Video Games Not The Downfall of Society

One of my favourite “marketing” books of recent years was called Everything Bad Is Good For You which, explores how popular culture entertainment (TV shows, games, reality shows etc) that is otherwise dismissed is in fact very powerful in shaping our modern thinking.

Amongst other really interesting theories, it talks about “telescoping”. Telescoping is what kids have to to do to solve Zelda, or GTA, or any decent modern video game. You know that the aim is to rescue the Princess… but in order to do that you’ve got to meet the Prince… in order to do that you’ve got to get a letter from the Blacksmith… in order to do that you’ve got to harvest special explosive flowers… in order to… etc. That type of thinking jars with what books teach us – in contrast, they’re linear, restrictive, not interactive, and are spoon-feeding you.

A new report has been published on “Teens, Video Games, and Civics” which highlights the following amongst American teems:

Almost all (97%) of teens play games. They play many different kinds of games and gender is a salient factor.

Gaming is often social and teens often game with people they know.

Parental monitoring of game play varies.

Teens encounter both pro-social and anti-social behavior while gaming.

There are civic dimensions to video game play.

Anyone who’s actually enjoyed playing games will know this, but perhaps there are still backwards thinking marketers out there that didnt realise that the archetypal gamer isn’t the antisocial, Dungeons and Dragons geeks they’re stereotyped as. The near ubiquity of game-playing among teenagers and the growing diversity of gaming experiences is changing the image of the gamer:

Games are regularly referenced as proof that the world is ending. The stereotypical image of a gamer is an oily-haired, pimply-faced geeky boy with no social skills or interest in human interaction. The prevalence of gaming amongst youth dispels that notion, but there is still a myth that those who game are anti-social. As such, it is often assumed that gaming makes people anti-social, anti-community, anti-civic.

The report’s findings show that there is no correlation between civic/political activity and gaming. In other words, high participation in gaming does not decrease civic participation…

…Participation in gaming does not cause a decrease in civic participation and, if anything, certain forms of gaming activity are correlated with civic engagement (although causality cannot be determined).

All too often, we blame technology for the downfall of society. Gaming has long been the super demon, the crux of media effects panics. It’s fantastic to have a study to point to that conclusively shows that our fears make no sense.

So, it looks like a good enough report, but I’d rather re-read EBIGFY again. It’s a great read!