Bowling Online: Mobile Social Games for Korean Teen Girls

Seo, Hogeun; Lee, Claire Shinhea

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-43820-7_5

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The authors decided to investigate the mobile social gaming of high-school females because they are generally regarded as the most active group that utilizes online spaces for social purposes; they also tend to be early adopters of new technologies who create cultural practices; this is also true in the US (Lenhart et al, 2011) and in Japan (Shibuya et al, 2015). Due to their arduous and busy everyday routines, high-school females do not have enough time for leisure or socializing, but they are able to take several short breaks with their smartphones, which allows them to play mobile social games either for leisure or communication (Seo and Lee, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among all users, the study focuses on Korean teen female gamers between the ages of 15 and 18 for three reasons: (1) their increasingly intimate attachment to smartphones due to arduous academic schedules and parental monitoring (Park and Chun, 2013), (2) their vulnerable and marginalized social positionality and lack of dedicated public recreational spaces (Seo and Lee, 2017), and (3) their desire for peer relationship in the midst of school- and family-related stress. While the lives of teen boys also share some of the above qualities, we chose to investigate teen female gamers who we claim to be the most vulnerable population both online and offline since the culture and subculture within gaming center on men, target men, and are dominated by male perspectives (Gray et al, 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Being social for whom? Issues of monetization, exploitation, and alienation in mobile social games

Lee

Seo

2023

Journal of Consumer Culture

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This study investigates Korean teen females’ Kakao gaming culture by focusing on the political economy of mobile social games and the issue of free labor within free-to-play games. Through focus group interviews with 23 teen females, the study explores how the connective properties of the KakaoTalk platform affect the logics of Kakao Games and how gamers’ social activities become monetized and commodified by game companies. Based on the monetization strategies of free-to-play games and the theoretical framework of exploitation and alienation in digital labor, we analyze how the game companies subtly conceal viral marketing tools under the mask of socializing components, specifically by encouraging users to send invitations and hearts, as well as engage in boasting. We argue that while this process multiplies revenue for the corporate territory of game companies and platform businesses, teen female gamers are alienated not only from their game play and social labor but also from themselves and others, thus revealing commodified social relations. This study interrogates the impact of the platformization and gamblification of the game industry and underscores the risk they produce for vulnerable populations.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Being social for whom? Issues of monetization, exploitation, and alienation in mobile social games

Lee

Seo

2023

Journal of Consumer Culture

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“…"High game scores and rankings, " especially among younger generations of gamers, can be regarded as measures of honor and display in themselves. For example, a prior study pointed out that gameproficient adolescents intentionally 'present' or 'boast' about their exceptional achievements to peers, thereby eliciting envy mixed with admiration relationships (Seo and Lee, 2017). And in anonymous gaming environments where identity information is limited, rewards can serve as significant indicators that confer authority over an individual's speech or actions (Cruz et al, 2017).…”

Section: Self-determination Theory and Cheatingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of psychological needs and motivation on game cheating: insights from self-determination theory

Lee,

Jeong,

Kim

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionGame cheating (i.e., behavior of violating rules in games by using unregulated Software or assistive devices to gain advantage) poses a fatal problem as it destroys fair competition systems and negatively impacts the game ecosystem. Game cheating is reported to be common in competitive online games because they stimulate strongly a user’s motivation and psychological needs. However, there is still in lack of academic research which focused on the issue from the psycho-social perspective.MethodsThis study investigated the relationships between basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and motivation (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic) based on self-determination theory, and examined their effects on the degree of game cheating with survey data of 322 gamers in a competitive online gaming community.ResultsThe results showed the opposite associations between the two forms of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) and game cheating. On one hand, extrinsic motivation decreased by autonomy enhanced the degree of game cheating. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation increased by both autonomy and relatedness finally abated game cheating. Competence did not influence any form of motivation. The results indicated that people motivated by interest or enjoyment (i.e., intrinsic motivation) of the game tend to view game cheating negatively while those motivated by game victory and rewards are likely to have positive attitudes toward game cheating. Increasing the degree of user autonomy and social relations in the game could decrease game cheating through the enhancement of intrinsic motivation.DiscussionDigital game cheating is a crucial problem threatening the spread of game culture and the growth of the eSports industry. The findings of this study reveal the influence of psychological needs and intrinsic motivation related to ‘game cheating,’ providing valuable guidelines in educational and policy aspects.

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Bowling Online: Mobile Social Games for Korean Teen Girls

Cited by 2 publications

References 41 publications

Being social for whom? Issues of monetization, exploitation, and alienation in mobile social games

Being social for whom? Issues of monetization, exploitation, and alienation in mobile social games

The influence of psychological needs and motivation on game cheating: insights from self-determination theory

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