Articles to Read
Wallace, P. (1999). Intergroup conflict and cooperation. The psychology of the Internet (pp. 84-109). London: Cambridge University Press. [Read this eBook - MSU authorized users]
Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N. & Nickell, E. (2006). From tree house to barracks: The social life of guilds in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 1(4), 338-361.
Steinkuehler, C. & Williams, D. (2006). Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as 'Third Places.' Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4).
Article Summaries
Wallace, P. (1999). Intergroup conflict and cooperation. The psychology of the Internet (pp. 84-109). London: Cambridge University Press.
In this chapter, Wallace explored the nature of group conflict and cooperation on the Internet, and addressed the question of whether the Interent created an environment that would be the foundation for a global community where cohesive and satisfying groups would emerge, free of intergroup tension and prejudice. Based on classic experiments in social psychology that explored intergroup rivalries on the Internet games
, when the environment fosters group identity, cohesive groups emerge; When a group feels threatened by outsider intrusion, the members band together more closely; If a valued superordinate goal requires cooperation, intergroup tension will decline; People tend to identify with a group and favor its members, despite the arbitrariness and absurdity of the criteria for group membership. According to people who create and run the multiplayer games, there are four main motivations for people to play games, to accumulate treasure or increase skill as an achiever, to enjoy mapping the topology of the game as an explorer, and to socialize or to act as a killer. Wallace also discussed that the Internet tended to allow more participation by lower status members, and expertism is one of those –isms that is probably more prevalent on the Internet than in real life. Although Internet users are not a cohesive ingroup, sometimes something may raise their hackles and cause them to coalesce in some surprisingly large numbers.
Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N. & Nickell, E. (2006). From tree house to barracks: The social life of guilds in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 1(4), 338-361.
In this study, the authors explored the social life of guilds in a popular massively multiplayer online game – World of Warcraft. The study addressed three sets of research questions: What kinds of social organizations do players create in the game? What kind of roles and social relationships do players develop within guilds and what were the social consequences. To what extent does the social interface impact social interactions? An initial survey and network mapping of players and guilds were conducted. A group of players was interviewed and the interview transcripts were reviewed to explore players’ behaviors, attitudes, and opinions, the meanings they make, the social capital they derive, and the networks they form. It was found that players used to game to extend real life relationships, meet new people, form relationships of varying strength, and use others merely as a backdrop. The game’s mechanic made was the key moderator, as different mechanic encourages certain kinds of interaction while discourages others.
Steinkuehler, C. & Williams, D. (2006). Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as 'Third Places.' Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4).
The article examined the effects on social engagement of one particular increasingly popular online activity--large, collaborative online massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). In an effort to understand (a) the extent to which such virtual worlds are structurally similar to "third places" for informal sociability, and (b) their potential function in terms of social capital, the authors drew on both the media effects analysis, which revealed broad and significant patterns of MMQ use and effect, and cognitive research, which explicated the micro-level processes by which those macro-level patterns are created, maintained and transformed over time. Based on the two independent lines of MMO research, the authors presented a theoretical framework for understanding the form and function of MMOs. It is concluded that by providing spaces for social interaction and relationships beyond the workplace and home, MMOs have the capacity to function as one form of a new "third place" for informal sociability. Participation in such virtual "third places" appears particularly well suited to the formation of bridging social capital—social relationships that, while not usually providing deep emotional support, typically function to expose the individual to a diversity of worldviews.
My Reaction
What do you see as *the* strong pull towards online socializing?
One of the most attractive features of online socializing is the easy access to others. Everyone could tremendous expand their circle of socializing through online community. It is much easier to find someone who shares the same interest as you, to interact with someone you will never have a chance to meet before. Online socialization and communication is freed from the limit of time and place. It makes possible the interactions which is previously impossible.
Another feature that makes online socializing attractive is that online communication can magnify certain aspects of the participants and make some other aspects less visible. As Wallace pointed out, people’s status is less visible in online communities, while the expertism turned out to be more evident. Therefore, some of those who are disadvantaged in the face-to-face socialization, might benefit tremendously from interacting with people in online environment.
Discussion Questions (My Questions)
What is the implication of online community for education?
How do the various educational online communities work? What motivates people in participating in these educational online communities?
No comments:
Post a Comment