Essi Taino
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essitai.bsky.social
Essi Taino
@essitai.bsky.social
PhD student & researcher, project PEGASUS @ Tampere University | Digital youth work specialist | Avid gamer and cat enthusiast | posts in 🇫🇮 🇬🇧 | she/they
Reposted by Essi Taino
EU friends, please take a moment to sign this initiative, especially if you're from the countries still below the support threshold
358 806 signatures for the full suspension of the EU-Israel association, more than 1/3 of what is needed and 4 of the 7 countries needed over 100%.
tinyurl.com/mv8fzdhu

☑️Belgium 103%
☑️Finland 100.5%
☑️France 296%
Ireland 58.7%
Italy 79.8%
Netherlands 31%
Poland 51.4%
☑️Spain 111.9%
Sweden 81.6%
January 24, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
Tänään saimme kunnian puhua yliopiston juhlasalissa Essi Tainon (@essitai.bsky.social) kanssa pelikulttuurista, siihen kuulumisesta ja näiden tutkimuksesta 7.–9.-luokkalaisille nuorille osana Tampereen yliopiston Tiedon valoa -tapahtumaa. Olipa iloa ja intoa tuova tapa päättää työviikko! 🤩
January 23, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
En ymmärrä tätä Tanskan mallista (jossa huoltajan luvalla voidaan joustaa sosiaalisen median ikärajasta) varoittelua. Sosiaalinen media ei edelleenkään ole mikään vääjäämätöntä tuhoa tekevä päihde, ja perheet ja lapset ovat tarpeiltaan ja käytännöiltään erilaisia.
Pienten lasten älypuhelimet ovat olleet ”hallitsematon ihmiskoe”, sanoo nuorisolääkäri – THL:n suositukset tiukentuivat
THL kiristi suosituksia digilaitteiden käytöstä lapsille ja nuorille. Älypuhelimia ei suositella alle 13-vuotiaille.
yle.fi
January 22, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
lol lmao even
January 15, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
January 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
My first co-authored research paper! 👀

It was super interesting to examine how DEI is currently handled in the public documents of Finnish game organizations. (Hint: It's not perfect, but there's progress!)
Our PEGASUS project team investigated how different types of (digital) game cultural organisations in Finland understand DEI in their own activities, and what kind of guidelines and practices they have for promoting DEI. The publication is openly available: revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/ij... 1/7
‘Cornerstones for Creativity and Success’ | The International Journal of Games and Social Impact
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are value-based principles that are widely utilised in building more socially and culturally sustainable environments that are experienced as welcoming and fair for all – also in diverse game cultural contexts. In this study, we investigate how different types of game cultural organisations in Finland understand DEI in the context of their own activities, and what kind of guidelines and practices they have for promoting DEI. The results are based on a reflexive content analysis on 18 public DEI documents from 11 Finnish game cultural organisations focusing on digital games and gaming. Based on our analysis, it seems that Finnish game cultural organisations view DEI as a pathway for their continuous success as well as for building better game culture for everyone. The examined organisations were actively expressing their commitment to promoting DEI both by working to prevent discrimination and harassment and by utilising practices to build safer and more inclusive environments. However, it was not always clear if these organisations had set specific goals for their DEI work and if they were following their progress in this area. Importantly, our investigation illustrates that a wide range of different types of organisations can contribute to the cultural ecosystem in which digital games are created, consumed, and utilised in various ways, and that inspecting this variety of organisations operating on different sectors of game culture may reveal more widely shared cultural values and practices within this environment.
revistas.ulusofona.pt
January 15, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
Aavistuksen turhauttavaa, että samalla kun ovat juuri valmistumassa suuren asiantuntijajoukon THL:n ja OPM:n kanssa valmistelemat suositukset lasten ja nuorten digitaalisen median käyttöön, heitellään todella hövelisti sellaisia "kielletään kaikki sosiaalinen media lapsilta ja nuorilta"-juttuja.
January 14, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
"Hankkeen myötä olemme saaneet iloksemme todeta, että Suomessa tehdään uraauurtavaa, kansainvälisesti merkittävää työtä pelikulttuurin yhdenvertaisuuden edistämiseksi," kirjoittavat Tampereen yliopiston PEGASUS-hankkeen tutkijat.

Katso myös hankkeen loppujulkaisu: trepo.tuni.fi/handle/10024...
Suomi voi olla yhdenvertaisemman pelikulttuurin edelläkävijämaa
Olemme kahden vuoden ajan toteuttaneet Suomen Akatemian rahoittamaa PEGASUS-hanketta, jossa olemme yhteistyössä suomalaisten toimijoiden kanssa pyrkineet kehittämään kulttuurisesti, sosiaalisesti j…
gameresearchlab.tuni.fi
January 14, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
"Minun ja kaltaisteni näkökulmasta maailma toimii nyt näin: se, mikä pitäisi pelastaa, näännytetään, ja sille, mikä tuhoaa, annetaan lisää rahaa ja valtaa.

Olen alkanut kerätä vihaa, mutten vielä tiedä, mitä sillä teen."

suomenkuvalehti.fi/mielipide/ti...
Tiina Raevaara: Olen alkanut kerätä vihaa, mutten vielä tiedä, mitä sillä teen
Jokaista kolmesta elämäntehtävästäni poljetaan nyt maahan, kirjoittaa Tiina Raevaara.
suomenkuvalehti.fi
January 11, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
PEGASUS-hankkeessamme olemme havainneet, että Suomessa tehdään uraauurtavaa, kansainvälisesti merkittävää työtä pelikulttuurin yhdenvertaisuuden eteen. Kansallinen #pelikulttuuristrategia mahdollistaisi tämän työn järjestelmällisen kehittämisen. Lue lisää: gameresearchlab.tuni.fi/suomi-voi-ol...
Suomi voi olla yhdenvertaisemman pelikulttuurin edelläkävijämaa
Olemme kahden vuoden ajan toteuttaneet Suomen Akatemian rahoittamaa PEGASUS-hanketta, jossa olemme yhteistyössä suomalaisten toimijoiden kanssa pyrkineet kehittämään kulttuurisesti, sosiaalisesti j…
gameresearchlab.tuni.fi
January 9, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
the discourse on what jobs are acceptable to replace with generative AI reveals a lot about what we think of other people's jobs
January 9, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
i miss when this guy was the only LLM
a man in a suit is holding a pink object
ALT: a man in a suit is holding a pink object
media.tenor.com
January 7, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
I’ve had the honour of writing a chapter on gender equality in esports organisations to the wonderful Sport, media and discrimination collection. Can recommend this to everyone interested in diversity and discrimination in sports media and media sports, esports included!
New publication: Gender equality in esports organizations
I’ve had the honour of writing a chapter on gender equality in esports organisations to the wonderful Sport, media and discrimination collection edited by Daniel Kilvington, John Price, Jasmi…
usvafriman.net
January 7, 2026 at 5:50 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"
January 3, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
I weep for the state of the EU that this spineless justifying of INCREDIBLY illegal acts by the United States is the response we give
I have spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and our Ambassador in Caracas. The EU is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela.

The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition. (1/2)
January 3, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Being thankful for the small things at the start of the new year, which in this case is getting actual snow and beautiful winter weather. Happy New Year to everyone. ❄️
January 1, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
May 2026 be better, safer, and fairer. May all that was good in 2025 be better in 2026. May all that was bad in 2025 be things we put our efforts towards improving.
December 31, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.

I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 30, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
November 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
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December 21, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
I've seen lots of acceleration due to the use of AI: acceleration of inequality, acceleration of climate catastrophe, acceleration of slop, acceleration of trust collapse, acceleration of scams, acceleration of model collapsed acceleration of misinformation, acceleration of drought
December 17, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by Essi Taino
For people who trusted copyright laws to rein in AI, this should be the last scene in Animal Farm. “They looked from IP to Tech, and from Tech to IP, but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach landmark agreement to bring beloved characters from across Disney’s brands to Sora
Agreement marks a significant step in setting meaningful standards for responsible AI in entertainment.
openai.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Essi Taino
So annoying that companies that promote GenAI and LLMs called it AI and didn’t differentiate it from the advanced machine learning algorithms and tools that enable so many great things that are also AI but actually solving a problem, and good.
December 10, 2025 at 12:25 PM