Digital Participant Profile

Conan O’Brien has always been a television show John makes me watch. Every time we watch it we always have discussions agreeing or disagreeing with
the topics of the world. That night Conan was talking about how we have become slaves to technology. I then turned, and asked “do you think we have?” John replied “Nah, technology has become a slave to us”
John was born in August 1988, he was six years old when he played his very first video game. “ It was Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunter for the Original Nintendo, Both of the games were on the same big fat cartridge, and it even came with the Duck Hunter Gun.” He played them because they were challenging to him. Like a puzzle, he had to learn the timing and coordination of each game, which pushed him to get better. “You just want to beat it, and once it gets to the end and you do beat it, it is satisfying.” Playing video games wasn't a big part of his childhood. He did many outdoor activities, like bmx racing and camping with his dad. Not until James Bond and Nintendo 64 came out when he was about 11 or 12, did he really start playing a lot of games. At this age he moved from Phoenix Arizona to Sun Valley Idaho. Where he struggled to make new friends. Over the years his game playing grew. Claiming that video games were getting more interesting, story lines were getting better and the graphics were constantly being enhanced. From ages 14-17 he had dedicated 80% of his free time to playing. At the age of 17 he had made more friends and as he says “got a life” so the free time he had dedicated to playing games decreased. Although it was still a big part of his life.

All of the time and dedication John had spent on games, made me wonder if he had been addicted, and what his thoughts on video game addiction were. Is it something that he could just walk away from? When asked this question he said, "I believe some people get addicted to games, but I think it's just like people who are addicted to anything, you want progress in what your doing and you want to be able to get better and better every time, so its just something you keep doing. It’s something you like doing even if your not getting much better. I do think it can be negative though, because for some people, it is all that they want to do, I think that too much of anything is negative really. If you’re going to just sit there and play video games all day everyday, it’s not good and it can be like that for anything.” Almost all John’s friends play video games “It’s 2011, like everyone I know plays games. I have so many friends that play so many different things. Now that I have my play station in my house, my roommate’s play a lot more then they ever have. It’s just something fun to do on your spare time. I don’t think being constantly productive would be very much fun.” For John everything about playing a game pulls him in, the progression made over the years, the challenge, the story line and its something that can be nice, even if he is just by himself and doesn't have someone there telling him how good he is at a game, he can just tell himself and it makes him happy. He doesn't think video games helps prepare us with real life problem solving, like seen in PBS Digital Media: New learners of the 21st Century. Or that we really get anything out of a game except for the fun of playing the game itself. He also doesn't think we loose anything out of it either.

In the video game world there are many things that can pull someone into playing. In PBS Digital Nation:Life on the Virtual Frontier, We see how many people are being affected by video games. Some are becoming dependent on the game world and neglecting their health. Spending every second of their spare time playing games. There are also those who are living in virtual worlds. Those living in virtual worlds are often becoming distracted from sensing what is real and some are just using it as a way to connect with people. According to John, "Unless you already have a very tenuous grasp on what reality is are you going to become distracted. Games do in a sense distract us from thinking about life’s problems and the bills you have to pay, but it’s something fun that you don’t have to think about. A hobby." Virtual worlds can connect us to people socially. They allow us to create an identity for ourselves, that may or may not be who we really are. Just like the identity profiles we create for ourselves explained in Boyds “Taken out of Context.”

John plays online games, but unlike some, they don’t necessarily connect him to those that he doesn't already know in person. There is such a wide variety of people that play online, that he wouldn't really be friends with in everyday life. They are just connected because they are playing a game together. When playing online games, he mainly enjoys playing with friends that are far away. It gives them a chance to have fun together while catching up at the same time. Through these virtual worlds, people are able to create identities for themselves that may or may not show who they really are. John is not necessarily one of those people. He will make up identities anyway just for fun, sometimes he likes to talk in accents or pretend like he is from somewhere else, just to be goofy, but he doesn't make up a different life in games. Stating “I already am how I wish or want to be or else I would be different.”

Presently John will play games for about an hour every two or three days. Except for in winter and during the school year, when he will probably play 2 hours everyday. He has never neglected his health due to a video game. I am apparently the only person that has ever told him he is addicted to games, because according to John I am jealous and don’t know what I'm talking about. Until I asked John what his thoughts on technology was and weather or not he thought the rapid advancements we have been making were a positive or negative thing, did I really start to look at it in a new way.

At first thought, I agreed with Conan O'Brian. We have become slaves to technology. We are shackled by our wrists and ankles, relying on all the conveniences that technology gives us.
John on the other hand, thinks that we are the ones who control technology; we make our own choices and control ourselves. "We control the power of technology just like we control everything else in our life. Video games and other technology is such a big part of people’s lives today. Technology is convenient and progression is a good, positive thing, it means were moving forward. Technology is important.”