Social consequences are a very real part of a gaming addiction. Addicted gamers spend so much time playing, that when it comes time to interact, they are at a disadvantage. Eventually their personal relationships get put on stand by and are often neglected or sometimes they disappear altogether. If they do not neglect their friends then it is common that they become so obsessed with their game of choice that it becomes all they want to talk about and their friends lose interest in them.
When playing online games or video games where there is some way to communicate with other players in the game, the fact that you are “chatting” creates the allusion that you are actually engaging in normal every day conversation; you not. The way you talk in a game is much different from the way one would normally talk in real life. As an experiment, I took up playing an online game called, “The Godfather: Five Families”. For those readers that don’t know the background of the story, it is in a sense, a mafia game. But in this game you attack other cities, join up with gangs, and try to become the biggest and the best “mobster”. I found it to be very addicting. There was a chat box in the bottom left hand corner of the game screen where one could “chat” with other players. Here is, what I believe to be, a very explicit example of the types of conversations that go on during this game. Keep in mind this is a real portion from the chat box, but names have been replaced for the most part.
Player A: “JOIN THE PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 CREW OR WE’LL ATTACK UR CITY!!!!!!!
Player B: “f**k u!
Player C: “Lo siento pero estoy en una “crew”. Alguien quiere una batallon?
Player D: “@D-3-gangsta thank u so F***ing much for killin all my God***n gangs! mother f****r!!!!”
Player E: Imam problem s mojim “crew”… dali neko moze da mi pomogne?
Player A: “JOIN THE PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 GANG OR WE’LL ATTACK UR CITY!!!!!!!
Player B: “F**k that’s annoying!!”
Player A: “B**ch be hatin on my crw!”
Player B: “f***ing c**k sucker”
Player E: “does any1 have any $$ they aint usin?”
Player B: “no 1 likes F***ing beggrs!! get ur own f***ing $$!!!! loser…
Player A: “JOIN THE PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 GANG OR WE’LL ATTACK UR CITY!!!!!!!
Player B: “F**K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Any one fluent in the ways of human to human, face to face conversing knows that it is not socially acceptable to just go up to someone and start cussing at them over something otherwise seen as a trifle. But to someone who constantly plays games and just rattles off ridiculous fodder in the chat boxes of online games does not leave a lot of conversation topics for real live conversations. Social interaction is the basis of our current world. The deficiency of real social interaction that results from obsessive online gaming may have long term and rather disparaging social consequences. “A game addicted teen will not develop effective social skills, which will impede his or her ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships in college and or future jobs.”(Wood) Suddenly, the player is 21 years old but has maintained the, most often, awkward social skills of a 14 year old. He/she has no idea of how to make long lasting friends, talk to girls/boys, or just "hang out” and enjoy people's company and conversation.
Some studies have shown that different genders react to this in different ways. “Males may be more likely than females to act aggressively after exposure to violent gamming. Males typically exhibit higher levels of aggressiveness than females, and exposure to online gaming might have the greatest impact on persons. Females [however], are prone to behavioral mood swings. The most common being depression…” (Wood) Depending on the type of online game the social reactions to them by certain people may vary. However, it is in fact certain that no matter how it makes the gamer act, that person’s social life is for sure going to suffer from the constant and relentless involvement in online gaming.
A common retaliation to the argument of gamming leading to social awkwardness is that that would be like saying, “…people that that play sports video games all the time will [automatically] make them better at playing the sport in real life…” (Zenko) The most important thing to see here is that this author committed the fallacy of false analogy. The analogy he brought up in no way ties to the original argument, and yet he is trying to make a believable counter argument. Trying to discredit the main argument by throwing out a nonchalant ridiculous counter argument is all this author was worried about in writing his own article. On top of that fallacy he then goes on to say that “If [online] games could turn gamers into antisocial misfits then why hasn’t anyone put a stop… to the[se] game[s]…” (Zenko) Here the author tries to wrap up his argument by committing one last fallacy that he believes will take the cake. He commits a fallacy known as the slippery slope. He tells his side of the opposition’s “conclusion” and gives one option of what could be done and makes it seem like it is the only logical thing that could possibly follow from the opponent’s conclusion. Then poses it as a question to shift the blame back to the other side to show that if it really is that big of a deal and “if it is true” then why has something not been done about it yet?
The only answer is, is that it is just not that simple! There have been many examples of social awkwardness resulting from constant gamming and lack of communication with the real world. The gamers spend all of their time playing the game that they find interesting and do not learn how to communicate like a normal everyday human being. They forget/do no learn how to just relax and have a normal conversation with a friend. Or sometimes, as portrayed above, they end up neglecting their friends.
The social awkwardness created by the isolationism of gaming addiction, unfortunately, feeds the addiction. When an attempt is made to try and taper off, and then their attempt, they find, is made in vain because they do not know how to communicate just shows them that there is no point to stop playing and they keep going with the gaming; all the while, feeding their addiction. Besides, “…in the gaming world they have created [for themselves], relationships are easier and are already waiting for them to [step into their avatar] and pursue them…”(Zenko)
“A common reason for this failure just happens to be the lack of conversations that the gamer is well versed in.”(Wood) Usually one of the only topics that the gamer knows how to talk about and well is the game that he/she has chosen to obsess on. This leads to long, otherwise boring conversation about an online game, a fake virtual world, that the person being told about it, has no connection to at all. Most often than not, this leads to that “friend” losing interest in their gaming “friend” and the two of them growing apart. Then as the gamer desperately tries to find other friends, they quickly find that there are not many to be had when your main topic of conversation is an online game. Seeing that their attempt has failed they quickly go and hide themselves in a virtual world that knows and loves them.
A typical result of “hiding in a virtual world” is depression. When you have no desire to go out and interact and socialize then you cut yourself off from the rest of the world then you in a sense become a hermit of sorts. Staring at a screen for hours and hours on end can really start to get to you. It is unhealthy to sit there as an inactive bump on a log. Inactivity, and an antisocial attitude are two main components to a depression problem. No to mention living mainly in a world that is virtual and fake, when you finally wake up and realize that the world you are in is not as perfect as the one you created for yourself it can be a bit shocking and a bit depressing when one finally makes that discovery.
I do not intend to propose a solution, I am merely pointing out a pertinent and rather distressing fact: People that become addicted to online games of any kind spend so much time playing those games, that when it comes time to interact with the friends and family around them, they are at a troubling disadvantage. Because they spend most of their time playing these games they become well versed in the vernacular of those games and that is all they remember how to talk about and as a result, it is common for people like that to drive a wedge between the people that used to enjoy the now “addict gamer’s” company. The plain and simple thing is: their personal relationships get put on stand by and are often neglected or sometimes become nonexistent. These gamers put themselves in the position of having to choose between real world human interaction or virtual self-created fake interaction. It is definitely time for the real world to start winning this battle.
Works Cited
Wood Wendy, Frank Y Wong, and J. Gregory Chachere. “Effects of Media Violence on Viewers' Aggression in Unconstrained Social Interaction.” Psychological Bulletin 1991, Vol. 109, No. 3, 371-383. WEB. November 16 2011.
Zenko, Darren. “Sure, blame games - for everything; Looters take cues from Grand Theft Auto, but then everyone's playing at something.” The Toronto Star. Section: Entertainment. August 13 2011. WEB. November 16 2011.
The Godfather: Five Families. Paramount. Kabam. 4 Feb 2002.
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