Online Gaming and its Social Impact
Tim Craft
Comm240
Dr. Mahood
Early online gaming started in the 1980’s with what they called dialup bulletin board systems. Many of the games that started out on these systems could range from text adventures to some forms of gambling like blackjack where you would just play for points instead of actual real money. On Multi-User bulletin board systems then they sometimes had games where you could interact with each other and these were more or less fantasy games sort of like dungeon and dragons. These games would eventually evolve in what we know of today as the big online community games that most people who play online gaming these days are used to. These are called massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORPG. These are where a large number of people or players interact with each other in a virtual world. These days more and more kids and adults are playing these games. They sit at there computer for up to 20 hours at a time sometimes and not leave the house playing role games like World of War Craft and other games where you create a fictional character of yourself and interact with people all over the world. Now is this good for these kids and adults to keep interacting with people in a virtual world and not a real world? There have been some studies done on the impact these games have had on people and what they might end up doing to peoples social abilities in the future that we will take a look at.
There was a 1-month study that was done of an online game that looked at its social and civic impact. The study had mixed results where even though the game improved online communities, some people’s friendships took a hit because they were always involved with this game and the people playing this game became more to themselves. The subjects family interaction was not affected or they didn’t stop learning what was going on in the world but other forms of entertainment was stopped being used because they would always just play that game. It seems none of the people in the study would have a social life outside of an online community they would just stay at home and play the online game. They never really had face to face interactions as much and they would go in to what was described in the study as “cocooning.” Now how good is this for people to be bottled up in a room for however long staring at a computer playing a game? This is not going to help how people interact with each other in the long run on the outside world if this keeps happening. This certainly will not help kids to learn different things like sports or even to exercise regularly. If we keep having kids playing games like this and not going outside and doing some activities or interacting with other kids we are going to have a pretty crazy generation on our hands as far as I’m concerned. You may meet some other people through the computer interactively around the world but how many times do these people actually meet and develop real friendships? It will be interesting to see how far along these games will come and how much it will take a toll on the youth of the nation. I guess we will just have to keep doing more studies to see how it effects our society.
Williams, Dmitri. (2006). Groups and Goblins: The Social Impact of an Online Game. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 50 (4)p.651-670
21 comments:
I agree with Tim and believe that online gaming can be a serious problem for the development of communication skills among children. Communicating with real people is crucial to success in this world because you need to be able to communicate your ideas and thoughts to others in an appropriate manner to get something accomplished. If people are only communicated online and through online gaming then their face-to-face interaction will most likely decrease and they will have eventual problems latter on in life when the game is no long relevant. Overall, online gaming is ok as long as it is done in proportion and not abused and played for extended periods of time.
-Joseph Weinberg (weinberg.45)
This was an interesting history on the origins of online gaming. It is very cool to see the progress that the games have made. You bring up good points about the social implications of online gaming though. I have been directly impacted by friends who start playing World of Warcraft and then start falling out of their social circle. However, these friends were having a lot of fun and claimed to be making new friends online with similar interests. In the end, I think there just needs to be a careful balance between how much a person plays in the online world and how much time they spend in reality.
Ian Stroud
Stroud.38
I agree that online gaming is a problem for children when it comes to developing social skills needed for everyday use. But not only is it a problem for children, but for adults too. Many adults surrender countless hours playing video games online, and social skills suffer for them as well. It seems to have a similar effect to shopping online. Although you don't normally find people spending hours upon hours shopping online, you can virtually buy anything you need right from your home. It might be just laziness, but I will say that online video games are fun.
hansman.4
I also agree very much so that with games such of World of War Craft that kids and adults become so intwind with the game that they do not get outside and play sports learn about new exciting things or excersise. This could also be linked to obesity in the United States. A south park episode comes to mind when the "crew" become totally indulged in World of War Craft. Funny episode yet it brings light to my arguement that kids playing a game such as World of War Craft for sometimes as much as 20 hours in a row they dont experience activites that kids of their age should be doing. Online gaming is great and a great technology and communication, some people just take it to an extreme as with any of invention and innovation.
horstman.48
I am proud to say that I've never played a game "online" against someone else. I enjoy videogames as much as the next person, but I can't justify spending 20 hours at a time cooped up in my room in front of the computer playing a fantasy game. The videogames I most enjoy are multiplayer games like Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros. where up to 4 people can come together and have fun. Games like World of Warcraft ruin people's lives. I've seen it. They don't go to class, get assignments done, hang out with people, etc. Yes they interact with people over the game sometimes, but that is one type of interaction amongst many that are all important in creating social skills and relationships.
caracciolo.4
This paper brings up two very important points. The first point is that online gaming does have a sort of inherent positive affect. It allows gamers to pit themselves against others around the globe to see how one measures up within the global community with concern to that particular game. Growing up as a kid playing NES, I would have loved the ability to see if i was better than someone somewhere else in the country at Tecmo Super Bowl, Ninja Turtles, or any number of other games. The problem, however, comes when kids (and even adults) abuse this online gaming privelege by exceeding what i think would be a healthy rate of play. As a kid, i played a lot of video games, but not at one sitting. I would maybe play 5 hours a week but spanned over the whole 7 days. People these days take the online gaming to the extreme by pushing the weekly rate of play higher and higher. While the online aspect makes it benefitial to see how you compare to others, it becomes detrimental when one does so at the expense of other social and familial activities.
dury.12
I believe the topic of online gaming and social interraction is a rather interesting one. But I don't believe that they are the sole cause of why a person will spend countless hours in front of the screen in the virtual world. Most of these gamers that become addicted are trying to escape the real world albeit from bullying or just from being shy to meet new people. Treatment centers for gamers that cannot tear themselves away from games need to be started. These people need help to see that human interraction is necessary to live a complete life. Online gaming isn't the problem; excess consumption of the online game is the problem. Sitting down for an hour or two is nothing to be ashamed of or considered addicting. Just use the online game in moderation.
miller.4074
I remember watching my brother play The Legend of Zelda and being totally entranced. I would play games sometimes myself but not on the level of my brother. He would invite all his friends over and they would play for hours and hours. When online gaming came about he used to be locked in his room by himself forever! He eventually got back out into the world and socialized with actual human beings. I think it is a bit sad when gamers(especially children) become obsessed and spend all their free time(and maybe time that isn't really free) playing opponents online. See the world!
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