Building Social Relationships in a Virtual Community of Gamers

2009 ◽  
pp. 171-177
Author(s):  
Shafiz Affendi Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Online Games ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interpretive Method

The explosive growth of the Internet has enabled virtual communities to engage in social activities such as meeting people, developing friendships and relationships, sharing experiences, telling personal stories, or just listening to jokes. Such online activities are developed across time and space with people from different walks of life, age groups, and cultural backgrounds. A few scholars have clearly defined virtual community as a social entity where people relate to one another by the use of a specific technology (Jones, 1995; Rheingold, 1993; Schuler, 1996) like computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies to foster social relationships (Wood & Smith, 2001). It is further supported by Stolterman, Agren, and Croon (1999) who refers to virtual community as a new social “life form” surfacing from the Internet and CMC. There are several types of virtual community such as the virtual community of relationship, the virtual community of place, the virtual community of memory, the virtual community of fantasy, the virtual community of mind/interest, and the virtual community of transaction (Bellah, 1985; Hagel & Armstrong, 1997; Kowch & Schwier, 1997). These types of virtual community all share a common concept, which is the existence of a group of people who are facilitated with various forms of CMCs. With the heightened use of CMCs, people begin to transit and replicate the same sense of belonging through meaningful relationships by creating a new form of social identity and social presence. As emphasized by Hiltz and Wellman (1997), people can come from many parts of the world to form “close-knit” relationships in a virtual community. The purpose of this article is to understand how online gamers as a virtual community build social relationships through their participation in online games. Empirically, several aspects in the context of virtual community are still not fully understood, such as: (1) What types of rules, norms, and values are grounded in virtual community? (2) How do people institutionalize their members in a virtual community? and (3) Why do they create social relationships in virtual environment? The identified gap thus explains why studies have produced inconsistent findings on the impacts of online game play (Williams, 2003), in which many studies in the past have only looked at aggression and addiction. A more detailed understanding of the social context of in-game interactions would help to improve our understanding of the impact of online games on players and vice versa. Therefore, this article will present a case study of a renowned online game, Ever Quest (EQ), with the aim of understanding how players establish and develop social relationships. In specific, the Institutional Theory was applied to examine the social relationships among the players, and a hermeneutic- interpretive method was used to analyze the data in order to address the following general research question, “How is the social world of EQ constituted in terms of building social relationships?”

Building Social Relationships in a Virtual Community of Gamers

2010 ◽  
pp. 1445-1453
Author(s):  
Shafiz Affendi Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interpretive Method ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this article is to understand how online gamers as a virtual community build social relationships through their participation in online games. Empirically, several aspects in the context of virtual community are still not fully understood, such as: (1) What types of rules, norms, and values are grounded in virtual community? (2) How do people institutionalize their members in a virtual community? and (3) Why do they create social relationships in virtual environment? The identified gap thus explains why studies have produced inconsistent findings on the impacts of online game play (Williams, 2003), in which many studies in the past have only looked at aggression and addiction. A more detailed understanding of the social context of in-game interactions would help to improve our understanding of the impact of online games on players and vice versa. Therefore, this article will present a case study of a renowned online game, Ever Quest (EQ), with the aim of understanding how players establish and develop social relationships. In specific, the Institutional Theory was applied to examine the social relationships among the players, and a hermeneutic-interpretive method was used to analyze the data in order to address the following general research question, “How is the social world of EQ constituted in terms of building social relationships?”

Defining "Virtual Community"

2008 ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Ridings
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come

The rise of the Internet has spawned the prolific use of the adjective “virtual.” Both the popular press and scholarly researchers have written about virtual work, virtual teams, virtual organizations, and virtual groups. But perhaps one of the most interesting phenomena to come to the forefront has been that of virtual communities. Many definitions of this term have been proposed and the term has been used in many different ways. This article will examine some of the most popular definitions and guidelines to understand what truly constitutes a virtual community. To define a virtual community, one needs to first examine the two words separately, particularly the sociological definition of “community.” The German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies, in his 1887 book, made the distinction between two basic types of social groups: Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft (society). The former was often exemplified by the family or neighborhood (Tonnies, 1957). Sociology literature also often refers to the definition given by George Hillery, who reviewed 94 different definitions in academic studies. Three elements were common to the definitions, namely that community (1) was based on geographic areas, (2) included social interaction among people, and (3) had common ties such as social life, norms, means, or ends (Hillery, 1955). Thus the term community typically connotes a group of people within some geographic boundary, such as a neighborhood, or perhaps smaller subsection of a larger city. Further specification might have defined a community as a group of people within the geographic boundary with a common interest, such as the Jewish community of Brooklyn or the physician community of London. Therefore, members of the community were drawn together by both local proximity and common interest, even if the interest was in the geographic area itself. The term virtual, precipitated by the advent of information technology, and specifically, the Internet, means without a physical place as a home (Handy, 1995), or that which is electronic or enabled by technology (Lee, Vogel, & Limayem, 2003). Information technology therefore has expanded the means by which the social interaction in communities can be accomplished. While for most of human existence interaction was strictly limited to the face-to-face medium, social interaction can now be accomplished virtually, thus eliminating the necessity of being physically close enough to communicate. This type of communication is called computer-mediated communication (CMC). Combining the two terms together, thus, would mean eliminating the geographic requirements and allowing that the social interaction would occur virtually, that is, via information technology, among people with common ties. In fact, people have been coming together in virtual communities on the Internet for over 25 years. Usenet newsgroups, started in 1979, are widely regarded as the first virtual communities on the Internet (M. A. Smith, 1999), and The Well (www.well.com), started in 1985, is often referred to as an early exemplar of virtual community (Rheingold, 1993). Virtual communities may be part of a long-term shift away from geographic ties to common interest ties (Wellman & Gulia, 1999b). Formal definitions and understandings of the term virtual community still remain problematic, however (Lee et al., 2003). Perhaps the most cited definition is that of Howard Rheingold, a prominent author, consultant, and member of The Well: Social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace. (Rheingold, 1993, p. 5) Common to many of the definitions is the presence of shared interests or goals (Dennis, Pootheri, & Natarajan, 1998; Figallo, 1998; Kilsheimer, 1997). With the advent of information technology, locating/contacting others outside the local community has become relatively easy, especially when one seeks others who have a unique or uncommon interest. It may be that technology makes it easier for communities to form. For example, it may be difficult for someone interested in traditional bowhunting to locate others with the same inclinations by popping into the local tavern or socializing at a church function. However, a simple search in Google reveals a vibrant community centered around such an interest (www.bowsite.com/). There are virtual communities for nearly every interest that comes to mind, from medical afflictions (e.g., breast cancer, Parkinson’s, Down’s syndrome) to hobbies (e.g., coin collecting, wine, saltwater aquariums) to professions (e.g., nursing, law, finance). Implicit with the notion of community is some permanence among members and frequency of visits by members (A. D. Smith, 1999). Virtual communities must have a sense of long-term interaction (Erickson, 1997), not a place where people go only occasionally or where there are always different people. It is not uncommon for people to develop strong attachments to virtual communities, visiting them often enough to be described as “addicted” (Hiltz, 1984; Hiltz & Wellman, 1997). The members often feel part of a larger social whole within a web of relationships with others (Figallo, 1998). Indeed, many researchers have considered virtual communities as social networks (Hiltz & Wellman, 1997; Wellman, 1996; Wellman & Gulia, 1999a). Ridings et al. (2002) offer a comprehensive definition that incorporates the afore-mentioned concepts: Groups of people with common interests and practices that communicate regularly and for some duration in an organized way over the Internet through a common location or mechanism. (p. 273)

Virtual Community and Online Game Players

2011 ◽  
pp. 1757-1763
Author(s):  
Jengchung V. Chen ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technology ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Online Games ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Game Players

Since the Internet and other IT technologies have become more popular than ever before, the amount of time people spend with computers and IT products, such as Internet and online games, has increased tremendously. The continuing boom of information and communication technology is causing the Internet to become a part of everyone’s life. People use the Internet not only as a tool for their jobs, but also to participate in virtual communities. Even if the rate of Internet uptake slows considerably (Weisenbacher, 2002), the trend still remains growing. There were 275.5 million people using the Internet in February 2000. That number had changed to 605.60 million in September 2002 (Nua Ltd., 2002). According to Horrigan’s study (2001), 84 percent of Internet users in America have participated in a virtual community. Moreover, apart from the number of people using Internet, the average time spent doing any activity online is increasing.

Defining "Virtual Community"

2011 ◽  
pp. 116-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Ridings
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come

The rise of the Internet has spawned the prolific use of the adjective “virtual.” Both the popular press and scholarly researchers have written about virtual work, virtual teams, virtual organizations, and virtual groups. But perhaps one of the most interesting phenomena to come to the forefront has been that of virtual communities. Many definitions of this term have been proposed and the term has been used in many different ways. This article will examine some of the most popular definitions and guidelines to understand what truly constitutes a virtual community. To define a virtual community, one needs to first examine the two words separately, particularly the sociological definition of “community.” The German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies, in his 1887 book, made the distinction between two basic types of social groups: Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft (society). The former was often exemplified by the family or neighborhood (Tonnies, 1957). Sociology literature also often refers to the definition given by George Hillery, who reviewed 94 different definitions in academic studies. Three elements were common to the definitions, namely that community (1) was based on geographic areas, (2) included social interaction among people, and (3) had common ties such as social life, norms, means, or ends (Hillery, 1955). Thus the term community typically connotes a group of people within some geographic boundary, such as a neighborhood, or perhaps smaller subsection of a larger city. Further specification might have defined a community as a group of people within the geographic boundary with a common interest, such as the Jewish community of Brooklyn or the physician community of London. Therefore, members of the community were drawn together by both local proximity and common interest, even if the interest was in the geographic area itself. The term virtual, precipitated by the advent of information technology, and specifically, the Internet, means without a physical place as a home (Handy, 1995), or that which is electronic or enabled by technology (Lee, Vogel, & Limayem, 2003). Information technology therefore has expanded the means by which the social interaction in communities can be accomplished. While for most of human existence interaction was strictly limited to the face-to-face medium, social interaction can now be accomplished virtually, thus eliminating the necessity of being physically close enough to communicate. This type of communication is called computer-mediated communication (CMC). Combining the two terms together, thus, would mean eliminating the geographic requirements and allowing that the social interaction would occur virtually, that is, via information technology, among people with common ties. In fact, people have been coming together in virtual communities on the Internet for over 25 years. Usenet newsgroups, started in 1979, are widely regarded as the first virtual communities on the Internet (M. A. Smith, 1999), and The Well (www.well.com), started in 1985, is often referred to as an early exemplar of virtual community (Rheingold, 1993). Virtual communities may be part of a long-term shift away from geographic ties to common interest ties (Wellman & Gulia, 1999b). Formal definitions and understandings of the term virtual community still remain problematic, however (Lee et al., 2003). Perhaps the most cited definition is that of Howard Rheingold, a prominent author, consultant, and member of The Well: Social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace. (Rheingold, 1993, p. 5) Common to many of the definitions is the presence of shared interests or goals (Dennis, Pootheri, & Natarajan, 1998; Figallo, 1998; Kilsheimer, 1997). With the advent of information technology, locating/contacting others outside the local community has become relatively easy, especially when one seeks others who have a unique or uncommon interest. It may be that technology makes it easier for communities to form. For example, it may be difficult for someone interested in traditional bowhunting to locate others with the same inclinations by popping into the local tavern or socializing at a church function. However, a simple search in Google reveals a vibrant community centered around such an interest (www.bowsite.com/). There are virtual communities for nearly every interest that comes to mind, from medical afflictions (e.g., breast cancer, Parkinson’s, Down’s syndrome) to hobbies (e.g., coin collecting, wine, saltwater aquariums) to professions (e.g., nursing, law, finance). Implicit with the notion of community is some permanence among members and frequency of visits by members (A. D. Smith, 1999). Virtual communities must have a sense of long-term interaction (Erickson, 1997), not a place where people go only occasionally or where there are always different people. It is not uncommon for people to develop strong attachments to virtual communities, visiting them often enough to be described as “addicted” (Hiltz, 1984; Hiltz & Wellman, 1997). The members often feel part of a larger social whole within a web of relationships with others (Figallo, 1998). Indeed, many researchers have considered virtual communities as social networks (Hiltz & Wellman, 1997; Wellman, 1996; Wellman & Gulia, 1999a). Ridings et al. (2002) offer a comprehensive definition that incorporates the afore-mentioned concepts: Groups of people with common interests and practices that communicate regularly and for some duration in an organized way over the Internet through a common location or mechanism. (p. 273)

Virtual Community and Online Game Players

2011 ◽  
pp. 1511-1519
Author(s):  
Jengchung V. Chen ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technology ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Online Games ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Game Players

Since the Internet and other IT technologies have become more popular than ever before, the amount of time people spend with computers and IT products, such as Internet and online games, has increased tremendously. The continuing boom of information and communication technology is causing the Internet to become a part of everyone’s life. People use the Internet not only as a tool for their jobs, but also to participate in virtual communities. Even if the rate of Internet uptake slows considerably (Weisenbacher, 2002), the trend still remains growing. There were 275.5 million people using the Internet in February 2000. That number had changed to 605.60 million in September 2002 (Nua Ltd., 2002). According to Horrigan’s study (2001), 84 percent of Internet users in America have participated in a virtual community. Moreover, apart from the number of people using Internet, the average time spent doing any activity online is increasing.

scholarly journals KOMUNIKASI KOMUNITAS VIRTUAL DAN GAYA HIDUP GLOBAL KAUM REMAJA GAY DI MEDIA SOSIAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-52
Author(s):  
Fita Fathurokhmah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Social Effects ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Gay Community

AbstractThis study will examine how the virtual community communication is carried out by gay teenagers on Grindr social media. Why is the youth gay community using the Grindr app as a communication tool? What social effects arise from the Grindr application's virtual community communication? This article used Lori Kendall's theory of community and the Internet, that discuss the emergence of social relationships that are mediated by communication via the internet. The findings of this study explain that the characteristics of virtual community communication rise a community that is speech, discourse and practice in nature. These three forms of gay virtual community communication among adolescents cannot be separated because each form has characteristics and is a stage in forming a community.  AbstrakPenelitian ini akan mencermati bagaimana komunikasi komunitas virtual dilakukan kaum gay remaja di media sosial Grindr. Mengapa komunitas gay remaja menggunakan aplikasi Grindr sebagai alat komunikasi? Efek sosial seperti apa yang muncul dari komunikasi komunitas virtual aplikasi Grindr? Artikel ini menggunakan teori community dan internet dari Lori Kendall, yang membahas mengenai munculnya hubungan sosial yang dimediasi oleh komunikasi melalui internet. Temuan kajian ini menjelaskan bahwa karakteristik komunikasi komunitas virtual tersebut memunculkan suatu komunitas yang sifatnya speech, discourse dan practice. Ketiga bentuk komunikasi komunitas virtual Gay di kalangan remaja ini tidak dapat dipisahkan satu sama lain karena masing-masing mempunyai karakteristik dan merupakan tahapan dalam membentuk komunitas.  

Information Navigation and Knowledge Discovery in Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 273-278
Author(s):  
Wenyuan Li ◽  
Kok-Leong Ong
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Discovery ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Information Navigation

Over the past decade, advances in the Internet and media technology have literally brought people closer than ever before. It is interesting to note that traditional sociological definitions of a community have been outmoded, for community has extended far beyond the geographical boundaries that were held by traditional definitions (Wellman & Gulia, 1999). Virtual or online community was defined in such a context to describe various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Although virtual communities do not necessarily arise from the Internet, the overwhelming popularity of the Internet is one of the main reasons that virtual communities receive so much attention (Rheingold, 1999). The beginning of virtual communities is attributed to scientists who exchanged information and cooperatively conduct research during the 1970s. There are four needs of participants in a virtual community: member interest, social interaction, imagination, and transaction (Hagel & Armstrong, 1997). The first two focus more on the information exchange and knowledge discovery; the imagination is for entertainment; and the transaction is for commerce strategy. In this article, we investigate the function of information exchange and knowledge discovery in virtual communities. There are two important inherent properties embedded in virtual communities (Wellman, 2001):

Antecedents of Online Game Dependency

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaunchin Chen ◽  
Jengchung V. Chen ◽  
William H. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Predictive Models ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Massively Multiplayer Online Game ◽  
Mediating Factors ◽  
Strong Positive Relationship

Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) dependency has been widely studied but research results suggest inconclusive antecedent causes. This study proposes and empirically tests three predictive models of MMOG dependency using a survey of online gaming participants. It finds multimedia realism for social interaction serves as an original antecedent factor affecting other mediating factors to cause MMOG dependency. These mediating factors derive from Uses and Gratifications theory and include: (1) participation in a virtual community, (2) diversion from everyday life, and (3) a pleasant aesthetic experience. Of these, participation in a virtual community has a strong positive relationship with MMOG dependency, and aesthetics has a modest negative relationship. Moderator analyses suggest neither gender nor “frequency of game playing” are significant but experience playing online games is a significant moderating factor of MMOG dependency.

scholarly journals Konsep Maqasid al-Syariah dalam Konteks Game Online di Masyarakat

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Dwi Runjani Juwita
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
Logical Consequence ◽  
Online Games ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
New Findings ◽  
State Label

The current development and globalization of this decade have been marked by rapid technological advances. Human welfare, which is demanded to be better and more advanced, triggers humans to discover new findings. One of the new findings found by humans is the internet. Technological progress is one of several measures of the development and progress of a country. The logical consequence at this level is that a country must be able to respond and implement the principle of technological progress as a standard if it wants to obtain a progressive state label, regardless of whether human resources in a country are ready or not in facing challenges and consequences in the future. Online games are part of technological advances that use the internet with a mechanism to connect between players online. With this online game there are a lot of madharat and mafsadat especially for teenagers and online game players because this game can bring fatigue, illness, laziness and something negative. Perkembangan zaman dan globalisasi pada dasawarsa ini ditandai dengan kemajuan teknologi secara pesat. Kesejahteraan manusia yang dituntut untuk menjadi lebih baik dan maju memacu kreatifitas manusia dalam mencari temuan temuan baru. Temuan baru yang dihasilkan manusia adalah salah satunya internet. Kemajuan teknologi menjadi satu dari beberapa ukuran perkembangan dan kemajuan sebuah negara. Konsekwensi logis pada tataran ini, bahwa suatu negara harus mampu merespon dan menjalankan prinsip kemajuan teksnologi sebagai standar jika ingin memperoleh labelitas negara berkemajuan, terlepas apakah SDM dalam suatu negara tersebut siap atau tidak dalam menghadapi tantangan dan konsekwensi dikemudian hari.Game Online merupakan bagian dari kemajuan teknologi yang menggunakan internet dengan mekanisme menghubungkan antar pemain secara online. Dengan adanya game online ini banyak sekali madharat dan mafsadat terutama bagi para remaja dan para penggiat game online karena permainan ini bisa mendatangkan kelelahan,sakit,bermalas-malasan dan sesuatu yang bersifat negatif.

scholarly journals The impact of the Mobile Legend game in creating virtual reality

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Khefti Al Mawalia
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Network Access ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Impact

Online games have been very popular nowadays, more than games played by children and teenagers 30 years ago. This study aims to explore technological developments that people are interested in, namely the phenomenon of the emergence of the online game Mobile Legend. Mobile Legend has succeeded in making Indonesians interested because of its avatar, message feature, and buying and selling of online characters in one application. The evolution of online games from PC to Smartphone makes it easier for gamers to play games anywhere and anytime. Not infrequently, they can spend up to 6 hours a day looking for internet network access. Researchers use determinism theory to answer this phenomenon. The method in this study uses a qualitative type with a virtual ethnographic method. In addition, this research collects data on using virtual tracing to record and documenting virtual activities, and interviews with seven informants of Mobile Legends' players. This research shows that when a person plays games, he can become more apathetic and minimize interaction and communication with the social environment around him. Technology like Mobile Legend has eroded the socio-cultural side and communication sensitivity of an individual in society. All users also become more active and narcissistic in creating multiple identities that exist in the virtual world. So this research shows that online games in creating virtual reality have both positive and negative impacts on the players.

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