First Monday

	This month: June 2009 Storytelling in new media: The case of alternate reality games, 2001–2009 This paper presents five Alternate Reality Game (ARG) case studies which reveal common features and mechanisms used to attract and retain diverse players, to create task–focused communities and to solve problems collectively. Voluntary, collective problem solving is an intriguing phenomenon wherein disparate individuals work together asynchronously to solve problems together. ARGs also take advantage of the unique features of new media to craft stories that could not be told using other media.

	Last month! Facebook and academic performance: Reconciling a media sensation with data A recent draft manuscript suggested that Facebook use might be related to lower academic achievement in college and graduate school. The report quickly became a media sensation and was picked up by hundreds of news outlets in a matter of days. his paper attempts to replicate the results reported in the press release using three data sets. A negative relationship between Facebook use and grades was not found in the samples. Indeed, if anything, Facebook use is more common among individuals with higher grades.

	Podcasts First Monday Podcast interviews Danel Downs about Internet security. How aware are you about anti–virus software, firewalls, and botnets?


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