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RUNNING WITH NEWBIES:
UNDERSTANDING ONLINE COMMUNITIES
THROUGH THE EYES OF SECOND-GENERATION GAMERS
by
Shawna Kathleen Kelly
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(COMMUNICATION)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Shawna Kathleen Kelly
Object Description
| Title | Running with newbies: understanding online communities through the eyes of second-generation gamers |
| Author | Kelly, Shawna Kathleen |
| Author email | shawnake@usc.edu;shawnake@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Communication |
| School | Annenberg School for Communication |
| Date defended/completed | 2012-02-16 |
| Date submitted | 2012-04-26 |
| Date approved | 2012-04-27 |
| Restricted until | 2012-04-27 |
| Date published | 2012-04-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Thomas, Douglas |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Balsamo, Anne McPherson, Tara |
| Abstract | The growing popularity of video games is introducing a new generation of video game players to online communities and the communicative behaviors of these second-generation gamers open new ways to understand the social impacts of interactive entertainment. This dissertation examines how second-generation gamers offer insights into dispositions, identity performance, community membership, and video game addiction. Ethnographic research of players entering the online gaming community of World of Warcraft suggests that second-generation gamers are neither ""hardcore"" nor ""casual"" players, but have developed a different disposition from those described by previous games researchers. The five key attributes of the second-generation gaming disposition are that they are ease-of-use oriented, embody diversity, thrive on consistency, learn only what is necessary and rely on proven solutions. Second-generation gamers are also more likely to fall outside of the ""typical gamer"" stereotype in terms of gender, age, and ethnicity. They respond to the dominant gamer culture by making performance decisions for both their personal and social identities. After entering the online community, second-generation gamers must decide how to present themselves to other players and learn their role in the community. For some second-generation players, online interactions with other players and with the gaming community take on a deeply meaningful role in their everyday lives. Lastly, in response to the popular discourse of video game addiction, second-generation players develop play-limiting strategies which suggest that ""addiction"" is not a useful framework for understanding their motivations for playing video games. |
| Keyword | addiction; disposition; identity performance; interactive entertainment; online communities; video games; ethnography |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Kelly, Shawna Kathleen |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume4/etd-KellyShawn-659.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Full text | RUNNING WITH NEWBIES: UNDERSTANDING ONLINE COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE EYES OF SECOND-GENERATION GAMERS by Shawna Kathleen Kelly A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMMUNICATION) May 2012 Copyright 2012 Shawna Kathleen Kelly |
