In Game vs Out of Game

Presenter: Katie Longanecker

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Clare Sandy

Department: Anthropology

Funding Source/Sponsor: Class Project

President's Strategic Plan Goal: Connectivity and Community Engagement

Abstract:
I have studied the language use and social dialect varying between the real world and the virtual realm. My particular group of participants are all active video game players who work, go to school, and have relationships and hobbies outside of the gaming community. I have analyzed their code-switching, vocabulary, and the overall natural language of those playing video games. Focusing on a male gaming friend group ages 22-23, I’ve recorded their discord call, gathering an hour in-game, and an hour out-of-game, with consent. I have compared this gaming group to a declared community of practice. This in turn provides validity to my theory that this group within itself is a community of practice as it checks off all the criteria . I’ve identified my evidence and transcribed those sections. I found many new vocabulary words and code-switching that will only be genuinely evident when interacting with new people who are entirely outside the realm of video games.