Online Games Found To Be Socially Interactive Environments for Making Friends and Relationships

Mayo · Silver Member Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 330

Addicted gamers may not be stereotypical loners after all. A study done by the Nottingham Trent University shows that online games may be socially interactive environments with one in ten players starting a relationship with a fellow player.

These finding dispute previous claims about online games that had been blamed for relationships wrecking and anti-social behaviours.

This worldwide study that included 1000 hardcore gamers from different backgrounds showed that 43 % had met with online friends in real-life situations and that over 70 % had made good friends while in-game. Further more, 30% of the participants found themselves attracted to fellow gamers and 10% developed a physical relationship with someone they met in a game.

Nearly half of the questioned gamers reported they would rather discuss sensitive personal issues online with their friends.

These figures show that computer games are by no means an anti-social activity or that the players are socially introverted but that they could be socially interactive environments that people look forward to coming back to.
This may be even more likely for those who may not feel comfortable doing so in real life because of their appearance, gender, sexuality and age.

Online Games Found To Be Socially Interactive Environments for Making Friends and Relationships

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