Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning
How online affinity networks expand learning and opportunity for young people



Boyband One Direction fanfiction writers, gamers who solve math problems together, Harry Potter fans who knit for a cause. Across subcultures and geographies, young fans have found each other and formed community online, learning from one another along the way. From these and other in-depth case studies of online affinity networks, Affinity Online considers how young people have found new opportunities for expanded learning in the digital age. These cases reveal the shared characteristics and unique cultures and practices of different online affinity networks, and how they support “connected learning”—learning that brings together youth interests, social activity, and accomplishment in civic, academic, and career relevant arenas. Although involvement in online communities is an established fixture of growing up in the networked age, participation in these spaces show how young people are actively taking up new media for their own engaged learning and social development.



While providing a wealth of positive examples for how the online world provides new opportunities for learning, the book also examines the ways in which these communities still reproduce inequalities based on gender, race, and socioeconomic status. The book concludes with a set of concrete suggestions for how the positive learning opportunities offered by online communities could be made available to more young people, at school and at home. Affinity Online explores how online practices and networks bridge the divide between in-school and out-of-school learning, finding that online affinity networks are creating new spaces of opportunity for realizing the ideals of connected learning.

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Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning
How online affinity networks expand learning and opportunity for young people



Boyband One Direction fanfiction writers, gamers who solve math problems together, Harry Potter fans who knit for a cause. Across subcultures and geographies, young fans have found each other and formed community online, learning from one another along the way. From these and other in-depth case studies of online affinity networks, Affinity Online considers how young people have found new opportunities for expanded learning in the digital age. These cases reveal the shared characteristics and unique cultures and practices of different online affinity networks, and how they support “connected learning”—learning that brings together youth interests, social activity, and accomplishment in civic, academic, and career relevant arenas. Although involvement in online communities is an established fixture of growing up in the networked age, participation in these spaces show how young people are actively taking up new media for their own engaged learning and social development.



While providing a wealth of positive examples for how the online world provides new opportunities for learning, the book also examines the ways in which these communities still reproduce inequalities based on gender, race, and socioeconomic status. The book concludes with a set of concrete suggestions for how the positive learning opportunities offered by online communities could be made available to more young people, at school and at home. Affinity Online explores how online practices and networks bridge the divide between in-school and out-of-school learning, finding that online affinity networks are creating new spaces of opportunity for realizing the ideals of connected learning.

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Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning

Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning

Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning

Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning

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Overview

How online affinity networks expand learning and opportunity for young people



Boyband One Direction fanfiction writers, gamers who solve math problems together, Harry Potter fans who knit for a cause. Across subcultures and geographies, young fans have found each other and formed community online, learning from one another along the way. From these and other in-depth case studies of online affinity networks, Affinity Online considers how young people have found new opportunities for expanded learning in the digital age. These cases reveal the shared characteristics and unique cultures and practices of different online affinity networks, and how they support “connected learning”—learning that brings together youth interests, social activity, and accomplishment in civic, academic, and career relevant arenas. Although involvement in online communities is an established fixture of growing up in the networked age, participation in these spaces show how young people are actively taking up new media for their own engaged learning and social development.



While providing a wealth of positive examples for how the online world provides new opportunities for learning, the book also examines the ways in which these communities still reproduce inequalities based on gender, race, and socioeconomic status. The book concludes with a set of concrete suggestions for how the positive learning opportunities offered by online communities could be made available to more young people, at school and at home. Affinity Online explores how online practices and networks bridge the divide between in-school and out-of-school learning, finding that online affinity networks are creating new spaces of opportunity for realizing the ideals of connected learning.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781479852758
Publisher: New York University Press
Publication date: 12/18/2018
Series: Connected Youth and Digital Futures , #2
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 217,380
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mizuko Ito is Professor in Residence and the director of the Connected Learning Lab at the University of California, Irvine. She is cofounder of the nonprofit Connected Camps and former Chair of the Connected Learning Research Network.

Crystle Martin is Director of Library and Learning Resources at El Camino College.

Rachel Cody Pfister has a PhD from the Department of Communication at the University of California, San Diego.

Matthew H. Rafalow is a social scientist at YouTube, where he conducts design-facing research on digital technology adoption among youth and young adults.

Katie Salen is founding Executive Director of Institute of Play, cofounder of Connected Camps, and Professor in Informatics at UC Irvine, where she teaches in the Computer Game Science and MHCID programs.

Amanda Wortman is the Research Manager for the Connected Learning Lab and for the Connected Learning Research Network, based at the University of California, Irvine.

Table of Contents

Note on the Text vii

1 Introduction 1

Case 1.1 The Wrestling Boards Crystle Martin 26

Case 1.2 StarCraft II Yong Ming Kow Amanda Wortman Timothy Young 32

2 Affinity: Bonding through Shared Cultures and Practices Lead Authors Rachel Cody Pfister Crystle Martin 39

Case 2.1 1D on Wattpad Ksenia Korobkova 66

Case 2.2 Bollywood Dance Sangita Shresthova 73

3 Status: Developing Social and Cultural Capital Lead Author Matthew H. Rafalow 82

Case 3.1 Sackboy Planet Matthew H. Rafalow 112

Case 3.2 Animemusicvideos.org Mizuko Ito 117

4 Leveling Up: Connecting to Meaningful Opportunities Lead Author Crystle Martin 123

Case 4.1 Hogwarts at Ravelry Rachel Cody Pfister 146

Case 4.2 Nerdfighters Neta Kligler-Vilenchik 153

5 Moving Forward: Connections to Practice and Design 164

Acknowledgments 183

Appendix: The Affinity Networks 185

Notes 187

References 191

About the Authors 205

About the Contributors 207

Index 209

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