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Usva Friman

@usvaf

Academy Research Fellow & Assistant Professor of Game Studies at Tampere University (Finland). Akatemiatutkija ja pelitutkimuksen apulaisprofessori Tampereen yliopistossa.

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25.05.2025
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Latest posts by Usva Friman @usvaf

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Excited to share that I'll be giving a keynote about why and how should we (still) talk about gender in esports at the Seventeenth International Sport & Society Conference in Lillehammer in June! 🀩 Note that you can still submit your presentation proposal, too: sportandsociety.com/2026-confere...

09.03.2026 18:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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In these times of global turmoil (and a bit insane work deadlines), I try to find some comfort, calmness, and grounding in physical movement. Today, I was able to do my first run of this season in my summer shoes, which tells me that we're moving towards light, and, hopefully, better things.

08.03.2026 12:12 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
How are you, KAJ? (music video) // UMK26 x Moves Like Summeri
How are you, KAJ? (music video) // UMK26 x Moves Like Summeri YouTube video by Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu

A bit of a 'bada bastu nee' mood this week. πŸ˜…

03.03.2026 17:30 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Our Larpocracy project team has published their first report on larp festivals and conventions, describing these as sites of play and cultural co-creation that are sometimes cultural institutions and always part of a cultural public sphere. More in the thread quoted here:

12.02.2026 11:59 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Arts-Based Approaches in HCIΒ  – NordiCHI 2026

Something for the fellow Arts+Tech crowd:

NordiCHI 2026 will host the track "Art-Based Approaches in HCI"!
We welcome artistic and art-based practice-forward approaches to Human-Computer Interactions under the broad umbrella term of "energy".

More information here:

sites.uwasa.fi/nordichi2026...

03.02.2026 07:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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❀️

30.01.2026 19:57 πŸ‘ 28070 πŸ” 9224 πŸ’¬ 362 πŸ“Œ 760
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TΓ€nÀÀn saimme kunnian puhua yliopiston juhlasalissa Essi Tainon (@essitai.bsky.social) kanssa pelikulttuurista, siihen kuulumisesta ja nΓ€iden tutkimuksesta 7.–9.-luokkalaisille nuorille osana Tampereen yliopiston Tiedon valoa -tapahtumaa. Olipa iloa ja intoa tuova tapa pÀÀttÀÀ tyΓΆviikko! 🀩

23.01.2026 13:05 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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There's no skiing like cross-country skiing.

17.01.2026 12:47 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

New publication! Our team looked into how different types of game companies and other game cultural organisations (focused on digital gaming) in Finland understand DEI in their own activities and what kind of guidelines and practices they have for promoting DEI.

15.01.2026 14:29 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats, you have some extra time to submit your work on events and communities to our #GameStudies spring seminar!

13.01.2026 15:15 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Kansallinen #pelikulttuuristrategia mahdollistaisi myΓΆs pelikulttuurien yhdenvertaisuuden jΓ€rjestelmΓ€llisen kehittΓ€misen

09.01.2026 13:30 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Please note this call for an important special issue on 'Queer and Trans Game Studies in Global and Local Contexts,' dl. on 12 January! ⏰

08.01.2026 08:36 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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New publication: Gender equality in esports organizations I’ve had the honour of writing a chapter on gender equality in esports organisations to the wonderful Sport, media and discrimination collection edited by Daniel Kilvington, John Price, Jasmi…

I’ve had the honour of writing a chapter on gender equality in esports organisations to the wonderful Sport, media and discrimination collection. Can recommend this to everyone interested in diversity and discrimination in sports media and media sports, esports included!

07.01.2026 05:52 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

US imperialism & aggression is hardly news - it's just been more mask-off recently. But as academics the question we need to ask is how we can act in relation to it, & at least part of the answer is to interrogate the default centering of US institutions, viewpoints & agendas in global research.

04.01.2026 09:09 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

It could be one more weird anomaly in this unending cycle of what the fuck.

26.12.2025 01:45 πŸ‘ 232 πŸ” 63 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 6

@matildastahl.bsky.social et al. are working on this really cool new research project, check it out:

20.12.2025 08:05 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Screenshot of a paper entry:
Fictional Failures and Real-World Lessons: Ethical Speculation Through Design Fiction on Emotional Support Conversational AI
Authors: Faye Kollig, Jessica Pater, Fayika Farhat Nova, Casey Fiesler
(There are tabs with "abstract" and "summary" and "summary" is selected.)

Screenshot of a paper entry: Fictional Failures and Real-World Lessons: Ethical Speculation Through Design Fiction on Emotional Support Conversational AI Authors: Faye Kollig, Jessica Pater, Fayika Farhat Nova, Casey Fiesler (There are tabs with "abstract" and "summary" and "summary" is selected.)

The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.

16.12.2025 23:31 πŸ‘ 646 πŸ” 335 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 90

Congratulations to the whole family! πŸ’–

09.12.2025 11:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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04.12.2025 15:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Playing at work today πŸ™ƒ

04.12.2025 14:31 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
the big hay goat from sweden or something looking very unburned and majestic with text from the old "you wouldn't download a car" but it reads "you wouldn't burn a goat"

the big hay goat from sweden or something looking very unburned and majestic with text from the old "you wouldn't download a car" but it reads "you wouldn't burn a goat"

it's advent you know what that means

01.12.2025 08:04 πŸ‘ 1337 πŸ” 599 πŸ’¬ 32 πŸ“Œ 41
2026 Sport and Discrimination Conference – Sport and Discrimination

Dear colleagues working in a field related (e)sports and discrimination, please note this CFP for the 2026 Sport and Discrimination conference, focusing especially on online discrimination in sport and its prevention. DL is this Friday 5 December: sportanddiscrimination.com/2025-confere...

01.12.2025 12:19 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Love the idea of writing together to figure out the shared perspective and direction of the group!

28.11.2025 12:14 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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NeljΓ€nkympin kriisi valittu. πŸ’ͺ

25.11.2025 16:50 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Punctuation Collectionℒ️

20.11.2025 14:37 πŸ‘ 680 πŸ” 141 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 20

PEGASUS-hankkeemme loppuraportti on nyt avoimesti saatavilla! TÀÀltΓ€ lΓΆytyvΓ€t keskeiset oivalluksemme ja hankkeessa kehitetyt tyΓΆkalut selkeΓ€nΓ€, tiiviinΓ€ pakettina – myΓΆs sarjakuvamuodossa! 🀩

20.11.2025 08:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Our next #gamestudies spring seminar is about events and communities! Remember to submit your abstract at the latest on 14 January.

20.11.2025 06:32 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Yliopistodemokratia – yhteinen yliopisto! Yliopistodemokratia-vaalilistan sivut Tampereen yliopiston konsistorin vaaleissa 2025

My vote goes to the University Democracy list and their commitment to:
πŸ’œ Upholding and defending the values, autonomy, and academic freedom of the university
πŸ’œ Securing responsible long-term HR policy
πŸ’œ Returning decision-making closer to the university community
yliopistodemokratia.wordpress.com

19.11.2025 15:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Chocolate chip and chocolate biscuits on plates and a green teapot on an office kitchen table

Chocolate chip and chocolate biscuits on plates and a green teapot on an office kitchen table

Elections for the academic board, i.e. the highest democratically elected decision-making body within our uni, are underway. Today, we gathered in the coffee room to discuss elections and decision-making processes at the uni and to chat with some candidates. We need more of this at the university!

19.11.2025 15:15 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Teemu Keisteri's yellow ukkeli mosaic sculpture outside in the dark, covered by snow

Teemu Keisteri's yellow ukkeli mosaic sculpture outside in the dark, covered by snow

Today, we finally saw some sunshine (!) and snow (!!!) in #Tampere #winteriscoming

14.11.2025 16:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0