Second Skin Sociology

Have you ever wondered how so many people can play video games for hours? Or how gamers can connect to people in the “virtual world” and learn life lessons? In the book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and the article “Becoming Part of Something Bigger Than ourselves” by Jane McGonigal says “the single best way to add meaning to our lives is to connect our daily actions to something bigger than ourselves and the bigger, the better” (446). In 2009, McGonigal’s best video game, SuperBetter, went viral. The popularity from the video game increased gamers to battle health challenges like depression and anxiety. Mcgonigal's video game also increased better communication skills between friends, family,

Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.

In today’s culture, people who regularly play video games have been stereotypically viewed as overweight, lazy, slobs, who can’t keep a job and never leave their homes. However, a majority of the population plays video games or owns a console. These stereotypes mostly apply to PC gamers, and MMO players in particular. While most people don’t develop such severe addictions to the game, there is a group of people who suffer. These people are usually imagined as overweight men in their parent’s basements, sporting acne and greasy hair. There are most definitely people that fit this profile, however, video game addiction can claim many different people from many different walks of life. It is most definitely a serious issue, but some people don’t see the degree to which it affects everyday life. Personally, I feel that I can elaborate on the matter with a different perspective, as I have been closeup and personal to video game addiction.

Though gaming has its drawbacks, it also has many benefits to cover them. If controlled, gaming is extremely useful and with the amount of gamers in the world today, it proves that it is not just for children or for teenagers. There are millions of adult gamers that understand the importance of gaming in the under the existing circumstances of the world. Individuals that have studied gamers believe that gaming in today’s

Video games were created to provide a unique, interactive experience for the user. This “experience” is something we can define as being fun, engaging, and interesting. This was the mindset of Dr. Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; he was extremely engaged and interested in his work regarding the monster. However, MMORPG’s represent the bad side to video games; in the same way that Frankenstein’s monster was the hellish subject that interested him, MMORPG’s still interest some users despite their lack of true video game “experience”. In fact, MMORPG’s cause addiction, separate families, lead to depression, and separate the user from real life, indicating that they are virtual “animals” that need to be tamed.

This would resonate greatly with audiences’, bringing the problem closer to the home, particularly to families with younger children who play video games. This engages parents to become advocates for the limiting and prohibiting of videogame usage by teenagers. Anyone is susceptible to this problem, even the young, once again engaging and arousing the emotions of the audiences. Also, highlighted in the text is the generational gap, when talking about video game users, the doctor uses the word watches rather than playing. We also see the stigmatisation of mental illness and addiction of any type, as a means of bringing the issue to a wider context and making it more relatable, to the fox news audience that is.

According to the study done by Pierce College, gaming is no longer a solitary activity; instead it is becoming increasingly social with 80% reporting being part of a gaming community (Fredrickson). This study states that online games provide a communication tool to people since social relationships have become a significant role in the game industry. Jane McGonigal’s book Reality Is Broken, published in 2011 by the Penguin Group, discusses why games make people better and how they can change the world. Among the chapters, chapter 5, “Stronger Social Connectivity,” specifically describes how games build social relationships. McGonigal explains prosocial emotions, a subset of positive emotions, by organizing her arguments clearly and providing

For this week’s topic, the course begins to explore internet subcultures with a focus on the “gamer.” While video game playing and similar practices have developed into a legitimate entertainment medium with narratives, art design, and addicting gameplay, the industry creates a sense of community. However, continuing similar cases of “trolling” on the internet, gamers are often subject to various forms of harassments such as disruptive gameplay, verbal assaults, and hateful messages.

After seeing the documentary, I can see how

I have no job during that time, so I sell my accounts and make some money just for the electron to keep the games going. I became really depressed, to a point where I just wanted to kill myself,” said Dan (Second Skin). In Dan’s experience, people can tell that MMO can be a drug to gamers and lead their lives from happiness to a down fall. However, people can’t claim that MMO is harmful to people just because there exist a possibility that MMO may be addictive. Not only MMO, nearly everything in the world can be addictive if people can’t control themselves.

After watching the film “Second Skin”, I want to talk about Dan, an addicted online gamer. He got addicted to the game as he spent 11 hours a day playing the game by losing everything in his life. He wanted to commit suicide for not only once. Sometime later, Dan sought help through Online Games Anonymous. The support group is founded by a woman named Liz Woolly, whose son committed suicide after being addicted to online games. She regretted about the events leading up to her son’s suicide. But Dan thought Liz Woolly’s “12 steps” didn’t help. Finally, he pulled out of the addiction using his own will, self-realization and determination.

When I had a talk with Ryan England whom commonly goes by the name ‘Sans’ (when he is online) and asked him if video games make people violent he immediately responded with “we’ve been violent since the beginning of time. We have this nature in us to kill and video games subdue that.” On the impact of today he said that in our everyday life, video games can be used to relieve stress, socialize, and make you feel you have power (or are worthy). I asked him to elaborate on the latter feeling and Sans responded “people that play a lot of video games often feel like nothing (worthless), even if people don’t treat them as such. It lets you feel like you’re somebody when you’re a nobody in the real world.

People have always develop ways to pass time or enjoy their everyday activates. There have been puzzles, books, and television invented to help with this process. The need to “have something to do” has fueled the creation of games. The most popular games today are videogames which have millions of people logging on each day to play with others. Videogames have created a culture of their own, but they were not the original type of gaming recreation. Board games have been bringing their played into fantasy worlds long before the popularization of videogames. This has spark my interest to understand the subculture of board game players in today’s society. I have selected a local board gaming site to conduct my field research for my ethnographic study. My primary location or this research will be at Tucson Games and Gadgets where I will try to minimize any preconceptions I may currently have, and utilize key informants to get an overall picture of the culture. First I had to choose the best location from various gaming locations in the Tucson area.

Kahne, et al (2008) statically did an experiment to examine the effect of video games on youth’s social and communal activities. The results showed that the youth that have ever played some social video games had more social and political capability than people who never played social video games. Among young gamers, 63% people have heard or seen “people becoming mean and more aggressive while playing violent games”, 49% people have heard or seen “people becoming hateful, racist and violent while playing violent games” and more people, 78% people, have witnessed “people becoming more generous and helping while playing”.

The empirical review in this study shows first how much children and adolescents have put into gaming over time. In 2010, both video and PC game software retail sales amounted to approximately $15.5 (US) billion (as cited in Johnson, 2011). Games now have the ability to create massive worlds that let players develop their own alter egos and avatars as they see fit. Having the whole world to join into with anyone one at any time at any location that the user sees fit; making extremely massive committees that grow day to day. Making these games fully immerse in a virtual reality setting, in which the world can be shape as those deemed it to be shaped. A recent systematic literature review suggests that it is particularly excessive engagement with “Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game” (MMORPGs) that can