07/16/25

Today I looked into Alvermann, Donna E., and Dennis Sumara. “Ideas that changed literacy practices: First person accounts from leading voices.” (2021): 1-325, specifically chapter 6. Literacy, English, and Video Games: Challenges and Continuities Through Change by Catherine Beavis. Reading through this chapter reminded me of a research paper I wrote a couple years ago about the social benefits of online gaming. I reread this paper, and I think it really connects to what we are learning in regards to how literacy, collaboration, and communication can be supported by digital technologies. So here’s my essay:

The Social Benefits of Online Gaming

Everyone who plays online video games has heard the same chastisement, time and time again: that playing violent video games is isolating and will cause antisocial behaviour in the real world. Every community of hobbyists faces criticism, and yet the online gaming community seems to face a large brunt of critiques, especially from parents and people whose only experience with online gaming is the endless levels of Candy Crush. Online gaming provides an easy ice breaker to meet new people with common interests, particularly in games where trust between players is the only way to achieve a win. However, online gaming helps to develop and enhance strong friendships between gamers, increasing social skills for those who may be deficient in socialization, and is still lacking evidence of a direct relationship between online gaming and real-world aggressive behaviour. 

Online gaming has long been painted with the brush of being lonely and isolating, when in reality, online gaming breeds communication and friendship between gamers (Anderton, 2018), with over 60% of all gamers choosing to actively play with others (Entertainment Software Association, 2018, as cited in Smith et al., 2020). A 2018 study completed by Qutee revealed that 66% of gamers included in the study had made up to five strong friendships through gaming, with an additional 37% of gamers claiming that they had made and maintained more than five friendships through online gaming (Anderton, 2018). Multiplayer games enhance social relations among gamers by the very way that multiplayer games are constructed. The majority of multiplayer games are built with relations between gamers in mind–in order to proceed and win the game, one must form trust in their teammates and socialize with them to achieve a common goal (Sahi et al., 2019). Online role-playing games (RPGs) are especially true to this statement, as RPGs are mainly played for the social element. Games centred around the role a gamer plays allow players to improve their socialization skills, learning who to trust and befriend in a group setting (Sahi et al., 2019). Online gaming is a hub for interpersonal connections, leading to strong friendships and loyalty within the gaming community, engendering happier, less stressed gamers. In a study executed by Qutee, gamers were asked how they believed online gaming was beneficial, and over 40% answered with the opinion that online gaming improved their mental well-being (Anderton, 2018). This statistic is important when considering just how many people struggle with their mental health in today’s world and how gaming can be used to unwind and relax, just like every other hobby.

Due to how online gaming helps improve gamers’ mental well-being, it may also be used as an outlet for those unhappy with their real-world lives. People, especially children, lacking social support in their offline lives may use online gaming as a social resource, motivating further use of video games to compensate for a deficiency in social contact (Mun et al., 2023). Deficient social skills are important to consider when evaluating the lack of societal rejection when faced with anonymous socialization–there is no fear of judgment for individuals with lower social skills. Children raised by parents with mental health issues are especially prone to turning to online gaming to compensate for a lack of socialization within their household (Mun et al., 2023). Parents with mental health issues are more likely to have less of a “hands-on” approach to raising children and thus fewer social interactions with their children, leading to a deficiency in their children’s developing social skills (Mun et al., 2023). Online gaming communities allow instant and gratifying sociability among gamers lacking in social experience in the real world, without fear of ostracization and face-to-face rejection. 

Along with anonymity in the online gaming world comes the ability to be rude through a screen, with the small number of people using this to their nefarious advantage overpowering the mass of people choosing not to be rude. These individuals perpetuating the stereotype of hostility in the gaming community transferring over into violent real-world behaviour is a large part of where the online gaming community gains its reputation for poor social skills among gamers in their offline lives (Gromada, 2022). Yet the social benefits of online gaming are evident for those with hostility issues, where social skills and relationships made through the online gaming community transfer over to relationships and emotional stability in real-world behaviour (Smith et al., 2020). Trash talk and “trolling” within the gaming community are often done with friends to antagonize opposing teams and are a part of the experience of gaming as a whole (Nakamura, 2012, as cited in Smith et al., 2020). Trolling is a popular antagonization tactic in online communities where an individual seeks attention for the sole reason of creating a controversy. While trash-talking and trolling can and have, in the past, been taken too far, there is no direct link to hostility and violence in online games seeping into real-world behaviour (Williams et al., 2005, as cited in Smith et al., 2020). Research surrounding cyber-aggression in the gaming community has grown, yet there is still a lack of evidence of direct causation between online gaming and real-world aggressive behaviour (Smith et al., 2020). People who struggle to control their emotions tend to turn to gaming as an outlet, instead of the stereotypical belief that gaming itself causes violence in real-world behaviour.

In sum, online gaming facilitates healthy socialization, communication, and friendships among gamers, especially those with deficiencies in their social skill set. The social benefits of online gaming are the direct antithesis of the long-standing stereotype of video gaming being a lonely and isolating hobby, which is a view that 93% of gamers see as incorrect (Anderton, 2018). The online gaming community is not anywhere near perfect, but it does not deserve the intense hate and blame received due to the stereotype of gaming causing loneliness and violence in real-world behaviour, though future studies should look into the role that gaming addiction and normative beliefs among gamers may play in hostility. Online gaming as a community will only continue to grow, and it is salient to see the positive effects stemming from this community, especially because it is a community filled with members of society who will one day be our future leaders.

References

Anderton, K. (2018). The impact of gaming: A benefit to society [infographic]. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2018/06/25/the-impact-of-gaming-a-benefit-to-society-infographic/?sh=2fd9acf4269d 

Hilvert-Bruce, Z., & Neill, J. T. (2020). I’m just trolling: The role of normative beliefs in aggressive behaviour in online gaming. Computers in Human Behavior, 102, 303–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.09.003 

Gromada, A. (2022). Moderate Gaming and Internet Use Show Positive Association with Online Reading of 10-Year-Olds in Europe. Computers and Education Open, 3, 100109-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2022.100109 

Mun, I. B., & Lee, S. (2023). The influence of parents’ depression on children’s online gaming addiction: testing the mediating effects of intrusive parenting and social motivation on children’s online gaming behavior. Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 42(6), 4991–5000. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01854-w 

Sahi, M. & Bhagat, G. (2019). Positive effects on online games: A review. Journal of Critical Reviews. 6(3). https://www.jcreview.com/admin/Uploads/Files/61a4723e6c4002.43511818.pdf 

Smith, C. M., Rauwolf, P., Intriligator, J., & Rogers, R. D. (2020). Hostility Is Associated with Self-Reported Cognitive and Social Benefits Across Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Player Roles. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 23(7), 487–494. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0349