1. Playing Apart Together: Young People’s Online Gaming During the COVID-19 Lockdown
- Author
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Lars Fynbo, Louise H. Bom, and Tea Torbenfeldt Bengtsson
- Subjects
Coping (psychology) ,Health (social science) ,Practice theory ,Sociology and Political Science ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,050801 communication & media studies ,Temporality ,Boredom ,Public relations ,0506 political science ,Social space ,0508 media and communications ,Nothing ,Pandemic ,050602 political science & public administration ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,medicine ,Sociology ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused countries around the world to initiate societal lockdowns, especially during the spring of 2020. This article focuses on online gaming’s role in young people’s lives during the lockdown in Denmark. Informed by a practice theoretical framework, the analyses of 35 interviews with young people (16–19 years) examine how gaming proved to be something to do in a situation of nothing to do. The analyses find that the young people’s gaming practices were beneficial (a) in allowing the young people to maintain a social life and (b) in providing a legitimate social space for maintaining friendships and/or coping with boredom. The findings demonstrate that young people who engage with online gaming are capable of adapting to fundamental changes to society to fulfil their social needs and aspirations, including during a pandemic.
- Published
- 2021
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