Crisis informatics has examined how institutions and individuals seek, communicate, and curate information in response to crises. The public's communication and perception of risks on social media remain understudied. In this study, we report a qualitative analysis of public perceptions of risks and risk management measures on Reddit during the Zika crisis, an emerging epidemic associated with high uncertainty regarding pathology, epidemiology, and broad consequences. We found two types of perceived risks: ones directly caused by the Zika virus, and ones potentially introduced by authorities' risk management measures. Risk perceptions unfolded along multiple dimensions beyond the imminent and personal level. Reddit users discussed in a speculative way to foresee various risks in the long run or at larger geographical scales. We discuss the multidimensionality and speculative nature of risk perception on social media, and derive implications for crisis informatics research and public health research and practice.

Streakiness refers to observed tendency towards consecutive appearances of particular patterns. In video games, streakiness is oftentimes inevitable, where a player keeps winning or losing for a short period. However, the phenomenon remains understudied in present online game research. How do players perceive streakiness? How does it impact player experience (PX)? How should streakiness be taken into consideration for the design of PX? In this paper, we address these questions through a qualitative study of player discussions about streakiness in League of Legends. We found that players developed various ways to describe a streak. Both winning and losing streaks negatively impacted PX. Players devised numerous strategies to manage streakiness, among which disengagement was a primary means. We analyze streakiness as a social construct through which players coped with complex game systems. We discuss design implications for managing streakiness in online games.