Okay… I’ll start off, my name is Taek and I have been internet gaming-free for the past six months. I suffered from problematic internet use in other online psychological spaces as well but for now, we’ll discuss my gaming addiction.
It was never in a particular game, it was just a general phase of non-stop playing. I would start to play these games (mainly StarCraft, WarCraft III, Diablo II, Counter-Strike, Guild Wars, etc.) and because they completely occupied my cognitive resources, I would forget and skip meals, I would intentionally sleep less to maximize play time and then spend my time away from play by browsing the internet for alternate strategies and tips for better game play. This routine did not seem abnormal and it did not seem as if the games would get old anytime soon even though the missions, objective and game play rarely changed. I had unwillingly become obsessed with the control that was present in the virtual world and I had come believe that training to become better at these games would later help me prove something in life. The training would pay off in front of the ever present audience. There was always someone in the games to witness the “ownage” and affirm my 1337 skillz.
Given that the entertainment factors of the games were only secondary factors; the biggest factor for my addiction was one that linked the real world and the virtual world together for me. My real world were themselves problematic internet gamers who played and socialized in the same games. Having them in the games made it seem acceptable that I spent so much time online. The internet had become the place I went to relax.
In this case, the problem wasn’t the individual psychosocial problems that led to excessive use of online gaming. The games did not serve as the outlet for the negative self perceptions or social incompetence as Caplan’s Theory of Problematic Internet use and Psychosocial Well Being theorized. However, given the social benefits that I felt for playing the games (mainly social acceptance among friends and strangers), had depression been present at the time of play, it seems quite possible that the games may have become the exclusive means of interaction with others due to the fact that the internet was less threatening and offered a more effective means of communication.
Although Caplan claims that problematic internet gaming use stems from preference to internet interactions, in my case it was the opposite; problematic internet gaming use perpetuated internet interactions due to its convenience and social benefits. The more I played with online, I uncovered more of the different affordances of internet interaction that I could enjoy. The anonymity allowed me to say whatever I wanted to and not feel bad about it, having greater control over my self-presentation made me more confident when interacting, and I felt no responsibility to appease anyone. But like Caplan's theory, it had become a self perpetuating cycle.
http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-9-too-much-gaming-online.html
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