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economics, power, identity, community, time and space
The usefulness of that word, that distinction — the idea of the ‘gamer’ – soon it will wither and die. It will be a meaningless, dead word, or it will evolve; transform into something completely different.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/10/i-am-the-average-australian-gamer/. Viewed on Jan 05, 2015
Drawing on your own experience, discuss the role of games in general in teaching children and adults about functioning in society and creating, modifying and maintaining relationships with each other, are there differences in online and face to face gaming, in this respect?
What games do you play and what part do they play in your life?
What type of game player would you classify yourself, an enthusiast, casual or occasional gamer?
If you don't play games nowadays, discuss your personal experience of games in general; the games you played as a child on the street, in your home. Include all sorts of games, e.g. board games, tic tac toe, hopscotch, sport.
What are the implications of the rise of casual and social games on the Internet for online gaming and everyday life?
Community & Identity
Discuss, in relation to an online community of your choice:
How is this a community (and what is a community)?
Connections and gaps between the world of this community and face to face life.
Who are the powerful in this community, and how was this power acquired?
Is there a difference between virtual and real life?
What do these terms mean, nowadays?
Pick 1 topic (e.g. games) and list examples of the way the Internet has, in terms of your topic, become part of our everyday in terms of community, power, economy and identity.
Some Muslim youth actively engage with religious practices and discussions about faith through blogs and social media as a part of their everyday lives, which contributes forming and interacting with community.
My introductory paragraph explaining my approach:
I will draw mainly on the work of NAME (year), with support by other theorists and readings from the unit, in order to tie together the Internet, everyday life and the topic of faith. I will use the example of young, nontraditional Muslims as a case study, in order to illustrate the ways young people use the Internet on an everyday basis in order to interact with religion. I will also make note that not all young Muslim individuals have the opportunity to engage with Muslim communities in this way, often due to the inability to access the Internet in certain geopolitical zones, or censorship, in order to demonstrate my understanding of the similarities and differences of how people might use the Internet around the world.
My 3-4 main sections:
The use of social media such as Facebook or Flickr to identify as a contemporary Muslim in a community. In this section, I will draw on the work of NAME (year) and NAME (year) to explain how Facebook blurs public and private interactions with religion.
The use of blogs to disseminate new ideas throughout that community. In this section, I will draw on the work of NAME to discuss how some young nontraditional Muslims use the Internet for very different purposes in some geopolitical zones.
The use of online discussion groups to debate and discuss nontraditional understandings and practices of religion. In this section, I will draw on the work of NAME (year) and NAME (year) to discuss something.
… etc
Sample Paragraph (this example uses the introductory paragraph – it might be better to choose another paragraph from another section of your essay):
In the following essay, I will describe how a portion of young, nontraditional Muslims engage in online environments such as blogs and social media, in order to argue that Internet-mediated activities can shape the everyday experience of faith in new ways, with a focus on community. Drawing on the work of Gary Bunt, I argue that there are three online daily activities that impact and shape the experience of faith for Muslim youth: the use of social media such as Facebook or Flickr to identity as a contemporary Muslim; the use of blogs to disseminate new ideas; the use of online discussion groups to debate and discuss nontraditional understandings and practices of religion. The context of my argument is that of developed, digitised cultures, and I acknowledge that not all young Muslims have the opportunity to engage in religious community based discussions in the same way due to access difficulties.
Works Cited (that are from the unit):
Use APA referencing
References:
Use APA referencing
(5 you have found yourself which do not include the readings)
The iGEA regularly publishes annual reports providing statistical data on Australian gamers. Find the latest report and analyse what the published data reveals about trends and features of the gaming industry and its consumers in Australia. What can you say about the role of gaming in general, and online gaming more specifically, in Australian life?
WATCH:
Schell, J. (2010). When Games Invade Real LifeVideo file. Ted Talk. Also available on Youtube.
This video raises some important things to think about in terms of how gaming may be more and more a part of people's lives in many ways, and how deeply tied this is to commodification and profit. From 2006 onwards, the gaming industry has seen the rise of casual and social gaming. Casual games are relatively simple games that do not require the same investment of time and effort as hardcore games. Beyond MMORPG and more dedicated forms of game play, the rising popularity of social networking services, displacing email amongst younger Internet users, has seen an accompanying surge in 'social games', that is, games made available as applications within social networking sites (e.g. Farm Town, Texas Holdem poker). What implications do you think this has on gaming in general and online gaming patterns?
Essay
If you choose this topic for the essay, in addition to the above, you will also need to read:
Frans Mayra. (2008). The Real and the Game: Game Culture Entering the New Millenium. In An Introduction to Game Studies (pp. 118-151). London: Sage. In E-Reserve
This chapter provides a broad discussion of online games and an important text that is very likely to help you address the question fully.
Candy explores the shifts in time and space required for high speed gaming and the importance of locality for effective game play. Social relationships are mediated by access to high speed broadband.
Community & Identity
READ
Said, S. (2005, December 13). 'Can a Virtual Community be any different from the experience of a Real Community? Web log post. Incoherent Thoughts.
This blog post expresses the author's initial reservations about virtual community, and then moves on to a more positive stance on their possibilities. This highlights the normative use of the word community, that is, beyond being a way of describing a set of social relations, 'community' often implies certain values and expectations. What do you associate with the term, 'community,' and are these things available in both online and face to face types of community?
Slater, D. (2002). Social Relationships and Identity Online and Offline. In Sonia M. Livingstone & Leah A. Lievrouw (Eds.), Handbook of New Media (pp. 533-546). London: Sage. In E-Reserve.
This chapter in a student textbook on new media interrogates the distinctions between offline and online and provides examples of the changes in the way social relationships are formed and maintained, and identity is constructed.
If you choose this topic for the essay, in addition to the above, you might also like to read:
Robinson, L. (2007). The cyberself: the self-ing project goes online, symbolic interaction in the digital age. New Media and Society, 9(1), 93 - 110, doi: 10.1177/146144807072216. http://www.ucalgary.ca/files/stas341/Cyber_Self.pdf
In addition to the Module 1 material identified above, and to frame your discussion in the context of scholarly work on this topic, please draw on the reading for module I:
Bakardjieva, M. (2011). The Internet in Everyday Life: Exploring the Tenets and Contributions of Diverse Approaches. In M. Consalvo and C. Ess (Eds). The Handbook of Internet Studies (pp. 58-82). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. (e-book in library: search for the book title and select 'Electronic resource')
This book also has chapters on religion, gaming and so forth that you might find useful for your essay.
To address the more specific example that you are exploring, use the unit readings that are relevant (e.g. the readings for Gaming). Note that there are different types of readings in this unit. Some are not scholarly but chosen to represent different takes people have on the topic, and some are written by academics. With each topic, we have included a more thorough scholarly source for people who are writing an essay on that topic because academic essays often require analysis and statements to be supported by solid research or other scholarly sources. These are listed at the end of each topic and also a (summary](https://lms.curtin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-3262737-dt-content-rid-19146188_1/courses/302044-Vice-Chancell-2056273228/NET%20102%20OUA%20SP4/Sources.html) is available here for your reference. These should be sufficient but any effort to find additional scholarly sources will be noted and rewarded in the assessment.
Optional Sources
As part of the process of preparing for this essay, we recommend the following as background reading to situate the approach to everyday life taken in this unit. You do not have to directly reference them in your essay, unless you cite from them.
Relevant chapters from the collection: M. Consalvo and C. Ess (eds). 2011. The Handbook of Internet Studies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Tips: you do not have to know or understand all of what he writes about, as some passages refer to debates that are not our chief concern (for instance, the discussion in the first page regarding distance and high art/low art). Use it to get a sense of what everyday life studies looks like and mainly focus on assessing his claim that everyday life both constrains and offers avenues of resisting these constraints. Definitely discuss this reading in the assignment 2 forum.
Burkitt, I. (2004) 'The Time and Space of Everyday Life.' Cultural Studies. Volume 18, Number 2-3 Pages 211-227.
You must clearly indicate all references and sources for the material informing your answers. Any material you refer to from written sources, online, or anywhere must be clearly indicated; all of your references should follow the APA style of citation.
can a virtual community be any different from the experience of a real community
This article raised some interesting and valid arguments, although I feel this article was written before we may have started to truly see the vast variety of communities.
can a virtual community be any different from the experience of a real community