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Transcription of roughly two minutes of multiple-threaded conversation during a regular evening in Lineage I
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This article examines the form and function of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in terms of social engagement. Combining conclusions from media effects research informed by the communication effects literature with those from ethnographic research informed by a sociocultural perspective on cognition and learning, we present a shared theore...
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... these function as both a one-to-many and one-to-one communicative space, as one informant called it, ''a souped up form of instant messenger'' (Steinkuehler, 2005). Figure 2 illustrates. For most gamers, constant conversation through myriad chat channels is not only necessary to navigate the virtual world's diverse challenges (e.g., to barter virtual goods, to organize collaborations, to share information) but is the very fodder from which individuals create and maintain relationships of status and solidarity and, in part, in-game community and cultural norms (Steinkuehler, 2006b). ...
Citations
... Social demand refers to "the degree to which a game triggers an explicit or implicit response of the user to the presence of other social entities" ( [9], p. 13). Previous study highlights video games play a role as "third places" by providing spaces for social interactions and relationships beyond the workplace and home [77]. In alignment with this, several studies have demonstrated that communication with other gamers, one's own avatar, or game audiences is one of the desires of playing video games, yet challenging to deal with [3], [66]. ...
With efforts to investigate the role of interactivity on user psychology in video games, scholars have demonstrated that interactivity may induce cognitive, emotional, physical (controller and exertional), and social demands of global gamers. However, existing studies are missing Latin American gamers as critical yet understudied gaming communities. Drawing on the interactivity-as-demand model, we conducted a mixed-method online survey to test measurement validity on localized versions of the video game demand scale (VGDS) for Spanish-speaking gamers (N = 195). Results showed that the Spanish-translated scale replicated the a priori five-factor structure of VGDS. Emergent themes from gamers' comments mirrored VGDS factors, with additional insights into the cognitive demand of creative thinking, emotional demand of feeling nostalgia, physical demand of being precise, and social demand of interacting with non-player characters. These findings provide a pancultural perspective of Spanish-speaking gamers' perceptions of their gaming while offering nuanced insights into their experiences for future research.
... Bu çalışma, komşuluk geleneğinde dijital kültür ile ortaya çıkan değişimi incelemeyi amaçlamıştır. Çalışmanın teorik çerçevesini Ray Oldenburg tarafından geliştirilen üçüncü mekân kavramı ve Steinkuehler ve Williams'ın gerçekleştirdiği "Here Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games As Third Places" isimli çalışma oluşturmaktadır (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006). Steinkuehler ve Williams, çok oyunculu çevrimiçi oyunlarda kişilerin farklı işbirlikleri geliştirdiklerini ve oyuncuların gruplarda üçüncü mekân olgusu _________________________________________ UDEKAD Cilt / Volume: 8, Sayı / Issue: 1, 2025 kapsamında farklı bir sosyalleşme türü içinde bulunduklarını ifade etmektedir. ...
Dijitalleşmenin etkisi ile komşuluk geleneğinde önemli bir değişim yaşanmaktadır. Dijitalleşme ile bazı komşuluk gelenekleri yok olurken, bazı gelenekler dijital platformlar ile farklı bir forma evrilerek gündelik yaşam kültüründe yer almaya devam etmektedir. Dijital kültür içinde şekillenen yeni bir ilişki ve iletişim ağı gündelik yaşam pratiklerini etkilemektedir. Sanal ortamda sosyal etkileşim ile komşuluk ilişkileri yürütülmektedir. Bu çalışma, komşuluk geleneğinde dijital kültür ile ortaya çıkan değişimi incelemeyi amaçlamıştır. Komşuluğa ilişkin sanal uygulamalar yüz yüze görüşme ve fiziksel olarak bir arada bulunma olarak komşuluk geleneğindeki bazı temel kalıpları değiştirmektedir. Çalışmada bu değişim doküman analizi yöntemiyle araştırılmış, farklı dijital uygulama ve gruplar ile örneklendirilmiştir. Bu analiz sonucunda çalışmada komşuluk geleneğinin üçüncü mekân olgusu kapsamında ve farklı bir sosyal etkileşim türü olarak sanal toplulukta devam ettiği belirtilmiştir. Çalışmada sanal topluluktaki komşuluk ilişkileri dayanışma ve paylaşma gibi geleneksel komşuluğa ilişkin değerlerin uygulama alanını genişletirken, kişisel verilerin korunması ve iletişim başlıklarında bazı problemleri ortaya çıkardığı ifade edilmiştir.
... Nowadays, the intertwining nature of games and social media introduces an important yet understudied dimension to the study of interpersonal relationships in digital spaces. Live streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube, social media platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Weibo 1 , and voice-based social platforms like Discord are becoming increasingly integral to the MMOG community, enabling players to share experiences [18,42], coordinate events [5,29], and explore romantic relationships [52,57,61]. ...
... Early HCI and CSCW research has provided evidence that online games can provide similar opportunities for socializing as offline leisure activities. Steinkuehler [52] and Ducheneaut et al. [6] positioned MMOGs as "third places" that foster sociability through anonymity and shared context, and leading to guilds, clans, and persistent communities. Beyond community formation, Boellstorff [11] demonstrated how dyadic gameplay in Audition can construct intimacy. ...
Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) can foster social interaction and relationship formation, but they pose specific privacy and safety challenges, especially in the context of mediating intimate interpersonal connections. To explore the potential risks, we conducted a case study on Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV) players intimate partner seeking posts on social media. We analyzed 1,288 posts from a public Weibo account using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling and thematic analysis. Our findings reveal that players disclose sensitive personal information and share vulnerabilities to establish trust but face difficulties in managing identity and privacy across multiple platforms. We also found that players expectations regarding intimate partner are diversified, and mismatch of expectations may leads to issues like privacy leakage or emotional exploitation. Based on our findings, we propose design implications for reducing privacy and safety risks and fostering healthier social interactions in virtual worlds.
... The ability of online gaming to fulfill social needs can be understood through the concept of "third places"-informal spaces that complement home as the "first place" and work as the "second place" (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006). Unlike traditional third places, such as pubs or libraries, virtual gaming environments transcend geographical barriers, enabling the formation of friendships and meaningful social bonds across the globe. ...
Social video gaming has become an integral part of adolescent life, yet its impact on well-being remains unclear. This longitudinal study examines how social gaming relates to loneliness and depressive mood among adolescents, considering both within-person and between-person associations. Additionally, it explores the moderating roles of gender and age. Data were collected from a large sample of Czech adolescents across four waves, with social gaming assessed using an adapted version of the Social Interaction Potential Assessment (SIPA) tool. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was employed to distinguish stable between-person differences from within-person fluctuations over time. Findings revealed that while adolescents who generally played more social games reported higher loneliness at the between-person level, an increase in social gaming was associated with a decrease of loneliness at the within-person level. No direct link between social gaming and depressive mood was observed. Gender differences emerged, with social gaming reducing loneliness and depressive mood for boys but increasing both for girls at within-person level. Additionally, younger adolescents were more likely to increase social gaming in response to depressive mood, whereas older adolescents showed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that while social gaming may provide temporary relief from loneliness, particularly for boys, it may also reflect underlying vulnerabilities, especially for girls. The findings highlight the need for a nuanced understanding of social gaming’s role in adolescent well-being, considering individual differences in gender and age.
... During this crucial window of development, young people undergo significant change in terms of their identity formation (Klimstra, 2013), peer relationships (Brown, 2004), emotional regulation (Gupta and Gehlawat, 2020), and moral reasoning (Eisenberg and Morris, 2004). For those adolescents who game, online platforms such as Fortnite (Epic Games, 2017), Minecraft (Studios, 2011), League of Legends (Riot Games, 2013), or Valorant (Riot Games, 2020) function as third places (Steinkuehler and Williams, 2006), providing a context for social interaction and engagement beyond home and school (or work). Third places are characteristically more diverse than first or second places, offering the potential for exposure to new ideas and people that can expand one's social and intellectual circles or, in the case of extremism, its opposite. ...
The proliferation of hate speech and hate-based harassment has become a worryingly common trend in online gaming spaces, with researchers fearing that it could lead to the normalization of hateful behaviors on such platforms. However, little research has been done assessing the frequency of such events and how players respond to their occurrence. In this study, we conduct a large-scale survey (n = 602) asking players to reflect on their experiences and responses to hateful conduct in online games. We examine their perspectives when faced with hate speech and harassment from the role of a bystander, a victim, or the perpetrator. We then compare these responses with various demographic factors and personality traits to determine which variables might predict such conduct to occur and persist over time. Our findings suggest that hate speech and harassment are more accepted by those who are not directly targeted, potentially leaving those players as the remaining few to continue inhabiting and shaping online gaming spaces over time.
... Despite making available environments where users are able to be either socially active or isolated, the potential interaction with others is one of the distinctive characteristics of massive multiplayer online games in general. Due to the importance of social interaction for the complexity and persistence of these virtual worlds, Steinkuehler and Williams (2006) suggest that they should be perceived as "third places" (Oldenburg) for informal sociability (p. 886). ...
Digital games have become a popular cultural pastime and a profitable media industry, with an average player age of 32. During the lockdown years, the many facets of digital games came to light, particularly their capacity to encourage the development of safe spaces for interaction and communities. Games that encourage creativity and content creation, like Second Life, Animal Crossing, and Minecraft, for example, give users a variety of safe spaces to express themselves and grow creatively. The article addresses the function of video games as safe spaces using a mixed-methods approach, emphasizing the role played during the pandemic and using Animal Crossing as an example. Three primary techniques for gathering data were an online survey, netnography, and document analysis. Through the Animal Crossing: New Horizons case study, we were able to confirm that players do, in fact, view the game as more than just a way to pass the time. They make expressive and proactive use of it, deriving immense pleasure from producing and disseminating content that is uniquely personalized for them. It is a tool for escapism and provides a feeling of belonging to players who agree that the New Horizons Fan Community is a united, helpful, caring, and generous community.
... Studies have noted similarities between traditional and online spaces [10,80,85], where computer-mediated communication, like chatrooms [7,57,68], fosters playful conversations with emerging regulars. Platforms like Twitch [45], Second Life [34], Facebook, and online games [31,92] have been proposed as virtual third place. However, these spaces may not fully meet Oldenburg's criteria given conversations are not the central focus, hierarchies exist, and the ambiance of the platform is extravagant rather than home-like. ...
... Discord has successfully positioned itself as a third place, aligning with its design objectives to support playful chat for everyone [24,27]. While virtual third place has traditionally been explored in gaming or three-dimensional space contexts [31,34,92], where synchronous occupation and shared activities define the experience, Discord takes a different architectural approach. Rather than leveraging "relational orientation and reciprocity" or "proximity and action" [46], Discord's spatial design focuses on "partitioning" and "presence and awareness" [46] without avatar-based embodiment. ...
... Discord's Approach to Virtual Third Place. Prior research has largely focused on virtual third places within gaming environments [31,34,92], where users engage via embodied avatars in three-dimensional worlds that simulate physical proximity and shared spatial intuitions [46]. In contrast, Discord adopts a two-dimensional architecture centered on "partitioning" and "presence and awareness" [46]. ...
In light of the diminishing presence of physical third places -- informal gathering spaces essential for social connection -- this study explores how the social media platform Discord fosters third-place experiences. Drawing on Oldenburg's conceptual framework, we analyze how Discord's design elements support the creation of virtual third places that foster both dyadic and community-based relationships. Through 25 semi-structured interviews with active Discord users, we identified 21 design elements aligned with Oldenburg's third-place characteristics. These elements cluster around four core principles: providing themed spaces for repeated interactions, supporting user autonomy and customization, facilitating mutually engaging activities, and enabling casual, low-pressure interactions. This work contributes to understanding how intentional platform design can cultivate virtual spaces that support meaningful social connections. The findings have implications for designing future social technologies that can help address growing concerns about social isolation in an increasingly digital world.
... Also related to persona, we consider the concept of a third space (Oldenburg, & Brissett, 1982). Even in a purely digital setting, these spaces can allow for interaction with greater freedom of expression (Steinkuehler, & Williams, 2006). VR-mediated meta-spaces can imitate a third space thanks to a sense of spatial presence (Ahn et al., 2022). ...
The art of Internet Research is always developing, while also firmly rooted in the theoretical frameworks of the past. As technologies have evolved over time, new ways of interacting have become pervasive, and with them, a need for a different means of analyzing such interactions. Through all of this change, internet researchers have discussed and developed effective methodologies to suit the needs of research. Significant work has been done on digital ethnographies, digital interviews, and surveys using online systems. One area not as widely discussed and developed is the use of online focus groups in synchronous video forums like Zoom or Extended Reality (XR) spaces such as ENGAGE or VRChat. This paper describes our approach to methodological systems for better understanding digital interaction through focus group interviews within such media. Specifically, we present the theoretical underpinnings and design of an upcoming focus group study we are conducting within a virtual world setting. We focus on questions of how to incorporate different types of virtual avatars for the participants and how to collect observable data in the virtual space, including language and avatar behavior. Finally, we describe how such data can be used to understand questions of communication, power, individual agency, and identity that occur in these group settings.
... In contrast, bonding ties entail deeper emotional connections, offering substantial support (Depping, Johanson, and Mandryk 2018;Putnam 2020). The prevailing research suggests that while games foster bridging ties, they are less likely to generate deep bonding ties among players (Huvila et al. 2010;Steinkuehler and Williams 2006;Williams 2006). ...
This article explores the intricate dynamics of video gaming among the youth of Dhaka, Bangladesh, exploring its profound influence on socialization and community building within the framework of theories such as the Theory of Attainment, Imagined Community, User and Gratification Theory, and Bourdieu's concept of “social capital.” Through a comprehensive blend of digital and autoethnographic methods, the research unveils how gaming transcends its solitary image to emerge as a potent cultural force in Bangladeshi society. The findings underscore the pivotal role of gaming in forging social bonds and nurturing communities, both in virtual realms and physical spaces. Gamers actively engage in collaboration, strategic planning, and the exchange of experiences, mirroring the dynamics of real-world social networks. Despite concerns regarding addiction, the article illuminates the impact of video games on social cohesion among the youth demographic. Furthermore, it inquires into gaming culture's remarkable resilience in the face of societal norms and regulatory challenges, shedding light on the adaptive strategies employed by gamers to navigate and thrive in diverse contexts. By exploring the intricate interplay between virtual and real-life experiences, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how video games shape socialization among urban youth in the ever-evolving landscape of Bangladesh.
... W wizji Oldenburga istotna była możliwość budowania w trzecich miejscach wspólnotowych relacji z innymi opartych na towarzyskości i przynależności. Koncepcja ta była rozwijana przez badaczy zauważających, że w wirtualnej rzeczywistości również pojawia się szansa na to, by określone przestrzenie mogły tam pełnić funkcję trzeciego miejsca (na przykład Steinkuehler, Williams, 2006). W przypadku komunikacji PlayStation trzecie miejsce opisywane jest jednak zdecydowanie inaczej. ...
Artykuł omawia konkretne sposoby konstruowania rzeczywistości w reklamowej komunikacji marki Sony PlayStation, a także atrybuty modelowego użytkownika tej rzeczywistości. Punkt wyjścia stanowi charakterystyka wizji świata PlayStation jako innej i lepszej niż rzeczywistość codzienna oraz motywacji eskapistycznej, która potencjalnie pozwala chcieć tego świata doświadczać. Następnie zaprezentowane i zniuansowane zostały dwie różne wizje użytkownika PlayStation, które marka forsuje w swojej komunikacji: jednostki sprawczej oraz jednostki zdominowanej. Finalny rozdział artykułu wiąże wykorzystane w analizowanych reklamach motywy z problemami codziennej rzeczywistości, na które marka może próbować stanowić odpowiedź, a także z pokrewnymi interpretacyjnie koncepcjami z zakresu nauk społecznych i psychologii.
