Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

Reinventing Child Labour: A Contemporary Analysis Of Children's Participation In The Digital Labour Economy, Bayan Kojok

Major Papers

This major research paper explores the historical shifts in labour and childhood, highlighting children’s ongoing implication in the capitalist market. My focus is influencer marketing, the newest form of digital work. The onset of social media and the introduction of the “influencer” is a cultural and political-economic shift that has expanded the definition of labour, whether this form of labour is widely recognized or not. The Instamom has emerged from this redefinition of labour; these individuals have curated influencer status by advertising their life as a mom on social media, particularly Instagram. This becomes problematic as children are inherently involved …

Indie Developers And The Queer Content Renaissance In Video Games, 2013-2017, Shane Michael Hansaruk Mr.

Major Papers

Queer content in video games has existed since the 1970s, but as time and technology have progressed, so too have the potential for queer content in video games. During the mid-2010’s, a sudden increase in the number of games with queer content began, lasting between the years 2013 and 2017. This research project examines this period in great detail to determine the cause of this drastic increase. Through examining queer games literature, two queer games databases, and two select titles from this period, I determine that independent, or “indie” developers, have a substantial impact on the increase of queer games …

A Critical Investigation Of Bell Let’S Talk, Jasmine Vido

Major Papers

In September 2010, Bell created the Bell Let’s Talk campaign to help lessen the stigma of mental health illnesses in Canada. The objective of this paper is to tease out the “ambivalences” (see Banet-Weiser, 2012) surrounding a massive corporation’s leadership in mental health awareness by analyzing both the importance and controversy surrounding Bell Let’s Talk.

The first component of this paper is a literature review that seeks to answer the research question: “how may components of Bell Let’s Talk Day be understood as both progressive and regressive?” Although “social media is the next step in the war against silence” (Campbell, …

Native Advertising Disclosures In Journalism: An Assessment On The Accurate Reporting Of Disclosure Wording In Conveying Advertising Intent, Darko Milenkovic

Major Papers

The struggling journalism industry adopted the practice of native advertising to raise digital revenue. This practice offered advertisers a chance to purchase the services of a publication in order to have their story published. The goal of native advertising is for advertising to become invisible to consumers, and to be presented to audiences as if were regular editorial content. The only distinguishing feature is a disclosure, often identifying the accompanying article as being “Sponsored Content,” “Promoted Content”, “Custom Content,” or a “Paid Post.” This research paper discusses the struggles of journalism and digital advertising. It examines the many definitions of …