From Hanging Out to Figuring It Out: Socializing Online as a Pathway to Computational Thinking

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2602.03017v1
• Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2026 02:38:00 GMT
• Title: From Hanging Out to Figuring It Out: Socializing Online as a Pathway to Computational Thinking
• Authors: Samantha Shorey, Benjamin Mako Hill, Samuel C. Woolley,
• Abstract summary: We use a multi-stage analysis of over 14,000 comments on Scratch, an online platform designed to support learning about programming.<n>We inductively develop the concept of "participatory debuggers"<n>We identify three factors that serve as social antecedents of participatory debuggers.
• Score: 1.904031773979279
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Although socializing is a powerful driver of youth engagement online, platforms struggle to leverage engagement to promote learning. We seek to understand this dynamic using a multi-stage analysis of over 14,000 comments on Scratch, an online platform designed to support learning about programming. First, we inductively develop the concept of "participatory debugging" -- a practice through which users learn through collaborative technical troubleshooting. Second, we use a content analysis to establish how common the practice is on Scratch. Third, we conduct a qualitative analysis of user activity over time and identify three factors that serve as social antecedents of participatory debugging: (1) sustained community, (2) identifiable problems, and (3) what we call "topic porousness" to describe conversations that are able to span multiple topics. We integrate these findings in a theoretical framework that highlights a productive tension between the desire to promote learning and the interest-driven sub-communities that drive user engagement in many new media environments.

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