Term paper*

2007- 2008 first term
Visual 201 (Visual Culture and Digital Media)
Victoria Fong Yik Yee (1051484)

To what extent online game worsens social interaction.

Computer has become one of the most influential factors on our lives. It was first developed as a decentralized computer network for the U.S. army, moved on to become an academic worldwide information communication system, and eventually came to encompass almost every aspect of our daily existence, and became the host of millions of users (Gackenbach and Ellerman, 1998). Nowadays computer does not only used for doing research and homework, it also provides platform for a group of people to play different varieties of video game. According to Sproull and Kiesler (1986), “since communicative cues such as facial expression, voice tone, and the physical bearing of those conversing are filtered out, computer-mediated communications are of limited value as compared with face-to-face interaction. Therefore communication through the computer was seen as impersonal and lacking depth and emotion”. Hubert Dreyfus claims that you need the body interaction in order to get the full experience.

“Yahoo Game! Pool” and “the Sims city” are used as examples of online game to explain this topic. The paper is divided into four parts. The first part is the definition of online game and the brief introduction of “Yahoo Game! Pool” and “the Sims city”. The second part states the difference between online communication and offline communication based on “Yahoo Game! Pool”. The third part is the analysis of how online game affect social interaction based on “the Sims city”.

First of all, the definition of online games is “games that are played over some form of computer network. At the present, this almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology; but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the internet, and hard wired terminals before modems. Online games can range from simple text based games to games incorporating complex graphics and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously. Many online games have associated online communities, making online games a form of social activity beyond single player games.” (Online game, n. d.). This means online game is a kind of game which players play through the internet.

Some online games include more than one player to play at the same time while some online games require one player. The games that are used as an example of online game are called “Yahoo Game!Pool” and “the Sims city”. They are the most popular online games in the world. For “Yahoo Game!Pool”, it strives to be a realistic pool
game. There are various types of billiard games played around the world. “Yahoo Game! Pool” focuses around the 2 most popular pool games: 8-ball and 9-ball. In the Yahoo pool game, there is a function which likes MSN, which means players can send messages to the other players through the instant messaging programme. For the Sims city, it is a role play online game. Player will have a new identity and the player is encouraged to make choices and engage fully in an interactive environment. This has attracted many people playing this game, and definitely one of the reasons for the increasing popularity of this game.

When playing “Yahoo Game! Pool”, player is able to communicate with unknown people around the world. However the online communication is very different from offline communication. According to the Social presence theory ( Short et al.,1976), “social presence depends not only on the words people speak but also on verbal and nonverbal cues, body language and context.” If people want to convey a message clearly to each other, gestures, body language, facial expression, appearance, voice tone are all very important. However, the communication involves in “Yahoo Game!Pool” does not obey the rules of offline communication.

Firstly, when playing “Yahoo Game! Pool”, player can send message to the other unknown players, however when sending message, body language and voice tone are absent, therefore “signal needed to understand conversation may be missing; for example, when face to face, speakers can check frequently with each other to ensure they understand the conversation as it progresses. Nonverbal signals such as a nod of the head, a quizzical look, or a wave of the hand can say a lot.” (Preece, 2000) The lack of those nonverbal communication elements in online game definitely causes a lot of misunderstanding among the players.

Secondly, in offline communication, “seeing and hearing the speaker enables the listener to infer information regarding the context of the conversation and the speaker’s feeling.”(Preece, 2000) However when people playing “Yahoo game! Pool”, they cannot see the player who is playing with them, as a result the distance communication will generate communication problem and most often people are unable to convey the speech to others and this usually cause frustration among the players.

The above are how the online game communication different from the communication in the real world. In the following, Sims City is used as an example to discuss how online game affects social interaction. “Social interaction is a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between individuals (or groups) who modify their actions and reactions according to the actions by their interaction partner(s). In other words they are events in which people attach meaning to a situation, interpret what others are meaning, and respond accordingly. Social interactions, which consist of social actions, form the basis for social relations.”(Social interaction, n.d.). “In 2002, the Sims became the top-selling PC game in history, displacing the game Myst.” (The sims,n.d.).The increasing popularity of the Sims City has seriously affected the social interaction of the real world.

First of all, according to a computer and video game survey 2004, there is a sharp growth of online game market from 2002 to 2007.

Graph showing the growth of online game market
Source: Push.(n.d.). Computer & Video Games Survey 2004 Results. Retrieved from
http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm

The above graph has shown the growth of online game market, which implied that there are more people playing online game.

Figure showing the time of people spending on playing online game

Source: Push.(n.d.). Computer & Video Games Survey 2004 Results. Retrieved from
http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm

The above figure showing the time of people spending on playing online game is also very large. From the graph, large percentages of people spend more than 10 hours on playing online game. The rapid growth of online game market and the time people spend on playing online game showed in the above charts show that people are spending less time on face-to-face communication. These definitely cause adverse effect on social relationship and hence affect the social interaction.

Secondly in December 2002, “the Sims online” was invented. Actual human players can interact with each other.(The Sims online, n.d.) They can talk to others just like MSN. This kind of role play online game creates a new identity to the players. They consider themselves as the character of the game. It is very common that people cannot distinguish their real identity. They are easily mixing up the real world and the virtual world, and hence they behave like the way in the virtual world. Take the Sims city as an example, in the Sims city, people can control their character to encounter sexual relationship with other characters by simply pressing a button. Therefore spending long times on playing online game can easily change the personality of a person. However, there are differences between communication and norms of behavior in real world and the virtual world. Behavior that is allowed in the virtual world may not be accepted in real world, for example, cyber sex may happened easily and acceptable in virtual world, but it may resulted in sexual abuse in real world. The changing of personality result from indulging in playing online game will make one difficult to communicate with others and hence affect one social interaction.

Also, the mode of communication in virtual world is different from the real world, pressing buttons in virtual world may have different functions, but in real world, communications are based on words, verbal language and body gesture, getting the habit of using the button to represent certain functions or emotion may result in ineffectiveness of face-to-face communications. In other word, there is no button in the real world to replace words, verbal language and body gesture, and getting too addicted in the virtual world just increase people distance from the real world and social distance with others.

Finally, when playing online game, people usually demand a fast pace. This is what happen when people playing “the Sims city”. When one of the player react slowly or does not respond to others, then the other players will send some short messages through the instant messaging programme. The message is generally include one word only, such as “quick”, “hello?”. Sometimes, people even use emoticon to convey message. The tones are all missing. “The use of simple and direct language in the online community will also change the way people talking in the real world”. ( Walther,1994,P.476). They tend to use short and direct sentence to communicate which make listener feel that the speaker is rude; as a result social relationship is badly affected and hence worsen social interaction.

A healthy social interaction should include verbal element, body gesture, facial expression and voice tone. All these are necessary to construct an effective communication. However, the online game culture has destroyed some element of effective communication, and consequently affects social interaction in a bad way, therefore in a very large extent, social interaction have been worsened by the rapid development of online game.

Reference list:

1) Gackenbach, J. & Ellerman, E.(1998) Introduction to pychological aspects of Internet use. Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal Interpersonal and Transpersonal Implications (p7). San Diego, CA:Academic Press.
2) Sproull, L. & Kiesler, S. (1986) Reducing social context cues: electronic mail in organizational communication. Management Science (P.1492-1512).
3) Online game, retrieved Decemcer, 1,2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_game
4) Short, J., Williams, E.,& Christie, B.(1976). The social Psychology of Telecommunications .London:
5) Preece, Jenny (2000).Online Communities, England (P.151)
6) Walther,J.B. (1994). Anticipated ongoing interaction versus channel effects on relational communication in computer-mediated interaction. Human Communication Research, P.473-501
7) Social interaction, retrieved November, 22, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_interaction
8) Online game, retrieved November,22,2007,from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_sims
9) Push.(n.d.). Computer &Video Games Survey 2004 Results. Retrieved from
http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm
10) The Sims Online, retrieved November,22,2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims_Online

*Visual Materials*

1) NDS gathering

Source: Ming Pao ( 16-10-06)
Why I have included this?
This newspaper article talks about how NDS penetrate the office. Even in the working place, people like spending time on playing NDS. This can show how video games affect people working ability and interpersonal communication.

2) Online game market

Source: http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm
This is the bar chart which shows the online game market. The chart shows that there is a growth in online game market.
Why I have included this?
The increase growth of online game market can be a evidence for me to explain why people spend less time on communication, and how this affects social interaction.

3) Sims 2

Source: http://thesims2.ea.com/
This is one of the most popular online games.
Why I have included this?
This game has attracted so many people and this is one of the most significant online games. When playing this game, players are trying to create their own virtual world. This can be one of the examples for me to elaborate the influence of online game.

4) How much time did you spend playing video games last month?

Source: http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm
Why I have included this?
This graph shows the time which people spend on playing video game. The result shows that majority if people spend more than 10 hours in playing video game. This can be an evidence to show the trend that less people spend time on face to face communication.

5) On a scale of 1-5 how interested in video games are you? (1 = minimally interested, 5 = very interested).

Source: http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm
Why I have included this?
This graph shows the level of how people like playing video games. This chart shows that large group of people are interested in video game. Therefore this chart can be the evidence to me to explain the increasing influence of video games.

Important Quotes

1) http://www.freewebs.com/pavga/videogameaddiction.htm
Quote: “Becoming addicted to video games can affect peoples social and just their daily normal lives.”
“ People have a lot of emotional stress these days and in these virtual worlds people can let it all out.”

2) http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm
Quote: “1 in every 2 of the Korean respondents said they played online games (results published January 2003.)”

3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
Quote: “Body language is particularly important in group communications because for large groups it dominates the spoken word.”

4) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/6193462.stm
Quote: “A study of people who play online computer games has found that 12% have signs of addiction.”

5) “Human values and the design of computer technology”
By Friedman, B. (1997)
P.377
Cambridge University Press
Quote: “rather than creating new kinds of communities, this technology often just creates false sense of connection and intimacy”

****Bibliography****

Books:

1) “ Trigger happy: the inner life of videogames”
By Steven Poole
Comment: this book provides a well research on the life of playing videogames. It helps to explain why people like playing video games and help us to understand why video games are so enjoyable.
But when reading several chapters of this book, I found it quite long winded and quite hard to understand.
However, I highly recommend this book to those who would like to know the reasons for the popularity of vide games.

2) “Video games: A popular culture phenomenon”
By Arthur Berger
Comment: this book provides several problems of playing video games in general. It states the relationship of video games to culture, psychology and sociology. Therefore this can help to explain how video games affect interpersonal realationship.
However, I think this book is subjective in some way.

3) “Play between worlds: exploring online game culture”
By T.L.Taylor
Comment: the writer tries to investigate if playing video games is an isolating activities or not. He also tries to find out the reasons for people participate in a virtual world in real time. Finally he also analyzed if playing video games can help to build a closer relationship among people or not.
This book is easy to read and understand the concepts behind it.

4) “Mind at play: the psychology of video games”
By Geoffrey R.Loftus, Elizabeth F.Loftus
Comment: The writers discuss the influence of video game in psychological perspective. This can help to explain the behavior of game players.
In this book, there are many difficult terms which is difficult to understand.

5) “Human values and the design of computer technology”
By Friedman, B.
Comment: This book have covered the impact of computer network on interpersonal relationship. It also includes the impact of online game on the social relationship.
This book contains many information on online game, but it may be difficult to understand.

Newspaper article:

6)http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article553840.ece
This is a news article about the death of a man. The man died after playing computer game for nearly 50 hours.
This news can be an evidence for the disadvantages of playing video game, and how video games worsen working ability of a person.

7) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/6193462.stm
This is a news article stated the percentage of people indulged in video game.
This can be an evidence for the increasing influence of video game.

Websites:

8)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
This is a website talking about the importance of body language. Through this website, we can see how body interaction help to get the full experience.
This website is useful in the way that it contains many links which is related body interaction
9) http://www.video-games-survey.com/2004_results.htm
This website provides survey on the time that people usually spend on playing video game.
The survey is reliable.
10) http://www.video-games-survey.com/online_gamers.htm
This website provides statistic on the online game market growth. This can be an evidence for the increasing influence of online game.
The survey is reliable.
11) http://www.aaaoe.com/forum/content.php?doid=102
This website provides a survey results on why people like playing causal game. The causal games include video game and online game. Through this website, we can analyze the reasons for people playing video game.
The information is not very detail, but it provides general concepts on the reasons of playing video game.
12) http://www.freewebs.com/pavga/videogameaddiction.htm
This website tells us the bad consequence of playing video game.
This website is useful to those who would like to know the symptoms of game addiction.

***Research***

1) Why do people like playing video games?

2) The world in vide games is unreal, but why are people willing to devote themselves into those unreal world?

3) Some people claim that video games can only worsen social interaction, but is it true? Can video games help to build a closer social relationship?

4) What can we see from the emergency of video games?

*Why do I choose this topic???

Have you noticed that when you walk around on streets, you can see a lot of people holding NDS or PSP in their hands? You can see it in MTR station, bus station or even in the university campus. Is it really that happy when playing those games?

The price of a NDS or PSP is very high, some people are making joke on this scenario. They said that the increasing number of people having a NDS or PSP can show how rich our city is. But have they ever thought deeply on the underlying consequence on this scenario? The more NDS or PSP on the street means the more distant relationship people is. Why do I say this? You just look around now, and it is not difficult to discover that when the people are playing NDS or PSP, they tend not to talk to their friends. They just concentrate on the unreal world.

Not only in street, has this scenario also happened at home. At home, people tend to turn on their computer and play online games, such as “the sim city”, “rise of nation”. People totally devote themselves into unreal world. Is this good or bad?

With no doubt, all these video game have imposed tremendous effects on people.

I am interested in this topic mainly because I am one of the victims under the influence of all those video game. When I go out with my friend, they just ignore me and play NDS. When I am at home, my brothers just get indulge in “the sims”. I just wonder if they can stop playing it for a while.

Fresh Greeting*

Hello...

This is my first post here...

First i would like to express my excitement of writing here

Second, i want to say i don't know which topic should I choose, they are all new to me...

Do you think so?