Jen, 19
Media Consumption: 8+ hours per day
Favorite Media/Technology: Twitch Live Streaming Service
How do you and your family interact with media/technology?
I know that my family uses the media as a main source of news, and that’s basically how they are fed information. A lot of the time they’re buying into propaganda because they don’t know what sources are reputable. Beyond the basics, I don’t really know exactly how they interact with the media because I don’t live with them anymore, but sometimes my mom and I send each other some silly GIFs and memes. They just kinda send me news articles and texts updating me on their life, and that’s all I know.
How do you and your peers interact with media/technology?
My friends and I are on TikTok and send each other stuff every day! I find some things funny and others educational, and I like to share them with my friends so we can all see the same information. We also use Snapchat as our main form of communication, and sometimesInstagram as well. Yeah, I think I tend to use these forms of social media as my main method of communication rather than your typical SMS text message.
What do you use media for?
As well as connecting with family and friends, I’ve mainly used the media for profit. I’ve never worked a traditional in-person job, and so all the money I have earned up ‘til now was through the use of media. That included creating and selling it - monetizing my media use! I’ve done a lot of content creation, which is something that is definitely new to this day and age. That is my main source of income. I’ve also done writing for a journalism website - most of these things had to do with video games. I helped grow a network of YouTube channels which now have around 700,000 subscribers, which is great. So I’m able to monetize the YouTube videos I create and other brand deals like sponsorships. I also created an online community based off of my video game streaming and was able to monetize that as well through different modes such as ad revenue from the streams, brand deals and sponsorships, and selling merchandise.
What is your favorite/least favorite thing about media/technology?
I definitely think my favorite aspect of the media is the ability to stream. Streaming was my favorite job for sure and for like, obvious reasons. Of course it's gonna be better than other jobs because you have your direct community and you are your own manager. The whole thing felt like fun. None of it was work for me. I loved streaming because it was very different from a traditional job. I think for one, this happened at an age where I couldn’t just walk into a Starbucks and get employed, so I was able to start fairly young and that was great because I was able to start earning my own money at a very young age. Overall, I enjoyed the freedom that the media was able to give me. It gave me a lot of creative freedom and freedom with my time in a way that a traditional job never could’ve. I think streaming using the media was my vehicle to be able to gain independence at a young age, which was incredible. There were definitely negatives, of course. I think my least favorite aspect of the internet was that it made me grow up way too fast and lose parts of my childhood. I think unrestricted access to the internet as a child was, uh, not great. I can't say that I regret it because it definitely gave me the opportunity to make money at a young age and therefore move out of a toxic home and whatever. But yeah, I could definitely see how it affected me and made me grow up a lot faster than you might have 40 years ago. I think it gave me access to inappropriate information and you know, as a child you're very inquisitive and want to understand everything presented to you, even if you don’t know that it’s bad. I was also given access to and accessed by, um, dangerous people at a young age. It was definitely a safety issue and stripped a lot of my childhood. Even now, I’m still being confronted with dangerous situations online, yeah. There's creepy men everywhere.
What is one thing you want the people who create the media you like to watch/play/interact with to know?
If I had the ability to speak with the creators of Twitch, I would definitely want to let them know about the somewhat toxic environment they’ve created. I think streaming had a very positive boost to my self-confidence, but in a seemingly toxic way. I was in this cycle of getting validation from strangers, which is unnecessary when you have your own intrinsic self-worth. But I was starting to base this worth off of other people's views of me since I was in the public eye and receiving comments about my appearance and my personality every single day. When it came to views and stuff, I wasn't like competitive, but I think you do become hyper aware of the different metrics. Um, when you see it on your screen, you're definitely aware of it. Like, it'd be a lie if I said like, ah, I don't care how many people are here right now. Even though I tried not to let that flood my mind, the way the system was designed was to make us competitive, which is definitely a negative. I feel like very, very, very recently have I tried to start to unlearn this like hyper-sexualization of myself because from the very beginning, from probably the first day that I had access to any sort of media, I saw women like me, even at a young age being portrayed in this very, very sexualized way. And it felt like you had to portray yourself in that way to succeed in that environment. And, you know, speaking of metrics, you did see, uh, a shocking difference on days where I’d dress more promiscuously versus a day where I'm in more comfortable clothing. There is a glaring difference in how many people are going to be there to watch you. Um, it sucks. It made me base my worth off of how sexualized I was by other people. And I wish the creators would do something to address this, because otherwise Twitch is a wonderful platform.
What media do you interact with the most?
I definitely spend most of my time on Twitch or making Twitch-related content, such as on Instagram or TikTok trying to make posts, advertise, connect with my audience, and things like that. It takes a lot of work and time to run a channel, so this is mainly what I spend my time
doing with the media.
Where do you get most of your information about what’s happening in the world (e.g., news, internet, parents, etc.)?
I’d say I get my information from my friends and from social media. Current events, historical events, and just daily news all tend to come from these sources. I would say Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok are what I mainly see information on, and I don’t really use Twitter. I don’t think these are really reputable sources, but if it’s important, I make sure to fact check on Google with some primary sources. I tend to look out for videos of current events because that tends to be reliable. That’s usually my first stop for confirmed reputable information, but I mainly use social media on the day to day.
What media helps you stay busy/stay calm during challenging times?
Definitely TikTok. The whole app is just mindless scrolling and distraction from the hard times. The algorithm is so much better on TikTok than on other apps, so it feeds me more interesting and personalized media. I don’t have to think about challenging things when I’m distracted by TikTok, you know? I think it’s sometimes unhealthy to use it as a distraction because there’s certainly much better mechanisms out there to to cope with. I try to limit it, but at the end of the day, using TikTok is sometimes more healthy than the alternative mechanisms I might try.
What lessons have you learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
COVID really taught me a lot about life and how you really never know what’s going to happen. Everything can change in a minute, and it literally did! I think it showed us how important communication is, even online communication, because that’s truly what got a lot of people through the challenging times, including me. Life is sacred and we really shouldn’t take it for granted.
Have you learned anything about how you use media and technology because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging times?
I think the COVID-19 pandemic caused us to focus on the internet and media because we were so restricted from the outside world. It made us hone in on the media as our way of communication and as a platform to make money, because there was no other way to do things! Personally, the isolation made me turn to online activities which I was then able to monetize, like my streaming career. It obviously benefited me quite a bit and I’m very grateful for it being an available option, but it did make me feel a lot more detached from interpersonal communication in real life, which is so important. Do I think it’s harmed me in many ways? Yes, but I really think the positives outweigh the detriment I’m still working through.
Interviewed by: Melanie Piper, UCLA student
How Narratives in Video Games Affect Children and Adolescents
As the video game industry grows, so does the need to understand its consumers and investigate its content on those consumers. Research suggests that over 90% of children and adolescents in America play video games and that the frequency of video gaming increases around age 18, peaking in an individual’s twenties.
Video games offer insight into individual characteristics and judgment alongside offering advantages in learning environments and social education as they expose players to modeling techniques through rehearsal and reinforcement of social behaviors found through the games’ narratives. These themes can vary greatly from game to game and their content has been shown to impact our cognition and behavior.
Adventuring has a powerful effect on individuals’ perspectives and psyche. Games teach us morals and allow us to explore aspects of ourselves that would otherwise be unexplored.
“A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.”
Allowing players the ability to project certain aspects of their psychological attributes to their avatars allows them to become the hero and experience themselves in a world where they can achieve feats beyond what is possible in their real lives. This allows a sort of power of resilience within a player without them being aware of the positive cognitive effects that are occurring as they triumph through lands and save the world from utter disaster.
Many video games are essentially moving narratives where the player gets to make decisions about what a character does next in the game. This essentially creates a virtual reality where players can learn from mistakes made in the game or learn more about themselves through the character they bring to life. Some games have fixed narratives, but increasingly, games are allowing for a more autonomous and whole version of the characters in their games. Games like “Skyrim” and “World of Warcraft” allow players to decide throughout the game whether to take a virtuous path of heroism, or a darker path of thievery, or assassination, along with other characteristics.
Basically, these games allow you to play someone you never could be in real life and this element of choice is what makes video games such an intriguing form of media. I believe Grizzard et al. 2014 said it best: “In narrative media, viewers simply watch moral decisions being made by others, but in video games, players often make the decision to be moral (or immoral).” It is also what makes researching them so complicated and intertwined. Researchers have found that individuals who engage in prosocial gameplay tend to have more prosocial thoughts and behaviors and that individuals who play more violent narratives tend to have an increase of aggressive and hostile behavior and thoughts. Ambiguous games present a unique problem and discussion for researchers.
Morality and Character Content
Narrative content is important to gameplay and to the outside implications of thoughts and actions caused by video games. Not all games are complicated narratives per se and in researching the direct effects of video games on individuals it is hard to have them play a game with a fully immersive and detailed world. So, equally important to narrative content is the character being played in the game. Research has found that the context in which you play a specific character can have direct effects on empathy and general affect.
Morality presents a different viewpoint on aggression and violence within video games. Questions of morality can be intense, and our actions can divide us. Morality asks us if it is okay to kill one to save the many. It asks if violence is acceptable to save an innocent. It also makes video games with protagonists that engage in aggressive behaviors to save the world a question of morality that we should allow individuals to consume. Could it be that a moral high ground and virtuous narrative could mitigate the effects of hostile and antisocial intent?
In fact, research has shown that prosocial concepts can mitigate the effects of violence in video games. Studies have shown that video games could be an important outlet for reflection based upon moral decisions rehearsed in the game and that oftentimes the feeling of guilt can mediate between violent video gameplay and the overall salience of a player.
Essentially, this means that while moral violations occurred through violence, there was no increase in hostile behavior or aggressive thinking shown after the violent video game was played. This could be due to the idea that we justify the violence in the name of moral high ground or simply that the context provided more access to prosocial thought (saving the world) and thus negated access to antisocial and aggressive thoughts.
All of this information can be used by both parents and content creators alike to make smart choices for their kids and reflect on the games we all love and play.
Actionable Insights
Here are Actionable Insights for Parents and Video Game Narratives:
Read the synopsis of a game before gifting a game to a child/teen (check the ratings as well).
Have discussions with your child about the actions their characters take in each game and investigate the moral dilemmas that might appear. Question the motives of each character including NPCs.
Encourage playing games with diverse characters and prosocial narratives.
Here are Actionable Insights for Content Creators of Video Games:
Develop a variety of characters with diverse positions within games and question the motives of each of your characters.
Develop stories with narratives that help users question the world.
Ask yourself:
What is the purpose of this character?
What is my audience/age range for this character?
Do my characters represent the diverse population of my audience?
Michelle Leccese, MA Psychology
Gaming and the COVID-19 Pandemic
As an avid gamer, I’m very familiar with the all-too-common phrases from parents about my gaming habits. From Mom telling me to “put my Nintendo away and go outside” to Dad worrying that “I should be spending more time with friends.” Their concerns were similar to most parents with teenage children, worrying about the effects of video games on my social health and academics.
But with the novel coronavirus setting the entire world into a time of uncertainty, where social isolation is prevalent, we turn to media and entertainment. Video games provide comfort and support as we battle a social capital standstill. While parents of teens worry about video games negatively impacting their children, they can find comfort in research that shows how collaborative video games positively influence individuals. Online gaming could prove to be a great source of social support, as well as a means to create prosocial environments (social behavior that benefits society or other individuals other than the individual themselves) both on-screen and off-screen.
Games such as ‘World of Warcraft’ (WoW), ‘Among Us,’ and even ‘Call of Duty’ encourage group play through collaborative tasks, adventures and characters that naturally compliment different players’ abilities. These Massively Multiplayer Online-Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) allow thousands of individual players to come together to play in an immersive and detailed environment filled with adventures and quests. In games like these, prosocial behavior is encouraged and rewarded. Players have a sense of obligation towards other members of their ‘guild’ (groups of players that play games together) as they go through quests and raids, offering a social structure in which prosocial behavior is essential to success. These types of collaborative and social games can be particularly useful for users with physical disabilities that hinder their movement outside the home, or in the current socially isolated state of the world.
These MMORPGs are highly social environments that allow for strong friendships to form and many of them utilize chat features and messaging boards to connect players. The “Social Side of Gaming” expands on the benefits of collaborative gaming on video game players, stating that sharing online space within games enhances the formation of social capital and fosters friendships offline. Some researchers attribute this type of gameplay to the idea of being “alone together,” which in times of social isolation and social distancing can be a positive psychological and cognitively clinical advantage. In simpler terms, gaming can reduce the stress of isolation and help facilitate social interaction and friendships in teens.
Being alone together within games allows players the autonomy to choose their gameplay while also providing a rich social environment. Many players utilizing MMORPGs indicate that a very social environment is their primary factor for choosing to play these types of games. The academic research also suggests that the “gameplay within these virtual worlds is enhanced because players not only use them as the game originally was intended to be played but also as arenas in which to explore new relationships, new places, and themselves.” Online gaming also contributes to a higher social capital amongst groups in games with more interactive play, thus creating social ties that extend outside of the game itself. This shows us that online gaming creates bridges for social networks that then create outlets for social support and social capital.
Many of these online interactive games allow players to be “more of themselves” than they otherwise would be as their offscreen self, adding to the enjoyment of the games and creating a social benefit for those who may not be able to do so in real life. In these uncertain times, it seems to be reasonable to relax on video game restrictions and allow teens the ability to connect in whatever way they are able to. The social atmospheres and ability to collaborate with other individuals just might be the key to this new online world we are collectively experiencing. It might not be a good old-fashioned hangout with friends, side-by-side, but for avid gamers it feels just the same.
Parents reading this might still be a little skeptical, and content creators might wonder “so what next in gaming creation?” So, here are some tips for parents to help relax their minds and even bond with their gamers a little more, and some advice for content creators on what to include in your next game.
Actionable Insights
Here are Actionable Insights for Parents on Video Games and their Teens:
Not all games are created equally. Check the age rating on any games you might get your kid.
If you are able to, play the game. Understanding the dynamics of the gaming world will help you understand the social world your kids are in.
Take an interest in what your child is playing. Ask about the characters, the narratives and objectives, and if there is a multiplayer option, play the game with them. The more invested you are in their play, the more information you get about your child’s social needs.
Use content restrictions on games for younger children. Many MMORPGs have filters where you can designate the age range of other players that your child can interact with. (i.e. only players between the ages of 13-16 can interact on the game)
Here are Actionable Insights for Content Creators of Video Games:
Write diverse characters that rely on interaction and prosocial behavior to succeed in the game.
Create reward systems that increase the likelihood of helping behavior and punish antisocial behavior.
When writing NPC (Non-player Characters), take a special interest in developing side quests that encourage everyday helping behaviors (i.e. an older woman asking a character to retrieve her chickens or deliver her mail for her).
Create info guides for parents on your game to help facilitate communication between players and caregivers.
Michelle Leccese, MA Psychology