Live streaming has become increasingly popular, driven by the desire for direct and real-time interactions between streamers and viewers. However, current text-based interactions and pre-defined emojis limit expressiveness, especially when referring to specific stream moments. We propose ThingMoji, a type of user-captured cut-outs to enhance user expression and foster more effective communication between streamers and their audience in the comment section. ThingMojis are unique digital icons created by users by capturing snapshots and annotating specific areas at any point during the stream. We developed StreamThing, a live-streaming platform integrated with ThingMojis, to explore their use during object-focused live streaming contexts. In a user study with three in-the-wild deployments reveals the expressive use of ThingMojis in diverse live-streaming scenarios with rich visual contents. Our findings show that ThingMojis enable viewers to reference specific objects, express emotions, and create shared visual narratives. Streamers found ThingMojis valuable for facilitating on-the-fly communication around visual content and fostering playful interactions. The study also uncovered challenges in ThingMoji comprehension, issues for long-term uses of ThingMojis, and potential concerns regarding misuse. Based on these insights, we discussed new opportunities for supporting object-focused communication during live streaming environments.

Online video platforms have gained increased popularity due to their ability to support information consumption and sharing and the diverse social interactions they afford. Danmaku, a real-time commentary feature that overlays user comments on a video, has been found to improve user engagement, however, the use of Danmaku can lead to toxic behaviors and inappropriate comments. To address these issues, we propose a proactive moderation approach inspired by Impact Captions, a visual technique used in East Asian variety shows. Impact Captions combine textual content and visual elements to construct emotional and cognitive resonance. Within the context of this work, Impact Captions were used to guide viewers towards positive Danmaku-related activities and elicit more pro-social behaviors. Leveraging Impact Captions, we developed DanModCap, an moderation tool that collected and analyzed Danmaku and used it as input to large generative language models to produce Impact Captions. Our evaluation of DanModCap demonstrated that Impact Captions reduced negative antagonistic emotions, increased users' desire to share positive content, and elicited self-control in Danmaku social action to fostering proactive community maintenance behaviors. Our approach highlights the benefits of using LLM-supported content moderation methods for proactive moderation in a large-scale live content contexts.

In recent years, third-party platforms for trading virtual game goods have rapidly gained popularity in China. These platforms refer to those that do not belong to game companies but still allow players to trade virtual game goods with one another. However, the motivations and practices surrounding trading on these platforms remain largely underexplored. To address this gap, we conducted an interview-based study with experienced players engaged in virtual goods trading. We used thematic analysis to examine the experiences and practices of players on these third-party trading platforms. Our work found that these third-party platforms have become an important component of maintaining players' gaming experience and converting large numbers of players into traders who earn cash from the game. Our research also offers nuanced insights into players' efforts to reconcile the dynamics between platforms and their expectations for virtual goods trading.

In recent years, the global unemployment rate has remained persistently high. Compounding this issue, the ageing population in China often encounters additional challenges in finding employment due to prevalent age discrimination in daily life. However, with the advent of social media, there has been a rise in the popularity of short videos and live-streams for recruiting ageing workers. To better understand the motivations of ageing job seekers to engage with these video-based recruitment methods and to explore the extent to which such platforms can empower them, we conducted an interview-based study with ageing job seekers who have had exposure to these short recruitment videos and live-streaming channels. Our findings reveal that these platforms can provide a job-seeking choice that is particularly friendly to ageing job seekers, effectively improving their disadvantaged situation.

Prewriting is the process of discovering and developing ideas before writing a first draft, which requires divergent thinking and often implies unstructured strategies such as diagramming, outlining, free-writing, etc. Although large language models (LLMs) have been demonstrated to be useful for a variety of tasks including creative writing, little is known about how users would collaborate with LLMs to support prewriting. The preferred collaborative role and initiative of LLMs during such a creative process is also unclear. To investigate human-LLM collaboration patterns and dynamics during prewriting, we conducted a three-session qualitative study with 15 participants in two creative tasks: story writing and slogan writing. The findings indicated that during collaborative prewriting, there appears to be a three-stage iterative Human-AI Co-creativity process that includes Ideation, Illumination, and Implementation stages. This collaborative process champions the human in a dominant role, in addition to mixed and shifting levels of initiative that exist between humans and LLMs. This research also reports on collaboration breakdowns that occur during this process, user perceptions of using existing LLMs during Human-AI Co-creativity, and discusses design implications to support this co-creativity process.

Live streaming is becoming increasingly popular in recent years, as most channels prioritize the delivery of engaging content to their viewers. Among various live streaming channels, Danmaku participation game (DPG) has emerged in China as a mixture of live streaming and online gaming, offering an immersive gaming experience to players. Although prior research has explored audience participation games (APGs) in North America and Europe, it primarily focuses on discussing prototypes and lacks observation of players in natural settings. Little is known about how players perceive DPGs and their player experience. To fill the research gap, we observed a series of DPG channels and conducted an interview-based study to gain insights into the practices and experiences of DPG players. Our work reveals that DPGs can effectively synergize live streaming and online games, amplifying both player engagement and a profound sense of accomplishment to players.