Affinity Online
CONNECTED YOUTH AND DIGITAL FUTURES
Series Editor: Julian Sefton-Green
This series explores young people’s day-to-day lives and futures. The volumes consider changes at the intersection of civil and political reform, transformations in employment and education, and the growing presence of digital technologies in all aspects of social, cultural, and political life. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning (DML) Initiative has supported two research networks that have helped launch this series: the Youth and Participatory Politics Research Network and the Connected Learning Research Network. The DML Initiative and the DML Hub at the University of California, Irvine also support production and open access for this series.
By Any Media Necessary: The New Activism of American Youth
Henry Jenkins, Sangita Shresthova, Liana Gamber-Thompson, Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, and Arely Zimmerman
The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age
Sonia Livingstone and Julian Sefton-Green
The Digital Edge: How Black and Latino Youth Navigate Digital Inequality
S. Craig Watkins, Alexander Cho, Andres Lombana-Bermudez, Vivian Shaw, Jacqueline Vickery, and Lauren Weinzimmer
Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning
Mizuko Ito, Crystle Martin, Rachel Cody Pfister, Matthew H. Rafalow, Katie Salen, and Amanda Wortman
Affinity Online
How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning
Mizuko Ito
Crystle Martin
Rachel Cody Pfister
Matthew H. Rafalow
Katie Salen
Amanda Wortman
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
© 2019 by New York University
All rights reserved
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ito, Mizuko, editor.
Title: Affinity online : how connection and shared interest fuel learning / edited by Mizuko Ito, Crystle Martin, Rachel Cody Pfister, Matthew H. Rafalow, Katie Salen, and Amanda Wortman.
Description: New York : New York University Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018021512 | ISBN 9781479801923 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479852758 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Online social networks—Case studies. | Youth—Social networks—Case studies. | Education—Effect of technological innovations on—Case studies. | Internet in education—Case studies.
Classification: LCC HM742 .A42 2018 | DDC 302.30285—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021512
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Manufactured in the United States of America
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Also available as an ebook
Contents
Case 1.1: The Wrestling Boards
Crystle Martin
Yong Ming Kow, Amanda Wortman, and Timothy Young
2 Affinity: Bonding through Shared Cultures and Practices
Lead Authors: Rachel Cody Pfister and Crystle Martin
Ksenia Korobkova
Sangita Shresthova
3 Status: Developing Social and Cultural Capital
Lead Author: Matthew H. Rafalow
Matthew H. Rafalow
Case 3.2: Animemusicvideos.org
Mizuko Ito
4 Leveling Up: Connecting to Meaningful Opportunities
Lead Author: Crystle Martin
Rachel Cody Pfister
Neta Kligler-Vilenchik
5 Moving Forward: Connections to Practice and Design
Appendix: The Affinity Networks
Note on the Text
This book is a synthesis of two years of collaborative ethnographic fieldwork conducted by members of the Leveling Up project,