Dr. Kelly Bergstrom
Department of Communication & Media Studies
York University
CURRENT FACULTY APPOINTMENT
2024- Associate Professor
Social Media & Public Relations, Department of Communication & Media Studies
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University
Graduate Faculty Affiliations: Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture; Graduate
Program in Science and Technology Studies; Interdisciplinary studies.
2024- Deputy Director
Institute for Technoscience and Society (ITS), Organized Research Unit at York University
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS
2023-2024: Interim Director
Institute for Technoscience and Society (ITS), Organized Research Unit at York University
2021-2024: Assistant Professor
Social Media & Public Relations, Department of Communication & Media Studies
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University
2017-2021: Assistant Professor
Digital Cultures, School of Communications
College of Social Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
2017: MITACS Postdoctoral Researcher
York University & Big Viking Games, Toronto, Ontario
2015-2017: Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute for Research on Digital Learning (IRDL), Organized Research Unit at York University
2015-2017: Part-time Faculty
Faculty of Continuing Education and Training, Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology
EDUCATION
2016: PhD, Language, Culture and Teaching
Faculty of Education, York University
Dissertation: To play or not to play: Non/participation in EVE Online
2009: MA, Communication and Culture
Faculty of Communication, University of Calgary
Thesis: Adventuring together: Exploring how romantic couples use MMOs as part of their shared leisure time
2007: BA (Honours), Communication
School of Communication, Simon Fraser University
Thesis: Social capital in MMORPGs: A framework for future studies
2007: BFA, Visual Art
School for Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University
PUBLICATIONS
Peer Reviewed Articles
*graduate student co-author
2023: Bergstrom, K. and Poor, N. We Have Always Been Social: Comparing Social Expressiveness
Between Single-Player and Multiplayer Gamers. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds. 15(3),
247-266.
2022: Bergstrom, K. Ignoring the blood on the tracks: Exits and departures from game studies. Critical
Studies in Media Communication. 39(3), 173-180. Special issue: The Future of Game Studies.
Bergstrom, K. When a door becomes a window: Using Glassdoor to examine game industry work
cultures. Information, Communication and Society. 25(6), 835-850. Special issue: Association of
Internet Researchers #AoIR2021: Independence.
Bergstrom, K. and Poor, N. Signaling the Intent to Change Online Communities: A Case from a Reddit Gaming Community. Social Media + Society. 8(2), 1-10.
2021: Bergstrom, K. What if we were all novices? Making room for inexperience in a game studies
classroom. Digital Culture and Education. 13(2), 37-53. Special issue: International Perspectives
on Digital Games and Inclusion.
Bergstrom, K and Poor, N. Reddit gaming communities during times of transition. Social Media + Society. 7(2), 1-12.
Bergstrom, K. Anti-Social Social Gaming: Community conflict in a Facebook game. Critical Studies in Media Communication. 38(1), 1-14.
2020: Bergstrom, K. and Neo, R. Searching for the Stairway to Heaven: Information seeking about an
illegal hiking trail in Hawai‘i. Leisure Studies. 39(5), 751-764.
Bergstrom, K. Destruction as deviant leisure in EVE Online. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 13(1), 1-10.
2019: Bergstrom, K. Moving Beyond Churn: Barriers and constraints to playing a social network game.
Games and Culture, 14(2), 170–189. Special issue: Casual Games
Bergstrom, K. Temporary Break or Permanent Departure? Rethinking what it means to quit EVE Online. Games and Culture, 14(3), 276–296.
Bergstrom, K. EVE Online is not for everyone: Exceptionalism in online gaming cultures. Human Technology, 15(3), 304–325. Special issue: Games and play at the margins: Between visibilities and invisibilities
Bergstrom, K. Barriers to Play: Accounting for non-participation in digital game play. Feminist Media Studies, 19(6), 841–857.
2017: Bergstrom, K., Jenson, J., de Castell, S. & Taylor, N. Virtually Together: Examining pre-existing
relationships in MMOG play. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. 10(2), 1–16.
Bergstrom, K. An Unwelcome Intrusion? Player responses to survey research recruitment on a popular online game forum. Loading… The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association. 10(16), 15–31.
2016: Bergstrom, K., Fisher, S., & Jenson, J. Disavowing “That Guy”: Identity construction and
Massively Multiplayer Online Game Players. Convergence: The International Journal of
Research into New Media Technologies. 22(3), 233–249.
2015: Bergstrom, K., Jenson, J., Hydomako, R., & de Castell, S. The Keys to Success: Supplemental
measures of player expertise in Massively Multiplayer Online Games. Journal of Gaming &
Virtual Worlds. 7(1), 101–121.
Taylor, N., Bergstrom, K., Jenson, J., & de Castell, S. Alienated Playbour: Relations of production in EVE Online. Games and Culture. 10(4), 365–388.
2011: Bergstrom, K. Don’t Feed the Troll: Shutting down debate about community expectations on
Reddit.com. First Monday. 16(8). Online.
Peer Reviewed Pedagogy-Focused Writing:
*graduate student co-author
2022: *Tran, C. & Bergstrom, K. How to Incorporate Feminist & Postcolonial Perspectives in Games
Research. In SAGE Research Methods: Doing Research Online.
2021: Bergstrom, K. Who is playing Pokémon Go? An observational activity. Communication Teacher.
35(2), 93-97.
Edited Books
2016: Carter, M., Bergstrom, K., & Woodford, D. (eds.) Internet Spaceships are Serious Business: An
EVE Online Reader. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Book Chapters
2022: Bergstrom, K. EVE Online. In, B. Perron, K. Boudreau, M. J. P. Wolf, & D. Arsenault (Eds.),
Fifty Key Video Games (pp. 93-98). New York: Routledge.
2019: Bergstrom, K. EVE Online: Cheating. In M. T. Payne & N. Huntemann (Eds.), How to Play Video
Games (pp. 301-308). New York: NYU Press.
2016: Bergstrom, K. Everything I know about this game suggests I should avoid it at all costs:
Non-player perceptions about EVE Online. In Y. Kafai, B. Tynes, & G. Richard (Eds.),
Diversifying Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Race and Gender in Gaming (pp.
118-132). Pittsburgh, PA: ETC Press.
Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings (Full Papers)
2021: Bergstrom, K. and Sherman, J. Who stays in the game? Similarities and Differences Between Current and Former Digital Games Players. In Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
2018: Bergstrom, K., Flynn-Jones, E., Jenson, J. & Hebert, C. Videogame walkthroughs in educational settings: Challenges, successes and suggestions for future use. In Proceedings of the 51th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
2017: de Castell, S., Jenson, J., Flynn-Jones, E., & Bergstrom, K. Learning Links: A study of narrative learning through games with The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker. In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
2016: Bergstrom, K., de Castell, S., & Jenson, J. Digital Detritus: What can we learn from abandoned Massively Multiplayer Online Game avatars? In Proceedings of the 1st International Joint Conference of DiGRA and FDG.
2015: Carter, M., Bergstrom, K., Webber, N., & Milik, O. EVE is Real. In Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association 2015 Conference: Diversity of Play.
2013: Bergstrom, K., Carter, M., Woodford, D., & Paul, C. Constructing the Ideal EVE Online Player. In Proceedings of Digital Games Research Association 2013 Conference: DeFragging Game Studies.
2012: Bergstrom, K., Jenson, J., & de Castell, S. What’s ‘Choice’ Got to Do With It? Avatar selection differences between novice and expert players of World of Warcraft and Rift. In Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG '12). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 97-104.
2011: Bergstrom, K., McArthur, V., Jenson, J., & Peyton, T. All in a Day’s Work: A study of World of Warcraft NPCs comparing gender across professions. In Proceedings of the 2011 ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Video Games (Sandbox '11). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 31-35.
Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings (Extended Abstracts)
2021: Bergstrom, K. What Is Behind The (Glass) Door? Examining Toxic Workplace Cultures Via An
Employment Review Site. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2021.
2020: Halavais, A., Massanari, A., Bergstrom, K., & Poor, N. Reddit’s Communities &
Consequences. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2020.
2018: Bergstrom, K. What can ‘Why I Left BuzzFeed’ vlogs teach us about invisible labour? In AoIR
Selected Papers of Internet Research 19.0.
2016: Bergstrom, K. “You don’t ever stop playing EVE Online, you just take a break”: Rethinking what
it means to quit a Massively Multiplayer Online Game. In Proceedings of the 1st International
Joint Conference of DiGRA and FDG.
2015: Bergstrom, K. Feminism is for angry white women: Exploring images of feminism on
Reddit.com. In AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research 16.0.
2013: Bergstrom, K. EVE Online Newbie Guides: Helpful Information or Gatekeeping Mechanisms at
Work? In AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research 14.0.
Jenson, J., Bergstrom, K., & de Castell, S. Playing ‘for Real’: A Lab-Based Study of MMOGs. In AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research 14.0.
Carter, M., Woodford, D., & Bergstrom, K. Internet Spaceships are Serious Business: EVE Online
Workshop Introduction. In Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG ’13).
2012: Bergstrom, K. Virtual Inequality: A woman’s place in cyberspace. In Proceedings of the
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG '12). ACM, New York, NY,
USA, 267-269.
Research Reports and White Papers
2017: Single author. “User Behaviour in Social Networking Games: Why do players quit?” Final research report submitted to MITACS and Big Viking Games after completion of Accelerate Postdoctoral Internship
2016: Contributing author. “Notoriously Toxic: Understanding the language and cost of hate and
harassment in online games”, White paper submitted to the National Endowment for the
Humanities
2012: Primary author. “EVE Online Observational Study”, Literature review and research report
prepared for the Stanford Research Institute
2012: Contributing author. “Co-Situated MMOG Play by Romantic Couples”, Literature review and
research report prepared for the Stanford Research Institute.
Invited Contributions
2016: Carter, M., Bergstrom, K., Webber, N., & Milik, O. EVE is Real: How conceptions of the ‘real’
affect and reflect an online game community. Well Played: A Journal on Video games, Value and
Meaning. 5(2), 5-33.
2012: Bergstrom, K. What Can Advice Animals Teach Us About Feminism? Fembot: Gender, New
Media & Technology.
2019: Bergstrom, K. Introducing Surveylady: A case for the use of avatars in game studies research.
Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology 2(1) 18–22.
2007: Bergstrom, K. Conducting Research Through MMORPGs. The Digest. Issue 18.
COURSES TAUGHT
York University (Graduate Courses)
STS 5010 Thesis Research and Writing Lab
STS 6006 Digital Technoscience
CMCT 6911 Directed Readings
York University (Undergraduate Courses)
CMDS 1630 Video Gaming and Society
CMDS 2150 Introduction to Research Methods in Communication & Media Studies
CMDS 2500 Information and Technology
CMDS 3550 Digital Media and Culture
CMDS 3551 Advanced Issues in Digital Media and Culture
CMDS 4206 NetWork: Digital Labour, Profit, and Exploitation
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (Graduate Courses)
COM 633 Information and Communication Technologies
COM 691 Communication Topics: Games, Culture & Society
COM 699 Directed Readings/Research (MA)
COM 700 Thesis (MA)
CIS 699 Directed Readings/Research (PhD)
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (Undergraduate Courses)
COM 201 Introduction to Communication
COM 355 Digital Cultures
COM 401 Inquiry Methods in Communication
COM 479 ICT & Policy Capstone
COM 499 Directed Readings/Research (BA)
Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology (Undergraduate Courses)
INC 300 Social Media and Professional Identity