes or stylistic traits of the character they are dressed as. For some cosplayers, this heightens the role-playing experience and can physically represent the labour put into the costume by displaying it in its best light. For others, these photographs are leveraged to contribute towards the production of professional personas in these spaces. Each photograph is captured in consultation with the cosplayer, with Hyland opting to craft each shot around a cosplayer’s desired mode of self-presentation. In order to facilitate the process, Steamkittens and his team have created and implemented a system that digitises the organisation, creation and dissemination of their cosplay photography services.
By analysing the complex, interconnected physical and digital labour processes of Steamkittens and his team, this paper will contribute further insights into the emerging research space of digital labour and career pathways in gaming-related disciplines.
Workshop Presentations by Madeleine Antonellos
Workshop Title:
HCI for Climate Change: Imagining Sustainable Futures
Theses by Madeleine Antonellos
Building on recent literature surrounding online image production, dissemination, and identity formation on social media, I have collected and coded extensive, qualitative data – gathered through semi-structured interviews – with a small study group of 21-35-year-old social media users. This thesis presents a thematic analysis of the process of creating an online identity and explores the adaptation of this online marker of identity to technological features of social media accounts. Finally, it examines impacts of profile pictures in the daily lives of social media users, where online and offline realities can intersect. The chosen case study is ‘profile images’: the literal, or figurative, public face a user wears when interacting in online, social media platforms. The thesis considers the interplay between varied forms of self-expression, and conceptions of identity in a user, as they live offline and online through their use of social media profiles.