Neys and Jansz’s article focuses on internet games that address political issues and how these games have impacted users’ engagement with politics. They believe that movies, video games, and television enable people to “perform a political self” and communicate the developer’s opinions and ideas on important matters. Unlike literature, games encourage risk-taking and enable players to engage in points of views that are difficult to encounter in a real life scenario. Nowadays, media, which is a form of entertainment, is used to communicate serious messages. One game that the authors write about is a game that creates awareness on mass shootings in schools and explores the question of why the perpetuators did what they did. Results indicated that users gained 30 percent more knowledge on whatever issue that the game addressed and 25 percent of gamers changed their initial opinions on these issues. Additionally, more than half of participants said that they wanted to share their opinions with their friends and discuss these issues further; thus, the game worked as a social facilitator. Furthermore, Flanagan’s article conveys the message that both digital and analog games offer a space to explore creatively and gain knowledge on complex ideas, such as social issues. She writes about a specific multiplayer game called SOBA that is focused on learning about culture, food, and language; interacting and exchanging stories with community members is the goal of the project. Games function as a technology for creating social relations — allowing players to take on the roles and perspectives of other people or groups in a unique way. Similar to the previous article, Flanagan mentions that games should be used to develop empathy because it allows players to adopt a variety of perspectives.
I am able to relate to Neys and Jansz’s article. Although I am not a gamer and do not play video games, I completed media-related projects that addressed serious issues in high-school. For example, after learning about genocide — including its definition and groups who have been effected by it — my classmates and I created an iMovie presentation. The final product of our iMovie was engaging, in the eyes of our peers, while communicating a serious message. After watching our short movie, our peers reported going home and looking up historical incidents of genocide. Thus, similar to the authors, I believe that in this day in age media is a great way to communicate important messages to citizens.
Questions:
- What games have you played that addresses serious social issues?
- The articles argue that unlike literature, games allow its users to inhabit the role and perspectives of other people. Do you believe that one can develop empathy and work on building their empathetic skills outside of playing video games? Can’t empathy be developed even when reading a novel?
UWP 104D 