Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 53, December 2015, Pages 527-535
Computers in Human Behavior

Full Length Article
Bridging the online/offline divide: The example of digital gaming

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.06.018Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Online/offline is connected as users meet demands on collaboration to achieve goals.

  • Online/offline is linked through preferences for leisure that supports sociability.

  • Online/offline division is highly contingent on the practices engaged in.

  • Techno-utopian ideology hides preference for ties between users based on similarity.

  • Homophily facilitates shared norms, which produce stable social groups.

Abstract

Studies of virtual worlds are often based on the dichotomous ’real world’/’virtual world’, yet research has indicated that this division is far from unproblematic. The aim of this study is to examine empirically the link between online/offline using the example of social online gaming. The data consist of individual and group interviews with 33 adult gamers. The results explore three themes—sociability and design; group membership; norms and rules—and show how on-and offline are inexorably linked through the social organizational demands of Internet gaming. Individuals ground online group membership in offline relations and shared characteristics, aiming to maximize game-play gains and support sociability. Gaming with ’people like us’ facilitates creation of norms and expectations, which aids in producing stable social groups. Thus the boundary between online and offline becomes contingent on links between people. The study shows how important offline connections are for online interaction.

Introduction

Contemporary life is increasingly interlaced with digital technology (Castells, 2001) and leisure activities are one important arena that have seen a digitalization. Leisure is a significant part of people’s lives and what activities are available, participated in, and valued at any specific time and place is shaped by current culture (Kelly, 1983). Activities engaged in as leisure, such as games, hobbies, simply talking and so on, are increasingly embedded in digital technology, and as these activities go digital, they break away from earlier restrictions that limited them to certain times and spaces. Online and offline are terms often used when the aim is to distinguish between types of activities utilizing different technologies with different social implications and meanings. Early Internet and digital games research pointed at the liberating aspects of online life—how we in online social spaces could free ourselves from the constraints in our physical lives. Since then, research has increasingly come to show how the Internet is not creating ‘new’ social patterns but rather is an extension of our selves (Castells, 2001). Researchers have argued that we cannot understand sociality online unless we connect both online and offline (Williams, 2006) and that virtuality is a social property rather than an inherent quality of online social life (Slater, 2002). However, often the study of online social worlds, such as digital games, has not fully realized this development. There is a practice of separating offline and online and treating online worlds as social spheres disconnected from offline life. In a recent review of empirical research concerned with community in online gaming (Warmelink & Siitonen, 2011), no connection between online and offline was prevalent so far in the literature. Lehdonvirta (2010) argues that especially MMO (massive multiplayer online games) studies have been based on the dichotomous ‘real world’/‘virtual world’. The aim of this study is therefore to empirically examine the link between online and offline in social Internet based gaming in order to ground this theoretical development in empirical data. The research question asks: How is online and offline linked through MMO gaming? The study sets out to answer this through interviews with 33 Swedish informants that together have a wide range of experiences from a multitude of different massive multiplayer online games. The aim is not to offer a generalizable picture, but to show how using an approach that attempts to connect rather than separate online and offline can benefit our knowledge and understanding of online social life. Focus is on analysing the nature of social experiences and preferences and through this reach analytical clarity on the relationship between online and offline. The results explore three themes; (1) sociability and design; (2) group membership; (3) norms and rules. The study touches on some classic phenomena in studies of online life, but does so while bridging the online/offline divide in order to reach new understanding about digital social life.

Sweden is often considered a forerunner with regard to digital media. According to survey data, almost 90% of Swedes (18+) have access to the Internet and digital gaming is widespread with 62.5% of Swedes aged 12–65 engaged (Findahl, 2011). Sweden rates among the top countries in E-sports and hosts the world’s largest local area network festival, Dreamhack, with over 20,000 visitors in 2011. The Swedish context of extensive use therefore offers a suitable ground for the study.

Section snippets

Understanding the relationship between online/offline

The Internet and other digital technologies have changed our access to information, and the Internet’s capabilities for person to person connectivity have deeply impacted many aspects of life. The effect of the Internet on social interaction and relationships is a complex issue, yet the very practices through which people interact with each other is one of the main agendas both for previous and future research on New Media and the Internet (Lievrouw, 2011), and Game Studies is an important part

Methodology

This study explores social online gaming with focus on adult gamers—a previously less investigated group (Thornham, 2009). Interviews have been suggested by Strauss as a suitable method when researching social worlds (Strauss, 1978). A phenomenology inspired approach has been used (see Aspers, 2001). In line with this the results presented have been reached inductively, allowing the data to represent the informants own experienced reality, while the discussion has evolved deductively. The

Results

Of the informants almost half are women and half men; ages span from 17 to 49 years old (median 25). As many men as women had experiences from MMOs, although all played games with others online. Only two informants, a man and a woman, did not game regularly at the time of the interview. Both used to spend more time on games in the recent past but new responsibilities currently made it difficult for them to find time. In Table 1, data from the short questionnaire is presented with some background

Discussion

The results show, in line with previous research (Stenros et al., 2011), that the attraction of MMOs lies both in the opportunity to engage in collaborative action and the support for sociability that this joint action provides. The results also show that for games to support sociability gamers need to play together, not only occupy the same game-space, and the game also needs to reward social behaviour. The rational, reward seeking behaviour MMO games encourage can, in the case of

Conclusions

This study explored how online and offline are linked in concrete user practises; asking: How is online and offline linked in social MMO gaming? While the results cannot be generalized they still show that instead of focusing on the online/offline division as such, we should see any such barrier as highly contingent on the practices engaged in.

This study concludes that on- and offline are inexorably linked through the social organizational demands of online gaming. An online game puts people

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