I plan to research on how gaming and virtual communities thrive so well. The easiest example is World of Warcraft. With a subscriber base of over 12 million we will see how companionship formed in-game extends to the social media on the web. There are thriving blogs such as WoW Insider that have thousands of members discussing all aspects of the game, thus creating a niche virtual community on the web.
Why gaming?
What kind of social media is utilized?
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I agree that World of Warcraft would be a good topic to examine. I have never played the game but the fact that I know about it, gives an idea about how popular the game had become. Although the main reason I know anything about it, is because it is the primary example of people never leaving their house to live a fantasy cyber life.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see how they can incorporate gaming into education. I'm certain the drop out rate will decrease as gaming is so popular with people of all ages.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if interactive gaming offers the same drawing points as other online social networks? For example, you hear stories about how people meet in real life after having met on some internet dating website...only to experience something similar to a complete blind date. In the online world people feel freer to express their true thoughts and feelings, be more open, and sometimes even outright be in a fantasy world about what they wish was reality. In the process I think it's totally possible for people in this atmosphere to bond on a more substantial level, though it may not always be able to survive outside of that environment. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI had written up a response, but a browser crash just ruined everything. Curse you IE!
ReplyDelete@Steveh4004 I agree that World of Warcraft would be an easy target to do some research with. There are plenty of subscribers, however it's interesting to find out that you wouldn't try it out for yourself. I suppose its not too surprising when there has been research on such addiction. However when you see more social aspect of games coming to life on sites like Microsoft's XBox live and Xfire. The line between online/gaming identity is blurring with your real ID. I remember when we discussed online identities in Coms190, the description of the two were different, but as social networking matured it's much harder to make a distinction.
@Ms. Bontemps It has already been done, but I don't know how successful it was. Professors have used WoW for meeting within a virtual world and have discussions. We already know Second Life is being utilized commonly for meetings. A great concept would be to develop a new virtual environment conducive to learning only. We can incorporate current trends like achievements and progress reports like current MMO's do.
@destiny I believe interactive gaming does have the same drawing points as social networks. Besides the motive to work together or collaborate on a certain task within a virtual world, people socialize just as much in MMO's as they do on networking sites. Perhaps the way people communicate may be different such as ... a wallpost vs. a whisper
Your comment about being carefree in a virtual environment is interesting. Why do you feel that people tend to be more truthful?