Crowdsourcing, Communities and Social Identities: Using Citizen Science to Combat Online Toxicity

摘要

Today, over 1.5 billion people worldwide play digital games, a number projected to rise to 4.5 billion by 2020 due to the proliferation of mobile devices. With modern games being connected experiences where people from around the world coming together to compete, cooperate, and otherwise participate in virtual worlds, the social systems within games and the behaviors they facilitate have become topics of great interest, especially with the recent focus on player toxicity. Previously, successful commercial games simply had to engage players through compelling narratives, meaningful challenges, and a sense of achievement. However, with the rise of multiplayer elements and online games, the relationships players have with game communities and developer-constructed identities become far more central to enjoyment and retention. This paper suggests that online toxicity results from threats to the agency of these constructs, and that Games with a Purpose may play a role in managing toxicity-causing role paradoxes.