Abstract
Socio-technical Synthesis: Failure of Google Stadia and HoosHub
My technical work and my STS research are connected through their shared focus on how technological systems succeed or fail based on the networks of human and non-human actors that surround them. In my technical project, my team and I constructed a network composed of students, CIO leaders, and web infrastructure to improve communication and engagement across organizations. To better understand how networks succeed, I researched the case of Google Stadia to examine why it failed.
My technical project, HoosHub, is a centralized CIO web application designed to address the fragmentation of information across multiple platforms for student organizations at UVA. Currently, students rely on multiple platforms, such as email, social media, and recommendations from other people, to discover and engage with clubs, which often leads to missed opportunities. HoosHub is a unified platform where organizations can manage events, share updates, and recruit members, while students can easily explore and interact with campus groups. Creating HoosHub can enhance student involvement and streamline communication among CIOs.
In my STS research paper, I argue that the failure of Google Stadia can be explained by instability within its actor network. Specifically, I show that Google misidentified the core problem of traditional gaming, failed to enroll developers into its platform effectively, and could not stabilize the infrastructural relationships required for consistent cloud performance. Using Actor Network Theory, I analyze how Stadia attempted to align actors such as developers, players, and data centers but ultimately failed to maintain these relationships. This case demonstrates that technological success depends on the ability to build and sustain a reliable socio-technical network.
Working on both projects has provided a valuable perspective on the relationship between technical design and social context. My STS research prompted me to consider the broader network of users, stakeholders, and infrastructure that will determine HoosHub’s success. Stadia’s failure to align with user expectations highlights the importance of designing HoosHub in a way that actually meets user needs and operates reliably within its constraints. Additionally, the concept of network stabilization has influenced my focus on creating a platform that users can depend on. While the two projects differ in scale, the insights gained from analyzing a large-scale failure will inform my future work and help me build systems that are both technically sound and socially sustainable.
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