Publications

Award-winning paper - CRTC Prize for Excellence in Policy Research 

Collaboration with Sydney L. Forde and Yasemin Beykont

This paper argues for amendments to the Quebec CPA through 1) emphasizing the scale to which the video game industry has disregarded Québécois child advertising regulations through a case study analysis; 2) introducing a variety of ways that other nations have addressed the unique and covert advertising approaches used in video games, such as the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which divides how in-game versus externally advertised items are regulated; and 3) breaking down how similar, often self-regulatory approaches from other governing entities can be applied through amendments to Quebec’s existing advertising regulation.

Authored with Sarah Forland and Nat Meysenburg

This report aims to demystify and clarify key concepts related to online age verification by providing a digestible survey of (1) current terminology and practices; (2) recent state and federal efforts requiring online age verification; (3) legal, technical, and social implementation challenges; (4) social media age-based features; and (5) recommendations for minimizing potential harms of age verification moving forward. 

The exponential advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which many people had previously encountered primarily through books and movies, has encouraged industries to start incorporating the technology into their everyday operations. The health industry—and, more specifically, the mental health industry—is no exception. 

What does it mean to lose access to content you “own?” For people like Brianna Wu, it means being unable to listen to an audiobook she’s owned for years. She purchased a number of books through Audible with the impression that she owned them and was able to download them for offline listening. She’s listened to the books multiple times since she bought them, but after finding she couldn’t access them at all, she took to Twitter to vent, finding others in similar situations.

With the advent of online gambling and gaming applications, stores such as Google Play host thousands of online reviews from satisfied and disgruntled customers. Online reviews are powerful tools in the digital review economy, as well as providing and publicizing feedback to game developers and potential users. As review platforms proliferate and impact consumer and developer relationships, digital media scholars need to examine how users engage in these spaces. 

 When looking into conferences to present my research, I felt intimidated when my professors at Penn State suggested I submit my paper on children’s video game privacy policy. While digital media is a common topic, video games tend to be left out of the conversation or limited in its scope. It’s also much smaller than other conferences I’ve attended, and I worried over heavy scrutiny towards my academic interests and passions. However, after receiving encouragement from Drs. Krishna Jayakar and Christopher Ali, I decided to take a risk and submit. A few months later, I received a positive email and was accepted to present this paper. 

Oopsydaisy ASMR is a content creator on YouTube. Most notably, she’s known for her roleplay video of Other Mother/Beldam from the children’s movie Coraline. She uses soft tapping, cutting sounds, and slow hand movements to give off unsettling vibes. Her makeup ties the creepy aesthetic. Despite the horror aspects, commenters found the roleplay enjoyable, with one commentator saying, “Jesus Christ that’s creepy. But also cool as hell. I’m very conflicted.”

Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game where one killer plays against four survivors. Killers try to sacrifice the survivors to the game’s evil entity and the survivors attempt to escape from it. The killer does this through their special powers based on their lores. One of the game’s licensed killers, Michael Myers, has stalking power to gain speed to attack survivors faster. However, we are focusing on two of the game’s original killers and how their lores impact their power and monstrous looks.