#post7

For something that was once so socially limited and un-advanced, gaming has essentially become a concept that has captivated the social world (Baek, Ko & Marsh 2014, pp. 4-6). Through the use of the world wide web, many gaming companies have been able to offer its users to connect with others through one simple thing – the internet (Graham 2012, pp. 1-2). Consoles such as Playstations and Xbox have evolved greatly over time, and after multiple generations, players are now able to play these consoles in an online mode with other players, both friends and strangers, granted that the game their playing offers online play, which most gaming organisations have already enabled particularly in today’s ever-increasing online craze (Gilbert 2016; Moss 2013). Evidently enhancing social communication more than ever before.

Taking it to the next level, many game producers have now sought the use of social networking sites to help boost their business and seek to attract a larger user-base following, and what better social networking site to use than Facebook?! (Graham 2012, p. 1). With approximately 1.94 billion active users (as of March 2017), who wouldn’t want to partner with them to promote their game (Statista 2017)? A great example of game producers who have done such include Zynga (who created Farmville, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker), and the creators of Candy Crush, King, which I myself plead guilty to playing connected through Facebook (Graham 2012, p. 1). I’m sure you’re guilty of it too. As such, both these gaming companies alongside many others, have found themselves thriving in success leeching off the advantages offered by Facebook and other major social network sites (Garside 2014; Stuart 2014).

Source: Candy Crush Saga Facebook.

So if social gaming has positive repercussions for gaming businesses, and has opened up a new realm of connecting, enabling us to form new relationships with others online through a means other than actual social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, what’s the big deal?

There has been so much talk about how the gaming industry has been a “boys club.” A thing that boys do and boys play, not girls. This stereotypical view that has been greatly contested and refuted by many of the female gamers in today’s society, which many males are not happy about. #Gamergate is an online movement aimed at ‘protecting’ the gamer ‘identity’ by attacking those who are perceived as breaching the so-called “ethics” in video game journalism (Jason 2015). Females are indeed, are a specific target for these Gamergate advocates, which with the use of social media and the internet, have been able to gather a large following and the interest of many gamers to participate in what they believe is upholding the traditional gamer identity (Hathaway 2014). Zoe Quinn, a female game developer, became a victim to this Gamergate nonsense, when her ex-boyfriend decided to publicly blog about all aspects of her personal life, in an attempt to destroy her reputation (Hathaway 2014). Of course with social media, it’s now easier than ever for people to access these things and begin talking. In fact, Gamergate started after this incident with Quinn (Jason 2015). As such, she became subject to constant online abuse, harassment, and was even confronted with death threats on all of her social media, and because all of this was public, and online, on social media, it affected her personal and work life greatly.

It’s a shame that some people feel the need to put a gender to the face of the gaming industry, I mean, why can’t we all just enjoy it?

Nevertheless, social media has brought upon great benefits to the world of gaming, but I guess with all things good, comes bad.

References:

Baek, Y, Ko, R & Marsh, T 2014, Trends and Applications of Serious Gaming and Social Media, Springer, Springer Link.

Garside, J 2014, ‘How King Digital Entertainment’s CEO conquered the gaming world’, The Guardian, 6 June, viewed 9 May 2017, <https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jun/06/king-digital-entertainment-ceo-riccardo-zaconni>.

Gilbert, B 2016, ‘PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners can finally play online games together’, Business Insider Australia, 15 March, viewed 9 May 2017, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/microsoft-opens-xbox-one-online-play-to-sony-pc-2016-3>.

Graham, W 2012, Beginning Facebook Game Apps Development, Apress, Safari ProQuest.

Hathway, J 2014, ‘What Is Gamergate, and Why? An Explainer for Non-Geeks’, Gawker, 10 October, viewed 10 May 2017, <http://gawker.com/what-is-gamergate-and-why-an-explainer-for-non-geeks-1642909080>.

Jason, Z 2015, ‘Game of Fear’, Boston Magazine, May, viewed 10 May 2017, <http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2015/04/28/gamergate/>.

Moss, S 2013, ‘The PlayStation 4 Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Paid PS+ Online, Hardware, Games, News and More’, PlayStationLifeStyle.net, 17 June, viewed 9 May 2017, < http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/06/17/the-ultimate-playstation-4-guide-paid-ps-online-hardware-games-news-and-more/>.

Statista 2017, Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 1st quarter 2017 (in millions), Statista, viewed 5 May 2017, <https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/>.