Are Online Games the New Social Media?

Whether watching a video game, playing multiplayer online games, or even playing against a computer, video games create a community, as they provide a virtual form of interaction and a medium for “social networks”. Online games have a lot of similarities to social media. It's just a newer platform that has gained a lot of participation in recent years.

Online games

are team games that require players to be in constant communication with each other.

This interaction can be considered a form of social media. These examples of free essays show players exchanging information and clues in ways that demonstrate the development of social ties and mutual loyalty. Even when playing alone, gamers are not necessarily isolated. With the rise of social media, gamers, especially in Generation Z, have perfected the art of creating communities in and around video games.

Players not only compete with strangers on the Internet, but they also form genuine and lasting friendships. Strangers will talk about their gaming experience and how they have become experts in their field to encourage each other. Zhu says that Animal Crossing, in particular, provides a relaxed escape and a relaxing sense of security in these turbulent times, which has helped attract new players to the fans. There's also a fan-created online marketplace where players connect to trade rare fruits and furniture, called Nookazon.

Game developers never had any problem incorporating the emerging power of the Internet into their games, since games are almost universally intended to be played by multiple people. Social media didn't become a place for like-minded people who didn't necessarily know each other in the real world, but rather an area for anyone to post general updates about their lives to their real-world friends; once again, the possibility of online social interactions expanded. Online gaming platforms allow players to interact with other players who share the same interests and goals. Streaming platforms allow anyone to create their own communities, with sociable chat rooms that capture interesting gaming moments that the public can share when watching them.

But while the concept of socialization in a game is new to many, video game enthusiasts have been using technologies like this to build online friendships and stay connected for years. Nowadays, many online games work more or less as a social platform for people to interact with their friends. The first online multiplayer game that used graphics was 1991's Neverwinter Nights, a high-fantasy role-playing game. The online media platforms that gamers use are some of the most populated and engaged online communities in the world.

Gamers like to share their scores as a way of showing off, which is why most people started posting on what looked like gaming social media platforms. The rest was history; online games would essentially become the new social networks in the next thirty years. Because of the demographic diversity of users of social media sites, several motivations arise for playing social games. The social interaction between players who work together in a multiplayer game creates a community around a common interest and goal.