The effect of online gaming on an individual - Research Paper Example

? The effect of online gaming on an individual Shuaa Abdulla NYIT 24 March Outline 2. Family Family emergencies Strained family tiesFamily reliance 3. Social Life Social status Socialization Networking 4. Career Technical skills Communication skills 5. Finances Advertising Advertising sensitivity Spending habits 6. Addiction Alternative reality Conventional social conduct Strained social interactions 7. Development Levels of thought Educational conceptualization Abstract thought Coordination 8. Sleep Patterns Rate of reaction Efficiency Sleep deficits 9. Health Obesity Diabetes Blood pressure Depression 10. References Abstract Games have been around for quite some time and it has been discovered by human being in order to add joy to their lives. For example, Romans had the Colosseum were best warriors are gathered to fight against each other and the last survival will win the trophy. Some thinkers believe that our life is just a game where we need to stay motivated, skilled and up to date in order to win and survive. Nowadays with the latest technology in hand humans have developed a way to play games from distance using the internet as a tool to connect them together which is called Online Games. The reality of online gaming is quite complicated, as some people believe that the time spent on these games are tremendous and the value added is minimum. However, others believe that online gaming is extremely useful and the value gained from it is huge. In this research, we will discuss the impact of online gaming on individuals in terms of their social life, career and health. Family Online Games usually requires people to be around at the same time to play the game and when the player is hooked in a certain task or mission, it is quite difficult for him or her to disconnect the game without finishing what they started. This is because it will affect him/her or their team and they might fail to deliver the objective of this mission, which they may spend lots of time on it. Some players prefer to finish the game they started even if there is an emergency with their families. The decision making process may take a while for a player to know the consequences of his/her action and usually they regret delaying or turning off their families but only when it's too late and the damage have already taken a place. Social life One of the impacts on social life of the player is that most of the online games have a rewarding system where they can get either credit, items or other miscellaneous, which is usually the main reason for players to play these games become better in what they are doing. This competition is fair, however in many cases, friends may turn against each other because of greed, fame or glory and that will destroy their relationships specially if the other players are also real life friends (ScienceDaily, 2007). On the other hand, online games could also deliver value to the player by connecting them with other people and make new friendships in every part of the world. Some players take these relationships seriously and they start to visit each other and meet frequently. Career As for the player’s career, these online games could be useful for him/her since it helps their technical skills in term of keyboarding because they are being exposed to the PC for long hours. Also, their communication skills can be enhanced through online games by trying to communicate with other players from different countries, for example if a middle eastern whose English is quite weak could become better overtime by trying to practice with American players by trying to understand their moves or strategies. Finances Online gaming has severe impacts on an individual based on how often they do their gaming over the internet, and how easily they are influenced by external forces, as well as their intrinsic motivation towards certain aspects of life. In this aspect, focus is borne on one’s spending habits, where there is a large amount of advertising found in some websites that harbor the games of interest (Acar, 2007). This has led to an influence in how an individual spends his or her money, where it shapes the spending habits as the advertising content, though sometimes incidental, is tailored to meet the needs of the people who visit the online gaming sites. With this in mind, exposure to these advertising feats has led to increased sensitivity to certain products, while there is reduced sensitivity in other s and even in advertising altogether. This is evident with the use of advertising in platforms, where the gamer is not interested in advertisement, which acts as a distraction. This acts as a the desensitizer in terms of becoming immune or numb to other advertisement, while those that become sensitive tend to spend their finances on the items they find to pleasing to their being, as most of the products sold or advertised are related to gaming, or even the selling of the same games that are of interest. Online gaming has, therefore influenced individuals spending habits to spend their money both responsibly and irresponsibly, based on their interest and the products advertised. Addiction Online gaming is a strong influence in individuals and their lives as they go about the business of entertaining themselves through internet gaming. This is a dangerous influence on individual gamers as they get an opportunity to express their real being on their inside through their gaming experiences. This is dangerous because the influence on then person leads the person to act as though he is in the game at all times and thus forget the social conventions (Evans, 2011). This is to mean that online gaming where people get to be themselves without inhibitions leads to a form of addiction; here there is a difficulty in recognition of which of the two worlds is real and what social conventions should be applied. As such, there is a conflict of who the real person is and who the fantasy is which may lead to strained social interaction with peers and other members of society as one becomes addicted to a virtual reality that is more fascinating than actual real life situations. Development Online gaming also affects the development of certain aspects of an individual based on the level of development in which they are and how exposed they are to online gaming. As a result of online gaming, individuals are able to conceptualize a completely new level of high level thinking, that is crucial for perception and learning (Lozen, 2009). This is especially so for school going individuals, where knowledge is presented to them in a manner that is friendly and that they can understand. This is especially the case with abstract though as online gaming prepares the mind for abstract thought and application of knowledge as most of the concepts cannot be directly be conceived in the outside world, apart from the online gaming platform. As a result of this, the individual is also able to acquire additional skills such as eye-hand coordination as most, if not all, online games require careful coordination to make it in control and gain a full experience of the game. This is a fair influence, and is positive, as it is an additional platform through which one can learn and gain more skills and knowledge. Sleep patterns Online gaming may have positive impacts on an individual, but not all of them are worth mentioning, as there is a peculiar downside to this form of gaming. This is evident in the development of poor sleep patterns, where some individuals do not get any sleep at all, while the rest have sleep deficits (ORourke, 2011). This cannot be related to other aspects of a person life in the process of entertainment, such as watching television. Online gaming leads to inefficiency in the person playing the games as sleep deprivation results in reduced reaction times and slower learning. With this in mind, the individual loses crucial aspects of life by not being able to match up to expectations due to lack of sleep and deficits of the same. Health As far as the health factor for online gamers, it can very dangerous for the following reasons. First, it could cause obesity and diabetes because they spend hours playing and eating at the same time and they even fail to notice their weights until it is too late. It could also cause high blood pressure because they are so attached to the game in a way they hate losing their mission or rewards. Furthermore, some players may suffer from psychological problems such as depression and temper (Hotz, 2012). In conclusion, online games affect the life of an individual on many levels to an extent that it is both positive and negative, where the negative aspects see a ruin in the person’s life. The positive, however, is important in that some of the most important aspects of life are learnt through online gaming, such as abstraction and eye-hand coordination. References ScienceDaily. (2007). Online Multiplayer Video Games Create Greater Negative Consequences, Elicit Greater Enjoyment Than Traditional Ones. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071019174410.htm OROurke, T. (2011).Impact of Online Gaming on Teen Sleep and Kids Safety. uKnow.com Retrieved from http://info.uknowkids.com/blog/bid/159187/Impact-of-Online-Gaming-on-Teen-Sleep-and-Kids-Safety Hotz, R.L. (2012). When Gaming is Good for You. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203458604577263273943183932.html Lozen, G. (2009). The Positive Effects of Online Video Games on Children. EzineArticles. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Positive-Effects-of-Online-Video-Games-on-Children&id=3454504 Evans, s. (2011). Effects of Online Gaming and Addiction. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/effects-online-gaming-addiction-7933746.html?cat=19 Acar, A. (2007). Testing the Effects of Incidental Advertising Exposure in Online Gaming Environments. Journal of Interactive Advertising. Retrieved from http://jiad.org/article98 Read More