GAMIFIED DOLL-DRAMAS: PROVOCATIONS, PLAYBOR AND PARTICIPATORY PLAY PRACTICES IN THE AGE OF iTV

摘要

This work-in-progress paper presents a study on mature toy players and their gamified activities related to production of serial narratives of toy characters shared on social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Our research builds on two case studies of doll-dramas, or visually and socially shared toy stories, demonstrating how Barbie dolls are employed as characters in serial and interactive storytelling targeted to adult audiences. The focus of the paper is in investigating the gamified dimensions of interaction between mature players participating in the creation and consumption of doll-dramas. We ask how the creators of doll-dramas as the authoring players and hosts invite others to join in their game: to participate in the cultivation of the provocative storylines through persuasion strategies recognized from gamification. Our goal is to investigate how the relationships between acts of playbor, game-like player persuasion strategies, and active viewership of doll-dramas develop to participatory play practices and experiences familiar from the consumption of Interactive TV (iTV).