In this paper, we use a mixed methods approach to compare the multimodal 'building blocks' of play provided by the LEGO Friends franchise, which is primarily aimed at female audiences, and several other LEGO series that are marketed to similar-age male audiences. Using both quantitative and qualitative analyses, we examine if and how certain configurations of play and gendereddiscourses may be privileged through preferred set constructions (i.e. those provided by LEGO via instructions and marketing materials) and associated media narratives (i.e. video games and videos). Initial quantitative analyses suggest that LEGO sets for girls may be at a slightly more developmentally advanced level than those for boys. Qualitative analyses suggest that the sets, games, and materials both challenge and affirm traditional gender stereotypes. ARTICLE HISTORY

As more and more people are interacting through online spaces, questions emerge as to how these computer-mediated interactions impact people's social connections and ability to form communities. Some of the online spaces that are exceedingly popular are virtual worlds designed specifically for children. This study, using participant-observations and content analysis, explored how users communicate, form connections, and develop community in children's virtual worlds. This 3-year study found that users find creative ways to bypass design features to share personal information, establish group membership, and build connections both in the virtual worlds and on their accompanying fan sites. These findings provide valuable insight into the social affordances of popular online spaces for children, as well as expand modern-day conceptualizations of social connection and community. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This paper examines the ways in which Mattel's Barbie Girls and Xtractaurs, online sites aimed at girls and boys of six years of age and up, respectively, offer markedly distinct literate and semiotic resources for their young users. Analysis focuses on the multimodal layers of meaning and the mediating tools, artefacts, and literacy objects that both afford and constrain certain types of play and shape the possibilities for selfrepresentation and interaction in these spaces. Through content analysis and comparison of the two sites, the authors explore the kinds of discourses made available in these spaces and examine how they might impact on young players' perceptions of the social roles and life opportunities accessible to them both within and outside of these virtual worlds.

This article focuses on learning and identity-related practices of young female fans of a popular British boy band called One Direction. Drawing on qualitative inquiry into a fanfiction community formed around the band, analysis highlights (a) the literate work fans engage in, including writing, reading, critiquing, and collaborating on multimodal texts, (b) identity work performed by the fans with respect to what it means to be a true fan, a teen, and an effective writer within this community, and (c) ways in which the literate and identity work weave together to inform participation and identification in the One Direction fanfiction community, creating both links and ruptures between young people's out-of-school and in-school spaces. Analyses center on the ways the fans themselves define their involvement, with a focus on subgroup identities. Interview data highlight the ways fans used linguistic, technological, and social resources to stake out certain identities and to negotiate status within the site. Although power-laden dynamics defined community participation, fans felt ownership over their literacy and identity production practices, often drawing a contrast to school practices. We then discuss the meanings youth make of their fan practices and their contrastive experiences in fan and school spaces, connecting study findings to current debates on the import of pop culture in formal schooling.

Background/Context Sociocultural research on young people's literate practices with digital media has generally focused on literacy events and practices that are grounded in distinct online locations, such as affinity spaces, specific websites, particular videogames, or virtual worlds. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Contemporary media landscapes have become networked to such an extent that a transmedial approach is needed to understand the social, cultural, and literate contexts that young people inhabit. Research Design In this article, we use qualitative and literary analyses of products and artifacts from the Hunger Games media franchise to explore young people's literacy practices as embedded in corporate and fan-produced transmedia ecologies. Conclusions/Recommendations Our analysis looks beyond spatial and structural boundaries to understand how flows of corporate and user-produced artifacts can shape, constrain, and expand young people's literate repertoires.