For Newbies, there were no changes to total Internet use due to treatment, nor were there any pre- vs. post-test differences for the other groups. Nevertheless, game play had a large impact on several kinds of Internet use. Within that unchanged total number of hours online, game use went up and displaced a wide range of Internet activities. Although only a few of these were significant for the Newbies compared to control, the consistency of the results across all groups pre- to post-test strongly suggests that the effects were real. The logic of the total number of hours online also supports the results: time online playing AC2 had to have displaced something. What game play did displace fell into two categories. First, several prosaic everyday Internet uses were displaced (see Figure C).
Pre-test
Post-test
Figure C. Negative effect of game play on everyday Internet activities.
Note. The variables have been standardized to 0-1. See Appendix F for full models and data.
**p < .01, ***p < .001
The second category of reductions involved social uses, including getting help for personal problems, visiting chat rooms and staying in touch with friends nearby (see Figure D).
Pre-test
Post-test
Figure D. Negative effect of game play on social Internet activities.
Note. The variables have been standardized to 0-1. See Appendix for full models and data.
*p < .05, **p < .01.
What game play did not displace was time spent online reading about national news, meeting new people, alleviating loneliness or staying in touch with friends far away. Players were apparently selective in what they retained or gave up.
Share with your friends: |
