I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing (Human-Centered Computing Division) at Clemson University. I received my Ph.D. in Information Science with a specialization in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University-Bloomington (IUB). Prior to joining Clemson, I was an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Technology at the University of Cincinnati (UC). At UC, I directed the game development and simulation tracks for the Master of Science and Bachelor of Science programs in Information Technology.
My research interests, broadly construed, focus on how interactive technologies, such as multiplayer online games, esports, live streaming, and social virtual reality, shape interpersonal relationships and group behavior. My work brings a unique combination of profound theoretical foundation, nuanced empirical perspectives, especially in-depth qualitative insights, and participatory technology design and prototype to investigate mediated experience and social dynamics forged surrounding various technological and collaborative systems and artifacts, in order to design and develop more inclusive, supportive, and fulfilling user experiences with technology. My research is also uniquely driven by my focus on marginalized technology users due to their gender, race, age, and disability, including women, LGBTQ individuals, ethnic minorities, minors, and persons with disabilities. My work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), US Army, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
At Clemson, I lead the Gaming and Mediated Experience Lab (CUGAME). If you are a prospective student who is interested in joining our lab, please read our CUGAME Lab Handbook. This document should help you understand who we are and whether our lab is a good match for your personality, interests, and research approaches.
By adopting a mixed-method approach including interviews, content analysis, surveys, and participatory technology design and prototype, our work has three interlinked research themes in HCI on social computing, games and play, and social VR:
(1) How novel digital social spaces such as gaming, virtual worlds, and live streaming transform the ways in which people meet, interact, communicate, and collaborate online;
(2) IT innovation/making as a mechanism to broaden public participation in bottom-up technological innovation through online collaboration, such as independent game developers' and creative live streamers' engagement in shaping the trajectory of future technological advance; and
(3) Understanding and designing novel social Virtual Reality technologies for inclusion, diversity, and social good.
Publications
Book
Freeman, G. (2018). Multiplayer online games: Origins, players, and social dynamics. CRC Press/ Taylor and Francis.
Journal Articles
* Mentored Student
Zheng, Q.*, Xu, S.*, Wang, L.*, Tang, Y.*, Salvi, R.*, Freeman, G., & Huang, Y. (2023). Understanding Safety Risks and Safety Design in Social VR Environments. In Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction (PACM HCI), 7, CSCW1, Article 154 (April 2023), 38 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3579630 [Pre-print]
Schelble, B.*, Lopez, J.*, Textor, C.*, Zhang, R.*, McNeese, N. J.*, Pak, R.*, & Freeman, G. (2022). Towards Ethical AI: Empirically Investigating Dimensions of AI Ethics, Trust, and Performance in Human-AI Teaming. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Wu, K.*, Nower, N.*, & Wohn, D.Y. (2022). Pay to Win or Pay to Cheat: How Players of Competitive Online Games Perceive Fairness of In-Game Purchases. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6, CHI PLAY, Article 247 (October 2022), 24 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3549510 [PDF][Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Top 5%]
Textor, C.*, Zhang, R.*, Lopez, J.*, Schelble, B.*, McNeese, N.J., Freeman, G., Pak, R., Tossel, C., & de Visser, E.J. (2022). Exploring the Relationship Between Ethics and Trust in Human-AI Teaming: A Mixed Methods Approach. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making [PDF]
Freeman, G., & Acena, D*. (2022). “Acting Out” Queer Identity: The Embodied Visibility in Social Virtual Reality. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6, CSCW2, Article 263 (November 2022), 32 pages. https://doi.org/ 10.1145/3555153 [PDF]
Li, L.*, Freeman, G., & McNeese, N. (2022). Channeling End-User Creativity: Leveraging Live Streaming for Distributed Collaboration in Indie Game Development. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6, CSCW2, Article 282 (November 2022), 28 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555173 [PDF]
Schelble, B.*, Flathmann, C.*, Musick, G.*, McNeese, N., & Freeman, G. (2022). I See You: Examining the Role of Spatial Information in Human-Agent Teams. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6, CSCW2, Article 374 (November 2022), 27 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555099. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Zamanifard, S.*, Maloney, D.*, & Acena, D.* (2022). Disturbing the Peace: Experiencing and Mitigating Emerging Harassment in Social Virtual Reality. Proc. ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6, CSCW1, Article 85 (April 2022), 30 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3512932. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Acena, D.*, McNeese, N.J., & Schulenberg, K*. (2022). Working Together Apart through Embodiment: Engaging in Everyday Collaborative Activities in Social Virtual Reality. Proc. ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6, GROUP, Article 17 (January 2022), 25 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3492836. [PDF][Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Top 5%]
Schelble, B.*, Flathmann, C.*, McNeese, N. J., Freeman, G., & Mallick, R.* (2022). Let's Think Together! Assessing Shared Mental Models, Performance, and Trust in Human-Agent Teams. Proc. ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6, GROUP, Article 13 (January 2022), 29 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3492832. [PDF][Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Top 5%]
Musick, G.*, Freeman, G., & McNeese, N.J. (2021). Gaming as Family Time: Digital Game Coplay in Modern Parent-Child Relationships. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 5, CHIPLAY, Article 251 (September 2021), 25 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3474678. [PDF]
Li, L.*, Freeman, G., & Wohn, D. Y. (2021). The Interplay of Financial Exchanges and Offline Interpersonal Relationships through Digital Peer-to-Peer Payments. Telematics and Informatics, vol.63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101671 [PDF]
Freeman, G., & McNeese, N. (2021). A Tale of Creativity and Struggles: Team Practices for Bottom-Up Innovation in Virtual Game Jams. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact, 5, CSCW1, Article 76 (April 2021), 27 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3449150. [PDF]
Musick, G.*, Zhang, R.*, McNeese, N., Freeman, G., & Hridi, A*. (2021). Leveling Up Teamwork in Esports: Understanding Team Cognition in a Dynamic Virtual Environment. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact, 5, CSCW1, Article 49 (April 2021), 30 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3449123 [PDF]
Zhang, R.*, McNeese, N., Freeman, G., & Musick, G.* (2020). "An Ideal Human": Expectations of AI Teammates in Human-AI Teaming. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 4(CSCW3), 1-25. [PDF]
Freeman, G. & Wohn, D.Y. (2020). Streaming Your Identity: Navigating the Presentation of Gender and Sexuality through Live Streaming. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices, 29, pp. 795–825. [PDF]
Freeman, G. & Maloney, D.* (2020). Body, Avatar, and Me: The Presentation and Perception of Self in Social Virtual Reality. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 4, CSCW3, Article 239 (December 2020), 27 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3432938 [PDF]
Maloney, D.*, Freeman, G., & Wohn, D. Y. (2020). "Talking without A Voice": Understanding Non-verbal Communication in Social Virtual Reality. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 4, CSCW2, Article 175 (October 2020), 25 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3415246 [PDF]
Li, L.*, Uttarapong, J.*, Freeman, G., Wohn, D. Y. (2020). Spontaneous, Yet Studious: Esports Commentators' Live Performance and Self-Presentation Practices. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 4, CSCW2, Article 103 (October 2020), 25 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3415174 [PDF]
Freeman, G., Bardzell, J., Bardzell, S., & McNeese, N. (2020). Mitigating Exploitation: Indie Game Developers’ Reconfigurations of Labor in Technology. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 4, CSCW1, Article 56 (May 2020), 23 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3392864. [PDF][Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Top 5%]
Freeman, G., McNeese, N., Bardzell, J., & Bardzell, S. (2020). "Pro-Amateur"-Driven Technological Innovation: Participation and Challenges in Indie Game Development. Proc. ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 4, GROUP, Article 4 (January 2020), 22 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/33751841. [PDF]
Wohn, D. Y., & Freeman, G. (2020). Live streaming, playing, and money spending behaviors in eSports. Games and Culture, 15(1),73-88. [PDF]
Freeman, G. & McNeese, N. (2019). Exploring Indie Game Development: Team Practices and Social Experiences in A Creativity-Centric Technology Community. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices, 28(3), 723-748. [PDF]
Freeman, G. , Bardzell, J., & Bardzell, S. (2019). Open Source, open vision: The Makerpro network and the broadening of participation in setting Taiwan's IT vision agenda. Human-Computer Interaction, 34 (5-6), 506-540. [PDF]
Freeman, G., & Wohn, D.Y. (2018). Understanding Team Formation and Coordination in eSports. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices, 27, 1019-1050. [PDF]
Nemer, D., & Freeman, G. Z. (2015). Empowering the marginalized: Rethinking selfies in the slums of Brazil. The International Journal of Communication, 9, 1832-1847. [PDF]
Nemer, D., & Freeman, G. Z. (2015). Self-Presentation on Facebook and Orkut: A Cross Cultural Study of Brazilians and Indians. Journal of Technologies and Human Usability, 10(2), 1-15. [PDF]
Demarest, B., Freeman, G. Z., & Sugimoto, C. R.(2014). The reviewer in the mirror: Examining gendered and ethnicized notions of reciprocity in peer review. Scientometrics, 101 (1), 717-735. [PDF]
Ding, Y., Zhang, G., Chambers, T., Song, M., Wang, X., & Zhai, C.(2014). Content-based citation analysis: The next generation of citation analysis. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 65 (9), 1820-1833. [PDF]
Li, R., Chambers, T., Ding, Y., Zhang, G., & Meng, L. (2014). Patent citation analysis: Calculating science linkage based on citing motivation. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 65 (5), 1007-1017. [PDF]
Song, M., Kim, S., Zhang, G., Ding, Y., & Chambers, T. (2014). Productivity and influence in bioinformatics: A bibliometric analysis using PubMed central. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 65 (2), 352-371. [PDF]
Zhang, G., & Jacob, E.(2013). Understanding boundaries: Physical, epistemological and virtual dimensions. Information Research, 18 (3), paper c21. [HTML]
Zhang, G., Ding, Y., & Milojević, S. (2013). Citation content analysis (CCA): A framework for syntactic and semantic analysis of citation content. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 64 (7), 1490-1503. [PDF]
Lee, C., Sugimoto, C. R., Zhang, G., & Cronin, B. (2013). Bias in peer review. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 64 (1), 2-17. [PDF]
Zhang, G., & Jacob, E. (2012). Reconceptualizing cyberspace: "Real" places in digital space. The International Journal of Science in Society, 3 (2), 91-102. [PDF]
Freeman, G. , Li, L.*, McNeese, N., & Schulenberg, K.* (2023). Understanding and Mitigating Challenges for Non-Profit Driven Indie Game Development to Innovate Game Production. The 2023 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'23). [Preprint]
Schulenberg, K.*, Li, L.*, Freeman, G., & McNeese, N. (2023). Towards Leveraging AI-based Moderation to Address Emergent Harassment in Social Virtual Reality. The 2023 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'23). [Preprint]
Li, L.*, Freeman, G., Schulenberg, K.*, & Acena, D.* (2023). "We Cried on Each Other's Shoulders": How LGBTQ+ Individuals Experience Social Support in Social Virtual Reality. The 2023 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'23). [Preprint]
Zamanifard, S.* & Freeman, G. (2023). A Surprise Birthday Party in VR: Leveraging Social Virtual Reality to Maintain Existing Close Ties Over Distance. iConference 2023. Acceptance rate: 35%.
Schulenberg, K.*, Hauptman, A.*, Schlesener, E.*, Watkins, H.*, & Freeman, G. (2023). "I Felt Like I Wasn't Really Meant to be There'': Understanding Women's Perceptions of Gender in Approaching AI Design & Development. The 2023 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2023). [Best Paper Nomination Award][PDF]
Masoudi, N., Rai, R., Ortiz, J.*, Sutton, M..*, Khade, V.*, Acena, D.*, Freeman, G., Summers, J., Gorsich, D., Rizzo, D., & Smereka, J. (2022). Elicitation, Computational Representation, and Analysis of Mission and System Requirements. SAE Technical Paper 2022-01-0363, 2022, https://doi.org/10.4271/2022-01-0363 [PDF]
Freeman, G.#, Maloney, D.*#, Acena, D.*, & Barwulor, C.* (2022). (Re)discovering the Physical Body Online: Strategies and Challenges to Approach Non-Cisgender Identity in Social Virtual Reality. The 2022 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'22) (#: co-first authors who made equal contribution). Acceptance rate: 23%. [Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Top 5%][PDF]
Sykownik, P.*, Maloney, D.*, Freeman, G., & Masuch, M. (2022). Something Personal from the Metaverse: Goals, Topics, and Contextual Factors of Self-Disclosure in Commercial Social VR. The 2022 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'22). Acceptance rate: 23%. [PDF]
Lopez, J.* & Freeman, G. (2022). To Tag or Not To Tag: The Interplay of the Twitch Tag System and LGBTQIA+ Visibility in Live Streaming. The 2022 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2022), pp.1-10. Doi: 10.24251/HICSS.2022.413. [PDF]
Maloney, D.*, Freeman, G., & Robb, A. (2021). Stay Connected in An Immersive World: Why Teenagers Engage in Social Virtual Reality. In The 2021 ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC), pp. 69-79. [PDF]
Freeman, G. & Acena, D.* (2021). Hugging from A Distance: Building Interpersonal Relationships in Social Virtual Reality. The 2021 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX, previously TVX), pp. 84-95. [PDF]
Acena, D.* & Freeman, G. (2021). “In My Safe Space”: Social Support for LGBTQ Users in Social Virtual Reality. The 2021 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'21) Late Breaking Work, pp. 1-6. [PDF]
Maloney, D.*, Freeman, G., & Robb, A. (2021). Social Virtual Reality: Ethical Considerations and Future Directions for An Emerging Research Space. 2021 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), IEEE, pp. 271-277, doi: 10.1109/VRW52623.2021.00056. [PDF]
Li, L.*, & Freeman, G. (2021). Money vs. Social Life: Why People Choose Not to Use Facebook Messenger Payment. The 2021 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2021), pp. 4466-4475. [PDF]
Li, L.*, Maloney, D.*, & Freeman, G. (2021). Collaboration, Dedication, and Social Pressure: A Comparative Analysis of Virtual and Face-to-Face Game Jams. The 2021 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2021), pp. 2824-2833. [PDF]
Maloney, D*#, Zamanifard, S.*#, & Freeman, G. (2020). Anonymity vs Familiarity: Self-Disclosure and Privacy in Social Virtual Reality. The 2020 ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST 2020). Article 25, pp. 1-9. Acceptance rate: 26.5%. (#: co-first authors who made equal contribution) [PDF]
Zhang, R.*, Freeman, G., McNeese, N. (2020). Breakups on Social Media: Social Behaviors and Dilemmas. The 2020 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Late Breaking Work (CSCW’20 Companion), pp.431-435. [PDF]
Maloney, D*, & Freeman, G. (2020). Falling Asleep Together: What Makes Activities in Social Virtual Reality Meaningful to Users. CHI PLAY '20: The 2020 annual symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 510-521. Acceptance rate: 29.3%. [PDF]
Maloney, D*, Freeman, G., & Robb, A. (2020). A Virtual Space for All: Exploring Children's Experience in Social Virtual Reality. CHI PLAY '20: The 2020 annual symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp.472-483. Acceptance rate: 29.3%. [PDF]
Li, L.*, Freeman, G., Wohn, D.Y. (2020). Power in Skin: The Interplay of Self-presentation, Tactical Play, and Spending in Fortnite. CHI PLAY '20: The 2020 annual symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp.71-80. Acceptance rate: 29.3%. [PDF]
Wohn, D.Y., & Freeman, G.. (2020). Audience Management Pactices of Live Streamers on Twitch. The 2020 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX, previously TVX), pp. 106-116. [PDF]
Maloney, D.*, Freeman, G., & Robb, A. (2020). It Is Complicated: Interacting with Children in Social Virtual Reality. 2020 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), pp. 343-347. IEEE. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Zamanifard, S.*, Maloney, D.*, & Adkins, A*. (2020). My Body, My Avatar: How People Perceive Their Avatars in Social Virtual Reality. The 2020 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'20) Late Breaking Work , paper 250, 8 pages. [PDF]
Bardzell, J., Freeman, G., Bardzell, S., & Chen, P. Y. (2020). Join.Love: A Sociotechnical Genealogy of the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage. The 2020 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'20), paper 476, 13 pages. Acceptance rate: 24%. [PDF]
Zamanifard, S.*, & Freeman, G. (2019). "The Togetherness that We Crave": Experiencing Social VR in Long Distance Relationships. Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion (CSCW’19 Companion), pp. 438–442. [PDF]
Anaraky, R.*, Freeman, G., Tallapragada, M., Aragon, O.R., & Knijnenburg, B. (2019). The Dark Side of Social Media: What Makes Some Users More Vulnerable Than Others? Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion (CSCW’19 Companion). [PDF]
Cai, J., Wohn, Y., & Freeman, G. (2019). Who Purchases and Why? Explaining Motivations for In-game Purchasing in the Online Survival Game Fortnite. Proceedings of the 2019 Annual Conference on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY '19), pp. 291-296. Acceptance rate: 28%. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Bardzell, J., Bardzell, S., Liu, C., Lu, X., & Cao, D. (2019). Smart and Fermented Cities: An Approach to Placemaking in Urban Informatics. The 2019 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'19), Paper 44, 13 pages. [Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Top 5%][PDF]
Freeman, G., Bardzell, J., Bardzell, S., & McNeese, N. (2019). The Innovation ecology: Collaborative information, community support, and policy in a creative technology community. The 2019 iConference. In N.G. Taylor et al. (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), 11420, pp. 614-624. Springer. Acceptance rate: 30%. [The 2019 Lee Dirks Award for Best Full Research Paper Nomination: Top 5 out of 133][PDF]
Freeman, G. , Bardzell, S., & Bardzell, J. (2018). Bottom-up imaginaries: The cultural-technical practice of inventing regional advantage through IT R & D. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'18), paper 325, pp.1-11. New York: ACM. [Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Top 5%][PDF]
Wohn, D. Y., Freeman, G., & McLaughlin, C. (2018). Explaining Viewers' Emotional, Instrumental, and Financial Support Provision for Live Streamers (full paper). In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'18), paper 474, pp. 1-13. Acceptance rate: 31% [PDF]
Freeman, G., & Wohn, D.Y. (2017). Social support in eSports: Building emotional and esteem support from instrumental support interactions in a highly competitive environment. In Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Conference on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY '17) (pp. 435-447). New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 25.2%. [PDF]
Freeman, G., & Wohn, D.Y. (2017). eSports as an emerging research context at CHI: Diverse perspectives on definitions. In 2017 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'17) Late Breaking Work (pp. 1601-1608) . New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 35%. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Bardzell, J., & Bardzell, S. (2017). Aspirational design and messy democracy:
Partisanship, policy, and hope in an Asian city. In Proceedings of the 20th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2017) (pp. 404-416). New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 35%. [PDF]
Kozachuk, J., Foroughi, C. K., & Freeman, G. (2016). Exploring electronic sports: An interdisciplinary approach. In Proceedings of the 60th International Annual Meeting on Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (pp. 2118-2122). Sage. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Bardzell, J., & Bardzell, S. (2016). Revisiting computer-mediated intimacy: In-game marriage and dyadic gameplay in Audition. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'16) (pp. 4325-4336). Acceptance rate: 23%. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Bardzell, J., & Bardzell, S. (2016). Intimate experiences in virtual worlds: The interplay among hyperpersonal communication, avatar-based systems, and experiential drives. In Proceedings of iConference 2016 (pp. 1-10). Acceptance rate: 30%. [PDF][Link]
Freeman, G. (2016). Making games as collaborative social experiences: Exploring an online gaming community. In Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion (CSCW 2016) (pp. 265-268). Acceptance rate: 25%. [PDF]
Freeman, G., Bardzell, J., Bardzell, S, & Herring, S. C. (2015). Simulating marriage: Gender roles and emerging intimacy in an online game. In Proceedings of 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2015) (pp.1191-1200). New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 25%. [PDF]
Zytko, D., Freeman, G., Grandhi, S., Herring, S., & Jones, Q. (2015). Enhancing evaluation of potential dates online through paired collaborative activities. In Proceedings of The 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2015) (pp.1849-1859). New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 25%. [PDF]
Freeman, G. Z. (2014). She makes me brave: The emergence of intimacy in gameplay. In Proceedings of The 77th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T 2014).[PDF]
Bardzell, J., Bardzell, S., Zhang, G., & Pace, T. (2014). The lonely raccoon at the ball: Designing for intimacy, sociability, and selfhood. In Proceedings of the 2014 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing System (CHI 2014) (pp. 3943-3952). New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 23% [PDF]
Zhang, G. (2014). Can you marry me?: Conceptualizing in-game marriage as intimacy-mediated collaboration. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion (CSCW 2014) (pp. 273-276). New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 25% [PDF]
Zhang, G., & Herring, S. C. (2013). In-game marriage and computer-mediated collaboration: An exploratory study of Audition. In Proceedings of the Internet Research 14.0 (IR 14.0): Resistance + Appropriation. October 23-26, Denver, Colorado. [PDF]
Jacob, E., & Zhang, G..(2013).The role of virtual boundaries in knowledge sharing and organization. In Proceedings of the fourth North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization (NASKO 2013), June 13-14, Milwaukee, WI, USA.[PDF]
Zhang, G., & Jacob, E. (2013). Online community or alone together? A case of multiplayer online games (MOGs). In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Internet Technologies & Applications (ITA'13),September 10-13,Wrexham, North Wales, UK.
Zhang, G., Demarest, B. & Sugimoto, C. R. (2012). Gender and ethnicity trends in journal peer review: An empirical investigation using JASIST. In Proceedings of the 75th Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST 2012), October 26-30, 2012, Baltimore, Maryland. [PDF]
Zhang, G., & Ding, Y. (2012). Scholarly conformity: Origins, framework, applications and implications. In Proceedings of the 75th Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST 2012), October 26-30, 2012, Baltimore, Maryland. [PDF]
Zhang, G., & Herring, S. C. (2012). Globalization or localization? A longitudinal study of successful American and Chinese online store websites. In M. Strano, H. Hrachovec, F. Sudweeks and C. Ess (eds), Proceedings of Cultural Attitudes Towards Technology and Communication Conference 2012(CATaC): Beyond the digital/cultural divide -- In/visibility and new media (pp. 430-445). Australia: Murdoch University. [PDF]
Zhang, G., & Jacob, E. K. (2012). Community: Issues, definitions, and operationalization on the Web. In Proceedings of the World Wide Web Conference Companion, 2012 (WWW 2012) (pp.1121-1130). New York: ACM. Acceptance rate: 12% [PDF]
Herring, S. C., Kouper, I., Kutz, D. O., Vaisman, C. L., & Zhang, G. (2012). Linguistic creativity online: A cross-cultural study of special Internet language varieties. Abstract for The Pragmatics Festival at Indiana University, April 19-21, Bloomington, IN. [PDF]
Ekbia, H. R., & Zhang, G. (2011). Objects of identity, identity of objects: For a materialist account of online behavior. In C. Ess & R. Hagengruber (Eds.), Proceedings of IACAP 2011: The Computational Turn: Past, Presents, Futures? (pp. 265-268). Munster: Monsenstein und Vannerdat. [PDF]
Zhang, G. (2011). Age, culture, and communication: Contextualization and framing in a playful online forum. In Proceedings of the 74th American Society for Information Science and Technology Conference (ASIST 2011), October 9-12, 2011, New Orleans, LA. [PDF]
Zhang, G., & Jacob, E. K. (2011). Places for digital ecosystems, digital ecosystems in places. In Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Management of Emergent Digital EcoSystems (MEDES'11) (pp. 145-149). New York: ACM Press. [PDF]
Disturbing the Peace: Experiencing and Mitigating Emerging Harassment in Social Virtual Reality. Virtual presentation at the 2022 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW). Virtual conference, November 8-22, 2022
“Acting Out” Queer Identity: The Embodied Visibility in Social Virtual Reality. Virtual presentation at the 2022 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW). Virtual conference, November 8-22, 2022.
Pay to Win or Pay to Cheat: How Players of Competitive Online Games Perceive Fairness of In-Game Purchases. The 2022 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY’22). Bremen, Germany, November 2-5, 2022.
(Re)discovering the Physical Body Online: Strategies and Challenges to Approach Non-Cisgender Identity in Social Virtual Reality. The 2022 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'22). New Orleans, USA, April 30-May 5, 2022.
A Tale of Creativity and Struggles: Team Practices for Bottom-Up Innovation in Virtual Game Jams. The 2021 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW). Virtual conference, October 23-27, 2021.
Hugging from A Distance: Building Interpersonal Relationships in Social Virtual Reality. The 2021 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX, previously TVX), Virtual Conference, New York City, United States, June 21-23, 2021.
Streaming Your Identity: Navigating the Presentation of Gender and Sexuality through Live Streaming. The 19th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (ECSCW 2021), Virtual Cofnerence, Zurich, Switzerland, June 7-11, 2021.
Mitigating Exploitation: Indie Game Developers’ Reconfigurations of Labor in Technology. Virtual presentation at The 2020 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW). Virtual conference, Minneapolis, MN, United States, October 2020.
Body, Avatar, and Me: The Presentation and Perception of Self in Social Virtual Reality. Virtual presentation at The 2020 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW). Virtual conference, Minneapolis, MN, United States, October 2020.
"Pro-Amateur"-Driven Technological Innovation:Participation and Challenges in Indie Game Development. The 2020 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP), January 6-8, Sanibel Island, Florida.
Exploring Indie Game Development: Team Practices and Social Experiences in A Creativity-Centric Technology Community. The 17th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (ECSCW'19), June 8-12, Salzburg, Austria.
Smart and Fermented Cities: An Approach to Placemaking in Urban Informatics. The 2019 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'19), May 4-9, Glasgow, UK.
The Innovation ecology: Collaborative information, community support, and policy in a creative technology community. The 2019 iConference, March 31 – April 3, 2019, Washington DC.
Bottom-up imaginaries: The cultural-technical practice of inventing regional advantage through IT R & D. In The 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'18), April 20 -26, Montreal, Canada.
Aspirational design and messy democracy: Partisanship, policy, and hope in an Asian city. In The 20th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion (CSCW 2017), February 25–March 1, 2017, Portland, OR, USA.
Exploring electronic sports: An interdisciplinary approach. Invited panalist in the 60th International Annual Meeting on Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. September 19-23, 2016, Washington D.C., USA.
Revisiting computer-mediated intimacy: In-game marriage and dyadic gameplay in Audition. In the 2016 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'16), May 7-12, San Jose, CA, USA.
Intimate experiences in virtual worlds: The interplay among hyperpersonal communication, avatar-based systems, and experiential drives. In iConference 2016, March 20-23, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
When video games meet video streaming: How technological convergence shapes online social experiences. In The Workshop on Social Influence in (cross-platform) Online Contexts, March 19, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Simulating marriage: Gender roles and emerging intimacy in an online game. The 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2015). March 14-18, 2015, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Can you marry me?: Conceptualizing in-game marriage as intimacy-mediated collaboration. Short presentation at The 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2014). February 15-19, 2014, Baltimore, MD.
In-game marriage and computer-mediated collaboration: An exploratory study of Audition. Internet Research 14.0 (IR 14.0): Resistance + Appropriation. October 23-26, 2013, Denver, Colorado.
In-game marriage and computer-mediated collaboration: An exploratory study of Audition. 2013 ILS Doctoral Research Forum, October 12, 2013, Department of Information and Library Science,School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Bloomington.
Online community or alone together? A case of multiplayer online games (MOGs). The Fifth International Conference on Internet Technologies & Applications (ITA'13),September 10-13, 2013, Wrexham, North Wales, UK.
Understanding boundaries: Physical, epistemological and virtual dimensions. The Eighth International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, August 19-22, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Globalization or localization? A longitudinal study of successful American and Chinese online store websites. Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication Conference (CATaC) 2012: Beyond the digital/cultural divide -- In/visibility and new media , June 18-20, 2012, Aarhus, Denmark.
Community: Issues, definitions, and operationalization on the Web. The International World Wide Web Conference 2012 (WWW 2012), April 16-20, 2012, Lyon, France.
Bias in the peer review process. SLIS Professional Doctoral Forum, February 17, 2012, Bloomington, IN.
Places for digital ecosystems, digital ecosystems in places. The ACM International Conference on Management of Emergent Digital EcoSystems. November 21-23, 2012, San Francisco, CA.
Bias in the peer review process: Origins, context, and operationalization. The 9th SLIS Doctoral Research Forum. October 22, 2012, Bloomington, IN.
Age, culture, and communication: Contextualization and framing in a playful online forum. The 74th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. October 9-13, 2012, New Orleans, LA.
Reconceptualizing cyberspace: 'Real' places in digital space. The 3rd International Conference on Science in Society. August 5-8, 2012, Washington, D.C.
Towards Designing Inclusive Social Virtual Reality Spaces to Combat New Forms of Online Harassment. Invited Talk, Department of Computer Science Seminar Series, Emory University, November 11, 2022, Emory University.
Understanding and Mitigating Emerging Harassment in Social Virtual Reality. Invited Talk, Northeastern Game Lecture Series, April 1, 2022, Northeastern University.
Social Virtual Reality: The Next Generation of Online Social Spaces. Invited Talk, Department of Computer Science, Oakland University, March 12, 2021. Rochester, Michigan.
Conducting Remote Interviews for Qualitative User Research. Invited Talk, Clemson Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Usability Workshop Series. November 13, 2020. Clemson, SC.
Understanding eSports Teams: Formation, Coordination, and Social Support. Invited talk, University of California – Irvine, October 11, 2018. Irvine, California.
An Academic Primer on Pokémon Go, Invited panelist, University of Cincinnati Game Lab, September 2, 2016. Cincinnati, OH.
Computer-mediated intimacy: How computing technologies shape interpersonal relationships, Keynote talk, Design Based Information Technologies Learning Experiences (DITLE) Summer Camp, June 16, 2016. University of Cincinnati.
Avatar-mediated communication. Guest lecture, Z543: Computer-Mediated Communication. April 18, 2016. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Gender performance and sexuality in digital games and virtual worlds. Guest lecture, Z544: Gender and Computerization. April 6, 2015. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Simulating marriage: Gender roles and emerging intimacy in an online game. Invited talk, Center for Computer-Mediated Communication Symposia, April 2, 2015. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Social network analysis for the Web. Guest lecture, Z642: Content analysis for the Web. October 6, 2014. Indiana University Bloomington, IN.
Conducting qualitative research in online environments. Guest lecture, IS375: Understanding customers. September 15, 2014. New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ.
In-game marriage as intimacy-mediated collaboration. WebSci 2014 Doctoral Consortium at the ACM Web Science 2014 Conference (WebSci 2014). June 23, 2014, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
In-game marriage as intimacy-mediated collaboration. Center of Excellence for Women in Technology. April 16, 2014, Bloomington, IN.
Gender performance and sexuality in digitial games and virtual worlds. Z544: Gender and computerization. March 27, 2014. Bloomington,IN.
Avatar mediated communication. Z543: Computer-mediated communication. December 9, 2013. Bloomington, IN.
Text analysis and image analysis for computer-mediated communication. Guest Lecture, S543: Computer-mediated communication. February, 18, 2013. Bloomington, IN.
International information issues. S541 Information Policy, May 30, 2012. Bloomington, IN.
Creative structure of Special Internet Language Varieties (SILVs): Background, features, challenges, and implications. S641: Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis, February 6, 2012. Bloomington, IN.
HCC8310: Fundamentals of Human-Centered Computing (Fall 2021)
CPSC4820/6820: Game Design (Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2021, Fall 2022)
HCC8510: Computing and Online Relationships (Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023)
Courses Taught at the University of Cincinnati
IT2025: Game Design and Society (Spring 2018)
IT7030: Games for Learning and Simulation (Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015)
IT7031: Advanced Technologies for Game Development (Spring 2017, Spring 2016)
IT7032: Advanced Multiplayer Games (Spring 2017)
IT7001: IT Graduate Seminar (Fall 2016, Fall 2015)
IT6010: Information Technology Essentials (Summer 2016, Summer 2017, Summer 2018)
Courses Taught at the Indiana University-Bloomington
Z503: Representation and Organization (solo taught Summer 2015, summer 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012; co-taught Summer 2013, Fall 2011)
Z543: Computer-mediated communication (I399: Communication, social media, and social life) (solo taught, Fall 2014)
Z518 (I399): Communication in Electronic Environments (Topic: Online intimacy, romance and computing) (solo taught, Fall 2014)
Z641: Computer-Mediated Discourse analysis (Co-taught, Spring 2014; teaching assistant, Fall 2012)
Z642: Content Analysis for the Web (Co-taught, Fall 2013)
Z401: Computer-based Information Tools (Co-taught, Spring 2014)
Students
Dissertation/Thesis Committee Chair
Divine Maloney, Ph.D., Human-Centered Computing, Clemson University, (co-chair) (Microsoft Ada Lovelace Ph.D. Fellowship Recipient), graduated 2022. First job at Apple.
Sanju Dongol, MSIT, Information Technology, University of Cincinnati (Graduated).
Kelsey Davidson, MSIT, Information Technology, University of Cincinnati (Graduated).
Dissertation/Thesis Committee Member
Philipp Sykownik, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Media and Computer Science and Entertainment Computing, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, (Secondary Supervisor), 2022 – present
IDaricia Wilkinson, Ph.D. in Human-Centered Computing, Clemson University. Graduated 2022
Arcadia Zhang, Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder. Graduated May 2021.
John Porter, Ph.D., Human-centered Computing, Clemson University, 2019 - 2021. Graduated May 2021.
Lorenzo Barberis Canonico, Ph.D., Human-Centered Computing, Clemson University 2018-2019. Graduated December 2019.
Kelsea Schulenberg, Master student, Communication, Technology, and Society (MACTS), Clemson University. Graduated May 2021.
Rucha Kulkarni, MSIT, Information Technology, University of Cincinnati, 2016-2018
Deepika Ramesh, MSIT, Information Technology, University of Cincinnati, 2016-2018
Renuka Arora, MSIT, Information Technology, University of Cincinnati, 2016-2018 (Graduated).
Austin Marck, MSIT, Information Technology, University of Cincinnati, 2016-2018 (Graduated).
Can Lu, MSIT, Information Technology, University of Cincinnati, 2016-2018 (Graduated).
Others
Dean Hayes, undergraduate researcher, College of Nursing. University Honors Program (UHP)+DISCOVER Summer Research Project. University of Cincinnati, 2016.
M.A.,Philosophy, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
B.A.,Philosophy, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
B.A.,English, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Grants
Sole PI, HCC: Small: Mitigating Online Risks: Designing Social VR to Prevent New Forms of Online Harassment, National Science Foundation, $399,785 (Awarded). 10/1/2021-9/30/2024.
Co-PI, The Spread of Trust and Distrust in Distributed Human-Autonomy Teaming Constellations (PI: Nathan J. McNeese), Air Force Office of Scientific Research, $1,302,658 (Awarded). 10/1/2021-9/30/2024.
Co-PI, Considerations of Ethical and Unethical Behavior on Trust in Human-Autonomy Teaming (PI: Nathan J. McNeese), Air Force Office of Scientific Research, $586,538 (Awarded). 10/1/2020 - 9/30/2023.
Co-PI, The Virtual Prototyping of Ground Systems (PI: Zoran Filipi), US Army, $18,450,281 (Awarded). 10/1/2021 – 9/30/2026.
Sole PI, CRII: CHS: Redesigning Democratized Technology: The Broadening of Citizen Participation in Bottom-Up Technological Innovation, National Science Foundation, $174,880 (Awarded). 6/1/2019 - 5/31/2022.
PI, Making Is Playing: Bottom-Up Innovation and Digital Gaming, University Research Council 2018 Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Summer Stipend Grant, University of Cincinnati, $12,500 (Awarded).
Co-PI, Using Virtual Reality to Understand Criminal Decision-Making: A Novel Interdisciplinary Approach, Collaborative Research Advancement Grant, University of Cincinnati, $25,000 (Awarded). 2018-2020.
Faculty development grant 2016-2017, College of Education, Criminarl Justice, & Human Services. University of Cincinnati. $2,000
Academic Technology and Instructional Design grant, College of Education, Criminal Justice, & Human Services. University of Cincinnati. 2016-2017. $3,000
University of Cincinnati STEM Interdisciplinary Grant. 2016-2018. $5,000
Faculty development grant 2015-2016, College of Education, Criminarl Justice, & Human Services. University of Cincinnati. $2,500
Best Paper Honorable Mention Award (Top 5%), CSCW 2020
Best Paper Honorable Mention Award (Top 5%), CHI 2018, 2019, 2022
The 2019 Lee Dirks Award for Best Full Research Paper Nomination: Top 5 out of 133
The 2016 Grace Hopper Women in Computing (GHC) Scholarship, Anita Borg Institute.
Travel award to the 2016 Data Quality in an Era of Big Data Workshop. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
2015 UHP (University Honors Program) + Discover Mentor Award, University of Cincinnati. $1,000
University of Cincinnati Provost Technology Innovation Award. 2016-2017. $94,000
Faculty Incentive Award, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, University of Cincinnati.
Competitive 2014-2015 Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics (RKCSI) Travel Grant, Indiana University Bloomington, 2014-2015.
Competitivetravel grant for The 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Doctoral Seminar for Research and Career Development. October 31-November 5, 2014, Seattle, WA. Sponsored by American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T).
Travel grant for 2014 Digital Societies and Social Technologies (DSST) Summer Institute. July 8 - July 10, 2014, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO. Sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Best presentation (2nd place), 2013 ILS Doctoral Research Forum, Department of Information and Library Science,School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Bloomington, October 12, 2013.
Best presentation (1st place), 2012 SLIS Doctoral Research Forum, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University Bloomington, October 6, 2012. $200.
Travel grant for Summer Social WebShop 2012 in College Park, MD, August 21-24, 2012, Sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Social Media Research Foundation, and Grand. $1,100.
Travel grant for Summer School of Research on computer‐mediated communication in linguistics (RCMCL), 17‐23 June 2012, Ascona, Switzerland, Sponsored by ThinkSwiss. CHK1,200.
Dean's Fellowship, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University Bloomington, 2010-2014. $18,500 per year.
Doctoral Student Travel Grants, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University Bloomington, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015. $350, $500, $350, $500, $500.
I have also helped and mentored students to design innovative games especially for supporting marginalized populations. Some examples include:
Adkins, A., Kohm, K., Zhang, R., & Gustafson, N. (2020). Lost in Spaze: An Audio Maze Game for the Visually Impaired. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-6). [PDF][ACM CHI 2020 Student Game Competition Finalist]
Schlesener, E. A., Lancaster, C., Barwulor, C., Murmu, C., & Schulenberg, K. (2023). TitleIX: Step Up & Step In! A Mobile Augmented Reality Game Featuring Interactive Embodied Conversational Agents for Sexual Assault Bystander Intervention Training on US College Campuses. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. [pre-print][ACM CHI 2023 Student Game Competition Finalist]
