iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Charlie the Unicorn (yes, that one, of Candy Mountain fame) was released this day 20 years ago. Memes are old. So am I. Relive the joy/horror: www.youtube.com/watc...

A GenAI image of Charlie the Unicorn with a "20 years today" jumper on and cakes in the background. This image is basically a crime.

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I had a good chat with Natarsha Belling on The Briefing Podcast today discussing the Age Assurance Trial results and what that means for the government's under16 social media ban. #auspol 🎧 play.listnr.com/podcast/the-...

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Internet Studies @netstudies.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

From their project exploring the past, present & future of #AudioDescription (AD) in Australia, Katie Ellis, Kathryn Locke, @cultware.bsky.social & @tamaleaver.bsky.social are pleased to launch their #podcast, The AD Conversations. Web: audiodescriptionau.com.au?page_id=1057 Spotify: bit.ly/ADconvo

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Last week I had the great pleasure of speaking on ABC Radio National's Life Matters show, talking with Jacinta Parsons about children's gaming & #Roblox in particular. You can now stream the episode online: "What you need to know before yours kids sign up to Roblox", www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

abc.net.au

What you need to know before yours kids sign up to Roblox - ABC listen

How safe are you kids on the internet? We've learnt a lot over the years about how to use parental controls and restrict their access - but how much control do we really have?

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adamruch.bsky.social @adamruch.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Finally! I can share that my article "Forced: Perceptions of 'Woke' Politics in Videogames" has been published by @ijoc-usc.bsky.social I dive into a bit of Reddit, a bit of YouTube and a whole lot of very strong opinions. ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

ijoc.org

Forced: Perceptions of “Woke” Politics in Video Games | Ruch | International Journal of Communication

Forced: Perceptions of “Woke” Politics in Video Games

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Just in case it wasn't super obvious that #GenAI companies need fresh m̶e̶a̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶training data, nothing hits this home better than watching OpenAI flirt with building a social network so it can eat people's data directly. OpenAI is building a social network www.theverge.com/ope...

theverge.com

OpenAI is building a social network

ChatGPT versus X?

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Mike Kent @cultware.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

We have launched a MOOC on Audio Description to make visual media more accessible - here is the promo video: Audio described: lnkd.in/ge-n9d2n Non audio described: lnkd.in/g2UCGyFS

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

"The conventional wisdom has been that big tech will dominate AI simply because it has the spare cash to chase advances. Now, it looks like big tech has simply been lighting money on fire." #GenerativeAI www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

theverge.com

Why everyone is freaking out about DeepSeek

Did AI just disrupt Sam Altman’s job?

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Internet Studies @netstudies.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Looking forward to having you join the team, Adam! :)

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

This piece on the looming US TikTok ban includes thoughts from me and @nav0lim.bsky.social: TikTok on the brink in the US: The rise — and possible fall — of the hugely popular app www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

sbs.com.au

TikTok on the brink in the US: The rise — and possible fall — of the hugely popular app

TikTok could shut down in the US — but some believe the ban might not last long.

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Mike Kent @cultware.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

This just arrived today. Such a journey to get this volume out. Thanks to Katie Ellis an Kim cousins my indispensable co-editors and all the magnificent authors

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Each year before I teach @netstudies.bsky.social #WebMedia I search for the perfect example to open the first lecture that evokes the complexities/convergences of media online. This year, I'm pretty sure I'm kicking off with the almost-live Australian Open Tennis avatars! kotaku.com/australian-o...

kotaku.com

Why A Major Tennis Tournament Looks Like Wii Sports On YouTube

The Australian Open is offering digitally animated live versions of all matches for free online

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Very pleased @digitalchildau.bsky.social, the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, (the Centre I'm part of) has arrived on BlueSky! :)

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Internet Studies @netstudies.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

We were on Twitter from May 2008 for more than 16 years, so it seems very strange to be setting up a new presence here, but the old place is largely intolerable now and, well, the vibe here is pretty good and late 2024 seems to be all about the vibes and the feels!

media.tenor.com

a pixel art drawing of a cat with a rainbow coming out of its mouth

ALT: a pixel art drawing of a cat with a rainbow coming out of its mouth

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Pleased this #OpenAccess paper in New Media & Society is out; I learnt a lot working with Jin Lee & Crystal Abidin looking at how the worst excesses of the child idol system in South Korea are becoming a worrying template for child star making globally! doi.org/10.1177/1461...

Child idols in South Korea and beyond: Manufacturing young stars at the intersection of the K-pop and influencer industries
Jin Lee, Tama Leaver, and Crystal Abidin

Abstract
This article explores how the influencer and traditional entertainment industries are converging in the “child idol” phenomenon—a celebrity genre and system that had existed prior to the emergence of the influencer industry but has now been remixed with the influencer industry’s convention and refashioned as the stepping stone to lubricate children’s journeys toward professional idol careers in the wake of K-pop culture. We examine the “child idol” phenomenon as a case study wherein children perform as a younger version of K-pop idols under entertainment agencies’ in-house training systems, with calibrated construction of social media personae by influencer agencies and their parents. Despite ongoing attempts to protect children in the industry, undertaken by the Korean government and human rights organizations, t

Image showing the movement from pre-celebrity to idol and then star.

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Really pleased Suzanne Srdarov & my 'Generative AI Glitches' paper is out. This works comes from our broader Generative Imaginaries project in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, looking at how GenAI visualise children, families & so on. journal.media-cultur...

Fig. 1: An image generated by Dream Studio from the prompt ‘An Australian Father’.

Fig. 2: An image generated by Meta AI from the prompt ‘An Australian Father’.

“Rather than just suggesting that GenAI tools are immature and will eventually conform to cultural norms, these early forms of GenAI reveal something of their inner workings while giving users moments of pause as cultural norms glitch and are reconfigured, recombined, and ruptured.”

Srdarov, S., & Leaver, T. (2024). Generative AI Glitches: The Artificial Everything. M/C Journal, 27(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.3123

“Exploring the refusals and glitches of AI image generation tools can both reveal the contours of the operations of GenAI more broadly, and also inadvertently offer viewers of AI-generated imagery moments to reflect upon, and potentially rupture, rigid notions of subjectivity, family, fatherhood, and even the boundaries between human and animal.”

Srdarov, S., & Leaver, T. (2024). Generative AI Glitches: The Artificial Everything. M/C Journal, 27(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.3123

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Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

It was a privilege to be interviewed on Al Jazeera's The Take podcast exploring 'Why is Australia trying to ban social media for children?', with some real space to unpack the many challenges with a blanket ban (noting, this is a call for more & better regulation, not none!) youtu.be/Wf_zq8j7Hds?...

youtu.be

Why is Australia trying to ban social media for children? | The Take

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

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