System Override: A Critical Virtual Ethnography of Women of Color's Digital Praxis in Horizon Worlds

This dissertation investigates how women of color navigate, resist, and transform the sociotechnical architectures of social virtual reality platforms, with a primary focus on Meta’s Horizon Worlds. Employing a critical virtual ethnography grounded in Black feminist and decolonized methodologies, the study draws on immersive observation and thirty in-depth interviews with women of color who are active creators, organizers, and participants within these digital spaces. The research interrogates how platform design, monetization models, and moderation practices systematically reproduce racialized and gendered exclusions while simultaneously documenting how marginalized users enact creative resistance and reimagine digital belonging. Findings reveal that platform defaults—ranging from avatar customization options to visibility algorithms and economic gatekeeping—often reflect Eurocentric and patriarchal biases, constraining the expressive and economic agency of women of color. Yet, the dissertation also uncovers diverse strategies of “system override,” through which participants formulate their own communities of care, repurpose digital tools for cultural affirmation, and develop counterpublics for collective safety and joy. These acts include avatar remixing, private affinity group formation, event hosting, and mentoring, as well as sustained advocacy for platform reform. The analysis advances a conceptual framework synthesizing feminist standpoint theory, Black cyberfeminism, platformization, and digital racial capitalism, arguing that women of color’s situated knowledge is indispensable for dismantling structural inequities in emerging digital ecosystems. By centering participant voices, the study offers empirical insights and actionable recommendations for inclusive design, transparent moderation, and equitable monetization in the metaverse. The dissertation concludes that the lived digital praxis of women of color does not merely contest technological injustice but generates blueprints for more just, joyful, and participatory virtual futures. This work intervenes in Communication, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and platform studies, advancing critical approaches to virtual world research.