Piotr Siuda | Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz (original) (raw)

Curriculum Vitae by Piotr Siuda

Books in English by Piotr Siuda

This edited collection brings in multiple scholarly perspectives to examine the impact of the pan... more This edited collection brings in multiple scholarly perspectives to examine the impact of the pandemic and resulting government policies, especially lockdowns, on one particular cultural sphere: games.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every aspect of our lives, regardless of where we live. In the initial months, many industry reports noted the unexpected positive impact on online digital game sales. Games were not just lockdown-proof, but boosted by lockdowns. Stay-at-home orders triggered a rush toward games as an alternative form of entertainment, and the ubiquity of mobile phones allowed wider than ever participation.

Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic studies how the COVID-19 pandemic affected game players, game developers, game journalists and game scholars alike in many other ways, starting with the most direct – illness, and sometimes death. Some effects are temporary, others are here to stay.

Papers in English by Piotr Siuda

Deviant Behavior, 2024

The darknet or illicit online drug trade has expanded significantly in recent years. Vendors’ mar... more The darknet or illicit online drug trade has expanded significantly in recent years. Vendors’ marketing communication strategies remain underexplored, however, as researchers focus on well-identified methods such as product quality, delivery times, or stealth shipping techniques. This study aims to show the multifaceted nature of sellers’ marketing practices on the dark web, including nonstandard approaches such as discounts, free samples, sales, contests, and lotteries. The article presents a case study of Cebulka, the largest Polish-language darknet market, using qualitative content analysis, natural language processing, descriptive statistics, and in-depth interviews. On Cebulka, vendors build relationships with buyers and maintain their trust through “marketing as promise management,” which includes feedback and review systems. The multi-method research approach reveals the nuanced nature of marketing on darknet platforms, drawing parallels and distinctions with traditional drug marketing. Additionally, this study contributes to understanding the darknet drug trade within the context of local markets, another underexplored topic.

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 2024

Background: This study explores how cannabis has been accommodated over the last 18 years in the ... more Background: This study explores how cannabis has been accommodated over the last 18 years in the social world of an online forum in Poland. It considers users who operate in the context of unhurried normalization and restrictive policy that has barely changed over the last two decades. Simultaneously, these users refer to global cannabis cultures and follow progressive policy developments worldwide. Methods: Cannabis-related threads were scrapped from the biggest Polish forum, posted in the years 2006-2023, and divided into three periods marked by minor relaxation of the punitive law in 2011 and the introduction of medical cannabis in 2019. The threads were thematically analyzed to track changes in the perceived access to cannabis and shifts in the reasons users praise it. Results: The shifts indicate the interaction of the normalization processes on both sides of the cannabis social world in Poland: among users and in society. The praise becomes less unconditional, and nuanced goals, or reflexivity of use emerges. Conclusion: We have recognized a consensus among forum users that there are problems associated with use. Instead of harm being neutralized as it used to be when stigmatization mattered more, it is now discussed among users who are becoming better informed, reflexive, and likely to engage with bottom-up harm reduction efforts.

Characteristics of the Dark Web's Online Drug Culture, 2024

This chapter focuses on the special features of the Dark Web’s drug culture. It contributes a con... more This chapter focuses on the special features of the Dark Web’s drug culture. It contributes a conceptual framework to drug users’ culture on the Dark Web. The main research questions were:

What are the typical features of the Dark Web’s drug culture?

What characteristics are typical of the drug culture on the Dark Web in particular, and what kind of explanatory factors can be found for them?

Typical characteristics of the Dark Web’s drug culture are analysed with the help of three variables typical of the network that arose from the data. These are thoughts/feelings, actions and values.

Drug users’ subculture on the Dark Web is a culture of otherness and outsiderness. Fear and anonymity are elements that play an important role in this subculture. Also, the importance of peer information and peer support is remarkable. On the margins of the two main questions, the chapter also signals that there could be differences in the Dark Web’s drug cultures in different countries.

Social Media and Society, 2024

The article uses the concept of online self-disclosure and examines whether TikTok videos reveal ... more The article uses the concept of online self-disclosure and examines whether TikTok videos reveal information similar to what is reported in existing research on social media within this field. In addition, the study aims to identify the creators’ motivations and the meanings they attribute to disclosing cancer and asks whether this disclosure challenges or supports the concept of a positive culture defined within the online self-disclosure framework. While similar research typically focuses on posts and is thus limited, this study combines conventional content analysis of 862 videos with in-depth interviews, offering a more nuanced understanding of the users’ lived experience. The findings highlight that TikTok is a platform for negative (e.g., fears, anxiety) and positive self-disclosure (e.g., joyful life events, self-acceptance). What is crucial, though, is that users feel exceedingly competent in educating others. The research debunks positive culture as an overly general category and undermines the traditional understanding of online self-disclosure. It reveals that seeking support is less important for patients than informing and warning others. By focusing on the educational meanings attributed to self-disclosure, this study enriches the body of research on cancer-related content shared on TikTok, including studies on low-quality cancer-related information.

Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic, 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on both traditional sports and esports. Researchers re... more The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on both traditional sports and esports. Researchers reported the remarkable esports growth and that it “replaced” traditional sports in many different disciplines. They claimed that in a post-pandemic world, the substitutability of sports with esports would only increase. The presented chapter evaluates such views by looking at the voice of journalists dealing with both esports and traditional sports. 15 retrospective semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, and, as it turned out, the interviewees were highly skeptical of the optimistic view presented above. For example, they emphasized the financial and organizational problems of esports during the pandemic. The chapter ends with a broader conclusion that one should be very careful when analyzing and juxtaposing esports and traditional sports as these should be understood as separate categories defined by different characteristics. This has some major consequences for managing esports and trying to anticipate its future.

Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic, 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented government responses to this pandemic have impacted v... more The COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented government responses to this pandemic have impacted virtually every aspect of people’s lives. This edited collection brings in multiple scholarly perspectives to examine the impact of the pandemic and resulting government policies, on one particular cultural sphere: games. In the pandemics’ initial months, many industry reports noted the unexpected positive impact on online digital game sales. Subsequently, however, the deleterious impact of the lockdowns on game production and related practices also came to light. Developers and players had to rapidly adjust to remote work and play. Many large-scale industry events were canceled, postponed, downsized, or virtualized. This book’s eleven chapters divided into three sections aim to examine and discuss these changes. The first and the longest section groups together those chapters that relay stories of games, gaming, and game developers during the pandemic. Subsequently, the second section explores some instances of how the initial impact of the pandemic has become permanent, with effects to be felt for years to come. Finally, the third section brings together explorations of the lessons drawn from the pandemic. Consequently, this third section is more about noticing some possible changes, but also noting those that have failed to materialize. Overall, the book’s message is that the pandemic affected game players, game developers, game journalists, and game scholars alike in many different ways. Some effects are temporary; others are here to stay. All deserve to be studied, and this book contributes to this growing field of research.

Horror entertainment continues to change, with horror games being another step in this evolution ... more Horror entertainment continues to change, with horror games being another step in this evolution after literature and movies. The paper characterizes how the cooperative mode of Dark Pictures Anthology games influences the horror experience of players. The Anthology has been analyzed via a close reading of selected Let’s Play videos, with 42 complete playthroughs analyzed and 18 playlists sampled. The article demonstrates how scare tactics deployed by developers cause players to feel more discomfort compared to a single-player mode. The split perspective of co-op exacerbates stress, tension, and fear as these are being experienced regarding not only oneself but also the other player. Additionally, players’ meta-genre knowledge combines with cooperation, thus influencing decisions and, ultimately, the game experiences. All this means that the cooperative way of playing may be seen as yet another step in the horror entertainment evolution.

Esports research is a burgeoning field, relatively new but growing rapidly, encompassing a wide r... more Esports research is a burgeoning field, relatively new but growing rapidly, encompassing a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives. For HICSS-57, we actively sought high-quality research, inclusive of different methodologies, that examines diverse aspects of esports. We received fifteen manuscripts across various disciplines and selected five for presentation and publication. The papers focused on the support for players’ health and duty of care offered by esports organizations (Hong), spectators’ toxic behaviors (Qian, Yu, Seifried, Martinez, Matz & Luo), the development of esports athletes and its comparison to traditional sports (Fisackerly & Hwang), satisfying the psychological need by playing virtual reality golf (Chen & Li), the role of arousal in Super Smash Bro tournament performance (Nolla, Beeman & Reber).

At the HICSS-56 held in 2023, cybercrime was introduced as a multidisciplinary study area. Follow... more At the HICSS-56 held in 2023, cybercrime was introduced as a multidisciplinary study area. Following a series of informative presentations, the Cybercrime minitrack returns in 2024 for HICSS-57, featuring a wealth of high-caliber research. In response to the call for papers, nine manuscripts from various disciplines were submitted and subjected to peer and editorial review. Three papers were accepted for presentation and publication. All of these have a strong focus on how to respond optimally when organizations and individuals are successfully cyber-attacked. Hence, despite initial submissions on a range of significant topics, the final shape of this year’s minitrack emphasizes the role of communication in cybercrime research.

Leisure Studies, 2023

Researchers often use traditional sports' theoretical frameworks to evaluate esports' 'genuinenes... more Researchers often use traditional sports' theoretical frameworks to evaluate esports' 'genuineness'. Therefore, this article shows how esports is assessed by traditional sports and esports journalists and how this is important for esports research. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 15) with the journalists representing top-tier Polish media and used inductive conventional content analysis. Three main analytical categories and ten subcategories indicate how the two types of journalists differ in their assessments of esports being or not being 'real' sport. The results highlight how problematic it is to use traditional sports as a frame into which esports needs to fit. We indicate the misconceptions of this approach and propose more inductive ones (e.g. searching for esports' distinct frameworks or revealing those used by different groups or communities). Also, our research has some practical implications and is a kind of 'map' showing the esports' new quality and its complex nature.

Games and Culture, 2024

Cyberpunk 2077's negative reception stood in striking contrast to the pre-release hype around the... more Cyberpunk 2077's negative reception stood in striking contrast to the pre-release hype around the video game built by the producer's marketing campaign and the gaming press. This study examines a selection of gaming websites, to consider their pre-release Cyberpunk 2077 coverage and the discrepancies between these early reports and the released game. Using inductive conventional content analysis, framed as thematic analysis, 148 press articles were investigated divided into nine subcategories, and three categories. These articles told an almost exclusively positive narrative, promising great performance and features. The uncritical reception of publisher information by journalists allows the authors to propose the notion of “broken promises marketing”. The article contextualizes this term in the gaming ecosystem, arguing that over-optimistic marketing is amplified through features of the online press ecology. Finally, the results are considered from a business ethics perspective, with a set of communications recommendations for both journalists and game publishers.

AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2022, 2022

Educational Media International, 2022

The entertainment education (EE) approach shows that entertainment storylines influence people’s ... more The entertainment education (EE) approach shows that
entertainment storylines influence people’s attitudes, opinions,
and behavior, and this occurs, among others, when it
comes to health and disease. In the case of TV shows and
movies cancer is the most frequently shown disease, and this
is especially important when considering the rise of VOD
platforms, gaining in subscribers and popularity. The article
aims at signaling Netflix’s EE potential, hence it could be a
starting point for future studies of streaming platform’s EE, a
highly neglected area. Netflix is thus 1) compared with other
popular VODs in terms of the number of cancer content (this
being the main interest of the presented analysis) and 2)
three content categories are indicated. Also, 3) a brief
description of selected texts is presented. The aim of the
article is exploratory, and it highlights the need for future
research, as the potential of Netflix’s EE seems the greatest
when compared to other platforms analyzed. Netflix has the
largest number of contents featuring cancer, and these could
influence audiences, i.e., raise awareness, change attitudes,
and motivate individuals to act.

EA Sports FIFA: Feeling the Game, 2022

The video game FIFA (Electronic Arts) is an annually released title with a very profitable “FIFA ... more The video game FIFA (Electronic Arts) is an annually released title with a very profitable “FIFA Ultimate Team” (FUT) game mode played by a large community of gamers. This has led to the emergence of celebrity FUT content creators on Twitch and on YouTube, yet also tensions between these individuals, the “average” player, and the game’s developers. The chapter explores players’ attitudes to and issues with the more powerful actors within the FUT ecosystem, offering us an incisive case study of ongoing changes and tensions in the relationships between players, developers, and content creators. In study design and analysis, the qualitative directed content analysis approach was used, as the chapter extands the project conducted over three years on the official FUT forum by one of the authors. Key categories of gamers’ criticism of content creators are indicated, keeping in mind biases that could result from this deductive approach. The players see content creators on Twitch and YouTube as a source of numerous frustrations related to gameplay, as reinforcing the game’s micropayment, and even as solely self-interested profit-makers with little “true” interest in the game. This even extends to what can only be termed conspiracy theories about the relationships between EA and FUT’s most visible content creators, with players proposing numerous surreptitious connections between the two. The chapter hence shows what happens when successful game content creators, and the “average” player, clash, and how FUT is a valuable case study of emerging power dynamics within gaming and game culture more broadly.

Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2023, Hyatt Regency Maui, Hawaii, USA, 3-6 January 2023, Maui, Hawaii, 2023

Today, esports teams in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games are often composed of player... more Today, esports teams in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games are often composed of players from around the world. The paper asks whether a greater national heterogeneity of professional esports teams means their higher effectiveness. Desk research data of 13 tournaments of Dota 2 game held in 2011-2018 is used to calculate the teams' win ratio, i.e., the ratio of skirmishes (in all matches) won to the total number of skirmishes (match is a series of skirmishes). Hence, effectiveness is understood not as ranks or matches won, but as the lowest possible number of lost skirmishes. Multinational teams achieved a higher win ratio, compared to nationally homogenous teams and the analysis includes the role of coaches' nationalities. Working groups, cognitive diversity, and similarity/attraction theories are used to signal potential reasons and consequences of diversity on team performance. This exploratory study indicates future research threads on esports teams' national diversity.

Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2023, Hyatt Regency Maui, Hawaii, USA, 3-6 January 2023, Maui, Hawaii, 2023

Research on esports is a relatively new, yet fast-growing discipline with multiple inter- and mul... more Research on esports is a relatively new, yet fast-growing discipline with multiple inter- and multi-disciplinary perspectives. For HICSS-56, research was solicited from multiple disciplines, including but not limited to business; cognitive science and psychology; information technology; sociology; media studies and communications; law; health, wellness, and medical sciences; and emerging technology. In total, eleven manuscripts from multiple disciplines were received and subjected to peer and editorial review. Of those eleven, five were accepted for presentation and publication. Introduction of the Esports minitrack and the accepted research is discussed.

Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2023, Hyatt Regency Maui, Hawaii, USA, 3-6 January 2023, Maui, Hawaii, 2023

Research on cybercrime is on the rise in many areas of internet studies, often with a strong emph... more Research on cybercrime is on the rise in many areas of internet studies, often with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinarity. Hence, for HICSS-56 research is not confined to a single area, and the minitrack includes multiple disciplines and different methodologies. In response to the call for papers, seven manuscripts from a wide variety of disciplines were submitted which were then subjected to peer and editorial review. Three submissions were accepted for presentation and publication. Here, preliminary issues and accepted articles are being discussed.

Deviant Behavior, 2024

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 2024

Characteristics of the Dark Web's Online Drug Culture, 2024

What are the typical features of the Dark Web’s drug culture?

What characteristics are typical of the drug culture on the Dark Web in particular, and what kind of explanatory factors can be found for them?

Social Media and Society, 2024

Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic, 2024

Leisure Studies, 2023

Games and Culture, 2024

AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2022, 2022

Educational Media International, 2022

EA Sports FIFA: Feeling the Game, 2022

Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2023, Hyatt Regency Maui, Hawaii, USA, 3-6 January 2023, Maui, Hawaii, 2023

Representing Conflicts in Games: Antagonism, Rivalry, and Competition, 2022

Games, as a rule, can be lost. It is thus a truism to state that successful game design demands t... more Games, as a rule, can be lost. It is thus a truism to state that successful game design demands the existence of a central conflict between the player and the game. Whether the player is commanding armies or races against time or other depleting resources, conflict is a given. However, in the past decade, an exception to this rule has emerged in games labeled as “walking simulators”. While these are perceived as lacking conflict, the chapter argues that it remains ever-present in the form of narrative traces – the shadows of a past conflict that chronologically hover beyond the edge of the game yet form the very core of the game experience. This chapter employs textual analysis methodologies to explore the depiction of past conflict in “walking simulators”. Examples are drawn from Dear Esther (2012), Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (2015), Gone Home (2014) and Tacoma (2018). These examples show how the genre allows a slow, contemplative exploration of various types of conflicts: interpersonal, intrapersonal, intergroup and intragroup. While the game mechanics preclude any genuine player engagement in the conflict, this limitation is argued to be the key value of the walking simulator in fostering a more contemplative examination of conflict.

Representing Conflicts in Games: Antagonism, Rivalry, and Competition, 2022

In daily marital lives, spouses often engage in various conflicts and employ a mixture of differe... more In daily marital lives, spouses often engage in various conflicts and employ a mixture of different strategies when resolving these. According to family development theories, conflict resolution processes influence couple relationship well-being. This chapter examines and compares different attempts to convert intimate marital conflicts into video game mechanics. Are games self-aware about the delicate, intimate, and intensely emotional nature of marital conflict, and thus the difficulty of conveying such conflict in a medium oriented towards entertainment values? Using strategies borrowed from textual analysis, the chapter considers how digital games make sense of marriage life and marital conflict experiences. Examples are drawn from a range of games, e.g. Façade (2005), The Novelist (2014), Firewatch (2016), Gone Home (2014), and Grand Theft Auto V (2013). Ultimately, the chapter argues that games struggle and partially fail to overcome the key difficulty lying in the fact that emotional involvement in personal conflict demands personal experience and memory-based connections with the parties involved. Nonetheless, the different mechanics these games employ to overcome this challenge provide valuable lessons on current capabilities and limitations for personal conflicts in the digital game medium.

Siuda, P., Nowak, J., Gehl, R.W. (2023). Darknet imaginaries in Internet memes: the discursive malleability of the cultural status of digital technologies, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 28(1): 1-14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmac023, 2023

Dominant discourses on the darknet present it either as a dangerous space with flourishing crime ... more Dominant discourses on the darknet present it either as a dangerous space with flourishing crime or a place for civic action and political activism. However, these depictions have been challenged in online popular culture, particularly in memes. By utilizing the concepts of double articulation of media and cultural imaginaries, this article reveals how memes shape popular definitions of darknet. Our qualitative, social semiotic content analysis of 505 memes reveals an ambiguous and complex vision of the darknet that both supports and demystifies the mainstream imagery. We introduce the concept of discursive malleability of niche technologies to describe how cultural practices reshape technologies, especially those with small userbases. Additionally, we present a "representational map of the darknet" and indicate how this contributes to social understanding of digital technologies more generally, and, not least why the analyzed memes may be read as lens exposing contradictory notions and policies regarding digital technologies nowadays.

(with Piotr Siuda, Magdalena Kamińska, Grzegorz D. Stunża, Anna Szylar, Marek Troszyński, Tomasz ... more (with Piotr Siuda, Magdalena Kamińska, Grzegorz D. Stunża, Anna Szylar, Marek Troszyński, Tomasz Żaglewski) Prosumption in the Pop Industry: An Analysis of Polish Entertainment Companies, Collegium Civitas Press, Warsaw 2013, 27 s.

This article is a summary of the assumptions and findings of the research project on the Polish popular (pop) culture producers' approach towards marketing. This project entitled Prosumption in the Pop Industry: An Analysis of Polish Entertainment Companies examines whether 1) the pop culture provides an opportunity to companies to involve the consumer in the creative process in Poland and (2) the acquirer is becoming
a prosumer and is actively participating in promoting and producing a media brand. Prosumption is a portmanteau formed by contracting the word producer with the word
consumer. The term was coined by Alvin Toffler (1980). Toffler's prosumers were consumers who were predicted to become active to help improve or design various goods and services.

Niniejsza książka traktuje o promocji polskiej humanistyki oraz nauk społecznych, a także ich wiz... more Niniejsza książka traktuje o promocji polskiej humanistyki oraz nauk społecznych, a także ich wizerunku medialnym i jest sprawozdaniem z badań na ten temat. Punktem wyjścia dociekań autorzy uczynili hipotezę, że obecnie w obszarach humanistyki i nauk społecznych nie wypracowano spójnych metod promocji badań, a te, które się stosuje, nie przekładają się na widoczność efektów wytwarzanych przez instytucje naukowe czy samych uczonych. W tym sensie można powiedzieć, że humanistyka i nauki społeczne zdają się być (nie)obecne w publicznym dyskursie. Niedociągnięcia związane z promocją są jedną z przyczyn ich negatywnego obrazu w mediach albo braku owego obrazu. Humanistyka i nauki społeczne często jawią się jako zespół dyscyplin naukowych mniej poważny od nauk ścisłych.

U podstaw sformułowania problemu legła frustracja spowodowana obserwowanym w literaturze przedmio... more U podstaw sformułowania problemu legła frustracja spowodowana obserwowanym w literaturze przedmiotu brakiem rozważań dotyczących ograniczeń i odmienności najnowszych trendów popkulturowych polegających na wdrażaniu prosumpcji. Zaistnienie tej ostatniej wiąże się z zachęcaniem konsumentów do aktywnego tworzenia, reinterpretowania i redystrybucji pop-produktów. W pochwałach emancypacji, jaką niosą za sobą te procesy, akademicy nie dostrzegają, że rysowany przez nich obraz nie jest do końca trafny. Mówi się (mniej lub bardziej bezpośrednio) o wszechogarniającym charakterze prosumpcji i jej jednakowości niezależnie od miejsca implementacji. Badacze nie zauważają, że w różnych częściach globu rozwija się ona inaczej - mamy do czynienia z różnym jej natężeniem oraz wielkością pod względem formy.

"Życie religijne w coraz większym stopniu przenosi się ze świątyń do cyberprzestrzeni, gdzie repr... more "Życie religijne w coraz większym stopniu przenosi się ze świątyń do cyberprzestrzeni, gdzie reprezentowane są wszystkie wielkie światowe religie i wszelkie nowe ruchy religijne. W cyberprzestrzeni można się modlić, odprawiać rytuały, podejmować wirtualne pielgrzymki, doznawać oświecenia i duchowych wizji. Uwzględniając praktycznie nieograniczone możliwości wyboru i brak autorytetów religijnych, należy uznać, że powstaje zupełnie nowe, jeszcze nieodkryte pole religijnej aktywności ludzi.

Literatura związana z poruszanym przez Autora tematem skierowana jest przede wszystkim do duchowieństwa i traktuje głównie o ewangelizacji przez internet. Ta publikacja jest nie tylko wkładem w zrozumienie cyberprzestrzeni, ale również nowym spojrzeniem na religię - niezwykle ważny aspekt współczesnej kultury, na religię jako sferę coraz bardziej prywatną i indywidualną; ukazuje, jaką rolę w kształtowaniu nowego oblicza ludzkiej religijności odgrywa internet. Autor opisuje te zagadnienia z perspektywy socjologii, psychologii religii i religioznawstwa."

W jaki sposób polscy producenci popkultury podchodzą do jej marketingu? Czy naśladują pod tym wzg... more W jaki sposób polscy producenci popkultury podchodzą do jej marketingu? Czy naśladują pod tym względem zachodnie koncerny medialne? Czy w Polsce kultura popularna jest dla producenta okazją do zaangażowania konsumenta w proces twórczy? Czy nabywca staje się prosumentem, to znaczy, czy aktywie uczestniczy w promowaniu i produkowaniu danej marki medialnej? Na te i inne pytania odpowiada raport „Prosumpcjonizm pop-przemysłów. Analiza polskich przedsiębiorstw z branży rozrywkowej” (grant Ministerstwa Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego w programie Obserwatorium kultury).

Dla wielu ludzi internet jest medium, bez którego nie wyobrażają sobie funkcjonowania; służy on z... more Dla wielu ludzi internet jest medium, bez którego nie wyobrażają sobie funkcjonowania; służy on zarówno do nauki, pracy, ale również zabawy, a co więcej, jego rola stale wzrasta. W środowiskach akademickich coraz większe znaczenie zaczyna nabierać naukowe opisywanie tak zwanego cyfrowego pokolenia (the digital generation), przez które rozumie się młode osoby będące z siecią za pan brat i mające do niej dostęp od najwcześniejszych lat swojego życia (zob. Livingstone, 2003).

"W jaki sposób polscy producenci popkultury podchodzą do jej marketingu? Czy naśladują pod tym wz... more "W jaki sposób polscy producenci popkultury podchodzą do jej marketingu? Czy naśladują pod tym względem zachodnie koncerny medialne? Czy w Polsce kultura popularna jest dla producenta okazją do zaangażowania konsumenta w proces twórczy? Czy nabywca staje się prosumentem, to znaczy, czy aktywie uczestniczy w promowaniu i produkowaniu danej marki medialnej?

Na te i inne pytania odpowiada raport „Prosumpcjonizm pop-przemysłów. Analiza polskich przedsiębiorstw z branży rozrywkowej” (grant Ministerstwa Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego w programie Obserwatorium kultury)."

Monografia, którą oddajemy w Państwa ręce, jest efektem drugiego już projektu badawczego rea... more Monografia, którą oddajemy w Państwa ręce, jest efektem drugiego już projektu badawczego realizowanego pod szyldem Dzieci sieci. Raport to wynik ośmiomiesięcznej pracy dziesięcioosobowego zespołu badaczek i badaczy, którzy zajęli się tematem kompetencji komunikacyjnych związanych z korzystaniem z internetu uczniów na trzecim etapie edukacyjnym. Celem projektu była diagnoza owych umiejętności oraz określenie stanu działań odnoszących się do omawianych kompetencji w zakresie edukacji prowadzonej w ramach formalnego systemu kształcenia. Zadanie Dzieci Sieci – kompetencje komunikacyjne młodych realizował Ośrodek Badań i Analiz Społecznych wspólnie z Instytutem Kultury Miejskiej w Gdańsku, a finansowało Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego. Omawiany projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie w programie Obserwatorium kultury, a działania badawcze trwały od marca do grudnia 2013 roku. Koordynatorem projektu jest Piotr Siuda, jego asystentem Grzegorz D. Stunża. W skład zespołu badawczego weszli również: Anna Justyna Dąbrowska, Marta Klimowicz, Emanuel Kulczycki, Damian Muszyński, Renata Piotrowska, Ewa Rozkosz, Marcin Sieńko oraz Krzysztof Stachura.

Studia Medioznawcze, 2012

Internet, zdrowie i choroba - powiązania społeczne, kulturowe i edukacyjne / red. Piotr Siuda, Magdalena Pluta, 2020

Forum Akademickie, 2023

Nie chcę przesądzać, czy rzeczywiście system recenzencki obniża wydajność naukową. Interesuje mni... more Nie chcę przesądzać, czy rzeczywiście system recenzencki obniża wydajność naukową. Interesuje mnie poczucie wielu, że z recenzjami "coś jest nie tak", skoro wiele osób ma przykre doświadczenia. Bazując na tym, proponuję refleksję nad możliwymi drogami usprawnienia systemu i związanymi z tymi zagrożeniami i szansami .

Śląskie Prace Etnograficzne, Tom 4 Etnologia w sieci , 2022

Nowadays, it is difficult to clearly separate the online from the offline, as both overlap in man... more Nowadays, it is difficult to clearly separate the online from the offline, as both overlap in many spheres of human activity. The same applies to religion, because online and offline religious spaces are mixed together, with boundaries between the two becoming more and more blurred. The presented essay defines the so-called digital religion and highlights its theoretical approaches. This is used as a background to develop new typologies of what is religious on the Internet and create a coherent conceptual framework allowing for the digital religion to be mapped. Additionally, the essay proposes four levels of digital religion. Theoretical distinctions are illustrated with specific case studies from several areas. Cases described include: 1) religious influencers, 2) online rituals and 3) parodies of religion on the web.

Niezbędnik Akademicki, 2019

Świat życia codziennego zalewany jest ogromną liczbą różnych skwantyfikowanych i zdigitalizowanyc... more Świat życia codziennego zalewany jest ogromną liczbą różnych skwantyfikowanych i zdigitalizowanych danych. Mogą one być przetwarzanie i traktowane jako materiał badawczy – również jakościowy. Zastosowanie w badaniach jakościowych wielkich zbiorów danych (Big Data) modyfikuje postępowanie na wszystkich etapach procesu badawczego: od projektowania badania aż po formułowanie wniosków końcowych. Czy osadzenie w badaniach jakościowych modelu Big Data prowadzi ku ateoretyczności badań? Jakie skutki niesie rezygnacja z próby losowej na rzecz kompletności danych? Celem artykułu jest zasygnalizowanie owych zmian i krótkie ich scharakteryzowanie z uwzględnieniem znaczącej roli różnego typu oprogramowania (zwłaszcza CAQDAS), a co za tym idzie – analiz, które można przeprowadzać.

$Research paper thumbnail of Medical cannabis industry and the refracted publics of Polish drug users forum$

56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2023, Hyatt Regency Maui, H... more 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2023, Hyatt Regency Maui, Hawaii, USA, January 3-6, 2023.

World Cup Conference, online, December 1, 2022, Organized by MultiPlay

The presented paper characterizes TikTok practices of users with cancer and uses notions of socia... more The presented paper characterizes TikTok practices of users with cancer and uses notions of social media as positive culture (presenting oneself without undesirable traits) and online self-disclosure understood as providing intimate, private information about oneself. The research continues the work on self-disclosure of women with breast cancer using Instagram. However, this previous research revolved around posts, and thus was limited. The current study on TikTok asks the following questions: 1) are TikTok videos disclosing information in the manner the previous research on Instagram shows? 2) What are the creators’ motivations and what meanings do they give to disclosing cancer and how do the users position themselves considering the positive culture? The study uses categories from previous work and combines qualitative directed content analysis (DCA; 862 videos are analyzed) with in-depth interviews (n=8), and these go beyond DCA to a more nuanced understanding of the users’ lived experience. Similar to Instagram, TikTok is a tool for negative (e.g., fears, anxiety, pain) and positive self-disclosure (e.g., joyful life events, self-acceptance, self-afﬁrmation) with the prevalence of positive and educational videos (e.g. prevention, debunking stereotypes and normalizing the disease). The respondents feel especially competent to educate others because of their experiences. The research undermines the traditional understanding of online self-disclosure, as for users seeking support is not that important, compared to informing and warning others. Also, the study debunks positive culture as a too-general category, as the interviewees constitute a particular niche and seem not to care how they are perceived while disclosing cancer.

A. Bilska, G.D. Stunża (eds.), Twoje prawa w sieci. Gra edukacyjna (Your Rights in the Network. E... more A. Bilska, G.D. Stunża (eds.), Twoje prawa w sieci. Gra edukacyjna (Your Rights in the Network. Educational Game), Instytut Kultury Miejskiej, Gdańsk 2013, electronic publication: http://pracownia.medialabgdansk.pl/#prawa-w-sieci

Internet, zdrowie i choroba - powiązania społeczne, kulturowe i edukacyjne, 2020

Badanie miało na celu uzyskanie odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy najczęściej udostępniane treści redago... more Badanie miało na celu uzyskanie odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy najczęściej udostępniane treści redagowane przez WHO w mediach społecznościowych pokrywały się z problemami, jakie nurtowały obywateli. Kolejnym zadaniem było ustalenie, które treści wzmiankujące WHO ze stron internetowych globalnych mediów udostępniano w przestrzeni mediów społecznościowych i jaką rolę odgrywała w nich Organizacja. Do analizy wybrałem witryny stacji CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, RT (wcześniej Russia Today), Deutsche Welle a także FOX News ze względu na ich zasięg i możliwość dotarcia do międzynarodowej publiczności.

Poza charakterystyką blogosfery kulturalnej i rozpatrywaniem aktywności blogerów w kontekście kul... more Poza charakterystyką blogosfery kulturalnej i rozpatrywaniem aktywności blogerów w kontekście kultury uczestnictwa, formułujemy także cel praktyczny. Jest nim rozpoznanie możliwości współpracy instytucji kultury z blogerami kulturalnymi oraz zaangażowania blogerów do działań promocyjnych mających na celu zwiększanie uczestnictwa w kulturze. Jak blogi wpisują się kulturę udostępniania? Jaki jest ich potencjał edukacyjny w zakresie edukacji kulturalnej? W jaki sposób działalność i nawiązywanie kontaktów w sieci może przekładać się na budowanie społeczności i na podejmowanie aktywności poza Internetem, a może wydzielanie przestrzeni sieciowej i niezapośredniczonej medialnie nie ma większego sensu w poszerzanej przez media rzeczywistości? Na ile blog to jeszcze blog i czy jako medium, ale i gatunek, ma szansę na dłuższe trwanie nie tylko w pamięci zaangażowanych w blogowanie– kulturalne i nie tylko – ale także jako platforma umożliwiająca kontakt, zabieranie głosu i organizowanie się wokół interesujących idei?

The Journal of Creative Communications offers fast-track options for papers submitted to a Cyberc... more The Journal of Creative Communications offers fast-track options for papers submitted to a Cybercrime minitrack at the 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Selected articles (rejected and accepted) submitted to HICSS 58 will be proposed for the JOCC’s 2025 special issue, with the guarantee of going to the review stage. This special issue will include eight papers from the HICSS in total.
The main focus of the minitrack is cybercrime. Hence, the papers should give insights and develop a theoretical and practical understanding of cybercrime’s issues. We do not exclude any methodological approaches and welcome conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and methodological papers that enrich our understanding of illegal online practices.

CALL FOR PAPERS for Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences minitrack. PLEASE MIND THA... more CALL FOR PAPERS for Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences minitrack. PLEASE MIND THAT paper submission system will reopen for HICSS 57 on April 15, 2023.

CALL FOR PAPERS for Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences minitrack. PLEASE MIND TH... more CALL FOR PAPERS for Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences minitrack.
PLEASE MIND THAT paper submission system reopenes for HICSS 57 on April 15, 2023.

CALL FOR PAPERS for Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences minitrack. PLEASE MIND th... more CALL FOR PAPERS for Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences minitrack.
PLEASE MIND that the paper submission system reopenes for HICSS 57 on April 15, 2023.

JEGE is an international indexed and peer-reviewed journal focused on publishing innovative empir... more JEGE is an international indexed and peer-reviewed journal focused on publishing innovative empirical, theoretical, review, interdisciplinary, and industry-related research on all aspects of video games; esports; gaming on personal computers, mobile devices, consoles, and cloud-based platforms; haptic gaming and technology; virtual, augmented, mixed, and extended reality gaming and technology; new and emerging technology used for recreation, rehabilitation, and competition; and more.

This minitrack aims to provide insight into esports’ theoretical development and practical unders... more This minitrack aims to provide insight into esports’ theoretical development and practical understanding without excluding any methodological approach or scientific disciplines. Conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that enrich our understanding of esports are welcome.

Research of the Internet as a site for communication and networking has focused mostly on the sea... more Research of the Internet as a site for communication and networking has focused mostly on the searchable (clear) web. The minitrack turns to online darknet environments, an area of the Internet accessed by tools such as onion routing (Tor), and containing anonymous web traffic that cannot be traced by normal means. As a result, it features a wide range of interests that range from progressive and benevolent to violence and disruption. The Dark Web permits almost unobservable data transfer for, e.g., military and democracy movement use, but also hosts sites that cater on one hand for abuse victims’
support groups and whistleblower data dumps, but on the other, also the distribution of drugs or child exploitation images. How the Dark Web shapes connections and communication and how it intersects with the Clear Web has not been sufficiently explored. Although the usage of the Dark Web is reported in literature, there is a still poor understanding of the Dark Web in terms of its social, cultural, or legal dimensions, to indicate only a few aspects. Besides, the research is still scarce when it comes to specifics of designing research on the Dark Web, e.g. pinpointing crucial methodologies or research ethics.
This minitrack aim is to give insights and develop a theoretical and practical understanding of issues related to the Dark Web without excluding any methodological approaches. We welcome conceptual, theoretical, empirical and methodological papers that enrich our understanding of Dark Web as a place of communication and networking.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Cybercrime at HICSS56, 2023

CALL FOR PAPERS: CYBERCRIME AT THE 56TH HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM SCIENCES This m... more CALL FOR PAPERS: CYBERCRIME AT THE 56TH HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM SCIENCES
This minitrack aim is to give insights and develop a theoretical and practical understanding of issues related to cybercrime without excluding any methodological approaches. We welcome conceptual, theoretical, empirical and methodological papers that enrich our understanding of illegal online practices.

Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic, 2023

The editors of this CfP are already in discussion with the MIT Press GAME HISTORIES SERIES editor... more The editors of this CfP are already in discussion with the MIT Press GAME HISTORIES SERIES editors who enthusiastically voiced support for the collection. The website of the series: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/series/game-histories.
The deadline for submitting the abstract is May 1, 2022.

Film and TV industries are undergoing yet another revolution today. It affects procedures, produc... more Film and TV industries are undergoing yet another revolution today. It affects procedures, production companies, broadcasters, and other parties involved. The transformation is led and accelerated by influential streaming platforms and VOD services. Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, or MUBI change the viewing habits, offering subscription-based content accessible anywhere and anytime. The number of subscribers keeps growing year by year, and many consumers give up cable and digital television and settle on VOD. The effects of time-shifted viewing and new reception habits are becoming increasingly apparent. This special issue of CtH reflects on the social, economic, and cultural impact of streaming platforms. We are interested in the way they change film and television landscapes, both in terms of production and reception. We welcome submissions addressing the following topics (...)

Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2023

Routledge eBooks, Nov 29, 2022

Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej

Celem artykułu jest wskazanie, że kolekcjonerzy to specyficzna kategoria konsumentów. Konsumpcja ... more Celem artykułu jest wskazanie, że kolekcjonerzy to specyficzna kategoria konsumentów. Konsumpcja potraktowana jest w artykule przez pryzmat przyspieszenia współczesnego świata oraz sytuacji, kiedy czas staje się coraz ważniejszym zasobem, jest go coraz mniej, ludzie skarżą się na jego utratę. Wynika to między innymi z tego, że zagarniany jest on przez producentów, którzy walczą i konkurują ze sobą o każdą wolną chwilę, jaką przeznaczyć im może konsument – we współczesnym społeczeństwie dominuje zatem szybka konsumpcja. Kolekcjonowanie również jest nabywaniem, przy tym niezwykle aktywnym oraz realizowanym z pasją, mimo to znacznie się od niego różni – ten, kto kolekcjonuje, podejmuje szereg czynności przeciwstawnych szybkiemu konsumowaniu. Zbieranie pozwala wyrwać się z kołowrotu ciągłego nabywania i usuwania rzeczy przez nastawienie na całościowość, długofalowość oraz wspólnotowość, jak również sakralizację kolekcjonowanych obiektów. Kolekcjonowanie wymaga dużych pokładów czasu nies...

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Kazimierza Wielkiego eBooks, 2020

Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej, 2014

Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej, 2022

Ankieta internetowa to uznana już technika badań społecznych związana z metodą wywiadu kwestionar... more Ankieta internetowa to uznana już technika badań społecznych związana z metodą wywiadu kwestionariuszowego (standaryzowanego). Popularność tej techniki zaczęła stopniowo wzrastać od połowy lat dziewięćdziesiątych XX wieku, to jest od momentu upowszechnienia się WWW. Obecnie opracowań omawiających różne aspekty wykorzystania ankiety online jest bardzo dużo. Akademicy wykazali, że technika ta jako pełnowartościowa zasługuje na poważne potraktowanie, stojąc na równi z bardziej tradycyjnymi, na przykład z ankietą pocztową, audytoryjną czy sondażem telefonicznym1 (odmiany te nazwane są często mianem trybów [modes] metody wywiadu kwestionariuszowego2).

Podmiotem dzialan mają byc przede wszystkim ludzie mlodzi, przy czym kategorie te rozumie sie bar... more Podmiotem dzialan mają byc przede wszystkim ludzie mlodzi, przy czym kategorie te rozumie sie bardzo szeroko – istniejąca literatura zwraca uwage na potrzebe odpowiedniego edukowania przedszkolakow, uczniow roznych etapow szkolnych (szkola podstawowa, gimnazjum, szkola średnia) czy studentow (Livingstone, 2003; 2009). Kompetencje nalezy wpajac roznymi drogami – przede wszystkim formalną, czyli po prostu w szkole lub na uczelni.

Publikacja powstala w ramach projektu „Wspolczesna polska humanistyka wobec wyzwan naukometrii” f... more Publikacja powstala w ramach projektu „Wspolczesna polska humanistyka wobec wyzwan naukometrii” finansowanego ze środkow Narodowego Programu Rozwoju Humanistyki, numer decyzji 0057/NPHR3/H11/82/2014

Kultura i Społeczeństwo, 2010

The article discusses a specific group of the recipients of the media — fans of science-fiction. ... more The article discusses a specific group of the recipients of the media — fans of science-fiction. The author describes two research approaches to sci-fi fans — a pathological approach and a warlike approach. The pathological one shows fans as infantile puppets. According to the representatives of this approach the science-fiction genre is kitsch. Fans are completely tasteless, dumb and easily yield to manipulation by the producers. The second approach opposes this notion. According to the representatives of the warlike approach, fans are quite impatient when it comes to kitsch. Fans often reject a part of a text producers present. Fans are selective — they choose what they think is good and valuable. One could say that the fans are fighting with producers, that they are a guerillas involved in a war. Fans try to pick something up out of a text and create a new fan culture. The author of the article characterizes both approaches, indicates their main assumptions and recognized represe...

Kultura-Społeczeństwo-Edukacja, 2019

Scientific reflections on information literacy have emphasized that young people must develop inf... more Scientific reflections on information literacy have emphasized that young people must develop information competences related to using the Internet. Among various approaches, in the generic approach, catalogues of competences are constructed and treated as lists of desired behaviours and skills. The article aims to criticize this approach and its characteristic fetishization of theoretical categories; because of fetishization, these catalogues of competences fail to reflect social reality. The article presents the practices of female bloggers of the pro-ana movement: young girls who consider anorexia not a disease but a lifestyle. Using the method of content analysis, the author analysed 561 blog entries on 15 blogs and compared the collected data with a model catalogue of competencies created based on the literature. Perceived from the perspective of the generic approach, female pro-ana bloggers may be considered informationliterate. This implies that this approach is deficient as ...

Education and Society, 2016

Pojawienie się Internetu oznacza rewolucję, której jednym z aspektów jest powstanie cyberprzestrz... more Pojawienie się Internetu oznacza rewolucję, której jednym z aspektów jest powstanie cyberprzestrzeni - społecznej przestrzeni Internetu. Przenosi się do niej coraz więcej dziedzin ludzkiej aktywności, w tym religia. Socjologiczne spojrzenie pozwala wyodrębnić dwie, bardzo często ściśle ze sobą powiązane, płaszczyzny zjawiska, jakim jest religia. Można ją rozpatrywać z punktu widzenia instytucjonalizacji, czyli tworzenia się wokół danej religii instytucji. Z drugiej strony, często wyodrębnia się jej drugą twarz. Mówi się o tym, że jej wyznawcy stanowią jakąś nieformalną wspólnotę czy zespół mniej lub bardziej licznych społeczności. Tego rodzaju ujmowanie religii bardzo często opiera się na podkreślaniu wszelkich aktywności i działań podejmowanych w obrębie danej wspólnoty. Obydwa oblicza religii znajdują odzwierciedlenie w Internecie. Obecna jest w nim zarówno sfera zinstytucjonalizowana, co uwidacznia się w oficjalnych stronach kościołów, parafii, świętych, itp. Elektroniczna sieć j...

Dzięki tej publikacji chcemy pokazać, że blog można założyć bardzo łatwo i wykorzystywać go jako ... more Dzięki tej publikacji chcemy pokazać, że blog można założyć bardzo łatwo i wykorzystywać go jako istotną platformę zarówno w komunikacji rówieśniczej, jak i kontaktach nauczycieli z uczniami i rodzicami. Nie bójmy się budować informacyjnych przestrzeni interakcji, bo korzystanie z narzędzi dostępnych od wielu lat, ale wciąż usprawnianych, daje szansę na uzupełnianie szkolnej edukacji. Szansę na poszukiwania, spotkania z innymi i rozwijanie zainteresowań. Zatem – klawiatury pod palce i do zobaczenia na blogach!

Zeszyty Naukowe–Wyższa Szkoła Handlowa im. Bolesława Markowskiego w Kielcach, 2007

Streszczenie: Tekst traktuje o internetowych mikronacjach, czyli wirtualnych państwach powstający... more Streszczenie: Tekst traktuje o internetowych mikronacjach, czyli wirtualnych państwach powstających w cyberprzestrzeni. Zdefiniować je można jako rodzaj zabawy polegającej na symulacji życia w świecie „realnym”. W elektronicznej sieci jest ich bardzo dużo, są one również bardzo różnorodne, najczęściej zaprojektowane na wzór tradycyjnych państw istniejących w „realu”. Zjawisko wirtualnych mikronacji jest nowe, mało znane i niebadane. Celem pracy jest wykazanie, że są one niezwykle interesującym obszarem badawczym ...

Streszczenie: Celem pracy jest wykazanie pozytywnej roli, jaką odgrywa Internet w budowaniu tożsa... more Streszczenie: Celem pracy jest wykazanie pozytywnej roli, jaką odgrywa Internet w budowaniu tożsamości narodowej. Zdaniem autora u podstaw tej tożsamości leży poczucie przynależności jej członków oraz poczucie odrębności od innych. Podstawowym założeniem w omawianiu roli Internetu w budowaniu tożsamości narodowej jest to, że w globalizującym się świecie dzisiejszym, nie dochodzi do jej zaniku. Co więcej, Internet wcale nie powoduje jej osłabienia, tak jak wskazują na to niektórzy naukowcy. Przeciwnie ...