Do Video Games Contribute to Social Isolation?

A stereotypical young gamer sits alone in a dark room, staring at a computer. His hands furiously type on the keyboard, and he mumbles occasionally into his headset. Some may worry that this child has difficulty interacting with others, or making and keeping friends. These people would be, in almost all circumstances, wrong. While this person may not outwardly appear sociable, they are likely conversing with online friends, and may be strengthening bonds made with people in the real world.

Online games have the unique benefit of allowing you to gain friends in a rather different way. Because everyone you meet in the game shares at least one interest with you, the game itself, it is very easy to initiate a conversation with the other players. This, and continuing to play together allows trust to build up, and a friendship to form. Having played games with friends myself, I find that it is much more satisfying when you share your victory with another person. Data collected in a study led by Dr. Daniel Johnson of the Queensland University of Technology found that many younger gamers find their online friends to be easily comparable to their offline friends, and sometimes even better (Australia 6). Having friends who you have no physical contact with can actually be a relief. Because there is likely little to no overlap with the friends you met online and your real life friends, you can easily relieve stress, or vent some complaints about recent events without the fear of them coming back to you. People with introverted tendencies may feel more comfortable talking to a small group of people from the comfort of their home, rather than going to a large dance, or sporting event. Finally, online friends can be nice, reliable sources of advice, allowing for comfortable dialogue where you can get perspectives from people potentially hundreds of miles away.

Gamers maintain and build these relationships. Often when one of these online friendships begin to form, you place them on a friends list, or similar system. Later on this allows easy communication and the ability to work together further. The collaboration and quick decisions you make while playing a game with another person allows you to see how they think, and how they cover and assist you helps greatly to build a feeling of trust. A study printed in the American Psychology Association magazine mentioned that in addition to strengthening current bonds through playing with one another, it becomes easier to function socially in real life (Granic 73). I believe this is because the quick judgments of trust you have to make while gaming allow you to better judge the trustworthiness of people in reality.

Dr. Johnson’s team also found that as pre-existing friends (such as a friend you have in school) play games together, it strengthens their friendship. (Australia 6). Fighting a monster with someone, or working together as part of an assault team in an FPS, even if it is entirely fake, undeniably creates a bond between the members, often in the form of shared experiences, inside jokes, and the like. Planning for these missions requires a degree of teamwork and responsibility, and the collaboration allows for deeper understanding of your friends. Additionally, as previously mentioned, you often begin to trust them more, because of how they helped you during the session of play.

You can also play online games with friends hundreds of miles away, allowing you to maintain your relationship in ways few other things allow through constructive interactivity. A personal friend of mine regularly plays the popular MOBA League of Legends with friends he knew, but that moved to distant states. He plays very frequently, but also manages to balance his offline friends, clubs, and grades. He is far from dysfunctional. The study conducted by Dr. Johnson’s team also suggests that gamers as a whole have better attachment to school, a closer connection with their family, and more comfortable friendship than non-gamers (Australia 6).             

The biggest dissenters of this idea point out that excessive gameplay will prevent social interaction, particularly through taking up time and preventing normal face to face interaction, and may eventually lead to depression or the like. This is true. The study led by Johnson previously also showed that excessive gamers show an increase in social dysfunction, and general mental health status, as well as some specific problems like anxiety and insomnia. However, it also found that non-gamers as a whole have the poorest mental health (Australia 5).  This negates the argument against moderate play, and the positive points given above would offset any negative effects obtained even in extreme play.

Given these examples, and the fact that non-gamers can suffer health issues, it is clear that gaming does not increase social isolation, with it actually encouraging and facilitating further interaction among friends, and potentially creating new bonds with other players they meet along the way. Next time you think of the teen sitting in front of a computer, apparently alone, remember that there is likely a whole different social environment they are immersed in, one not immediately visible to the outside observer.

Australia. Young and Well Cooperative Research Center. Videogames and Wellbeing. By Dr. Daniel Johnson, Associate Proffesor Christian Jones, Dr. Laura Scholes, and Michelle Colder Carras. N.p., 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2014

Granic, Isabela, PhD, Adam Lobel, PhD, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels, PhD. "The Benefits of Playing Video Games." American Psychologist 69 (2014): 66-78. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

 

I wrote this as a persuasive essay for my A.P. Lang class, hence the long and developed writing. Thanks for reading!