Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Just to hang out

Like so many others, I have a facebook account. No shock there, hmm? Also, I play games on it! No shock there either, I guess! The facebook games are small and fun, but most of the time I find that I play them for the same reason I play a hand of cards or participate in the yearly winter games at the department (last day before christmas). I play because I want to connect with the people I play with.

And so I send and receive flowers, I read and do quizzes, I buy and sell friends, I bite and get bitten, and I have a little dragon that occasionally tries to help her friends. Poor little thing, robbed of all gold and dignity, but she still tries!

It's quite amusing, really. This is perhaps the oldest use of games in existance - playing in order to enjoy connecting with others - and it is still a revelation to discover that we do it in yet another medium.

1 comment:

Luca said...

Yep "hanging out" in games is something that is always more evident and the explosion of SNs is making it so clear. There's an interesting connection with the "hanging out" practice that Bittanti and Ito point out in the recent digital youth report. I wish I had more time and opportunity to work more on this... but you know.. :-)