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Annotated Bib Week 8 Assignment
Annotated Bib Week 8 Assignment
Annotated Bib Week 8 Assignment
Brandon Anderson
Emily Litle
12 March 2023
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201215-how-online-gaming-has-become-a-social-
lifeline
The impact of covid on society as a whole, will need to be researched for many years.
Lack of interactions with family and friends, led many to become depressed and even more
withdrawn. Online gaming was one way that gave everyone an opportunity and the ability to
stay in touch with family and friends, as well as meet strangers, and even find love.
Online gaming, and often gaming as a whole, was given many negative connotations.
Some being that those who play often, are lazy and anti-social. For many years the way gamers
were referred to, was at the level of bullying and harassment. Gaming is a way for certain
personality types to be just the opposite of what others had termed players. You interact with
way more people during game play and exploration than you would in a weeks time in normal
daily work and living. It was mentioned how those that would be considered outside of the
general age for play in certain games, became a door for many to interact with their
grandchildren during covid. While they couldn’t visit them in person, they could still video chat.
It also changed the dynamic of the communication. Many platforms for social media, are just a
video chat. It is normally trying to catch conversation happening, and keeping the focus of
those on the other line. This afforded more than just talking during the interaction, but
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something to do together. It would be similar to visiting someone and playing a game of cards
If the grandparents and other family who didn’t speak enough of how helpful it was
having this outlet, the gaming companies spoke for us. Billions of dollars in revenue were
created during the pandemic for them. Again reaching well beyond the typical genres they
have in their fold. It was stated that there was a revenue increase over eighty percent for just
one company. The reach crossed not only age lines, but cultural and racial as well. To the point
special forums were created so those of the black and female community, so protections
against racism and sexism could be addressed. These I am sure were problems before covid,
but now had a more impactful statement, as many were joining online gaming for the first time
ever. It gave them a way to connect. As the money kept rolling in, and algorithms were
watched, additions to games and game play included those of different walks of like that were
not common before covid. I know it was good for their pockets as a company, but in this
instance where it would normally be looked down on for a company exploiting a situation, this
one was met with open arms by the community. This brought joy and much needed
connection for people around the world during the lockdowns. In a time where people were
loosing hope because toilet paper was sparce, some of that stress could be taken away. They
know that after dinner that night, they would be able to play and “hang out” with their friends
and family.
This also brought the perspective of how similar online gaming is to real life. I
mentioned in the last paragraph how a special forum to protect and inform those of a specific
category was set up. The fact that there can still be toxicity, is then relative to general every
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day life. Hate and dislike for others was still spread in the community. Also that though it was
an outlet and a way to see those you play with and stay in touch, you are essentially still
trapped behind a screen. The realization of that adding some stress. It makes me wonder
about eye damage statistics. Though there was negatives to the gaming, it brought happiness
and joy for the majority of it. People got to meet strangers from all over the world. Creating
new bonds and friendships. Some of these relationships going many steps further. Not only
were connections made, people fell in love with one another. Of course since the ability to
have formal functions and activities in person were restricted all the way down to funerals,
weddings then took place online. Some of them inside of the games they played. Something
looked down upon outside of a pandemic, brought someone a lifetime of joy during it. I think
that is ultimate irony. I agree with the direction of the author. I do not play video games often,
and rarely online. I have lots of friends and family that do, and see how many of them were
able to still kind of get together, through gaming. I don’t want to go in to a lockdown situation
again, but if we do, I feel I would give it a go. There is no harm since these games and the
forums have a strict admin guard and the rules are generally followed, and of course, enforced.