More than addiction: Examining the role of anonymity, endless narrative, and socialization in prolonged gaming and instant messaging practices

AbstractThis ethnographic study explores a user's prolonged engagement within virtual gaming communities. Likening prolonged engagement with addiction, this research provides an alternative perspective into virtual addiction focusing on three interrelated themes: 1) anonymity, 2) endless narrative, and 3) socialization. By employing narrative interviews and virtual observations, the researchers examine two different cultural, racial and age groups' user experience within console and computer-based multiplayer environments. More specifically, they explore how the three factors (i.e., anonymity; endless narrative; socialization) relate to the prolonged and extended use within these virtual communities and highlight the multifaceted uses of traditional chat services, social media, and the convergence of media existing within these chat communities.KeywordsComputer-mediated communication, video gaming, ethnography, instant messenger, online addictionIntroductionThe purpose of this research is to explore the prolonged engagement in socially mediated activities within virtual communities. As Barch & McKenna (2004) suggest, the Internet is a natural part of our everyday lives. Gaming, as an extended application of Internet technologies, is not exempt from this trend. With the convergence of media within gaming communities (MMORPG's, Xbox Live, etc.), users have an abundance of options to interact, engage, and entertain themselves sometimes for extended periods of time which has been viewed as addiction among some scholars.Gaming addiction literature compares prolonged gaming practices to alcohol or drug abuse (Grusser, Thalemann, & Griffiths, 2007). Specifically, Chak and Leung (2004) suggest that adolescents become preoccupied with gaming, lie about their gaming use, lose interest in other activities, withdrawal from family and friends, and use gaming as a means of psychological escape. This dystopic framing of extended gaming is problematic as it simplifies a complex phenomenon: prolonged engagement in virtual settings involves more than just one task. Many users are performing multiple tasks at any given time. But the real question lies in what compels some users to be able to engage for an extended period of time? By examining, anonymity; endless narrative; and socialization among users within the virtual space, this study interrogates factors and motivations compelling players to occupy virtual spaces like gaming communities and chat rooms for extended periods.AnonymityAnonymity within the online community is considered as "people . . . take on various personas, even a different gender, and to express facets of themselves without fear of disapproval and sanctions by those in their real-life social circle" (Bargh, McKenna, & Fitzsimons, 2002, p. 34). The architecture and structure of online gaming environments inherently allow identity experiments - an aspect of anonymity.Among the online gaming systems, the MMORPG is the most sophisticated having the most role-playing and social interaction, an attractive game interface, and endless game narrative. In fact, MMORPG is now the most popular, profitable, and unfortunately the most addictive online gaming system (Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). The anonymous nature of these spaces leads to much addiction allowing users to adopt and navigate multiple identities while online.Griffiths and colleagues (2003) point out MMORPG allows "a range of identities (and genders) to be explored by playing a character created by the player. The identity can vary along the lines of race, profession, and deity alignment (morality)" (p. 82). At first glance, this quality seems identical with the "identity experiment" in online chat rooms. Nevertheless, the "identity experiment" in online chat rooms is in a text format not an image form, whereas the character that a player creates in MMORPG exists in a defined visual art form (e. …