Toxicity in online gaming seems to be a shared experience for many players. My very first online game was the original Diablo. Every week, I would tap into our dial-up, log in to my Diablo account, and play with random people hoping to beat the game eventually. Everyone was friendly and I had a great time. A dial-up internet connection is not conducive to online gaming. It wound up being many years before I tried another game.
In my twenties, I tried another game hoping to have the same kindness and community. What did I choose? League of Legends! A few games in I was told that my life needed to end. That was the end of my League of Legends days. Have you experienced something similar? Have you ever wondered why a person might be willing to treat a stranger this way? That is the hope of our article today. While this article seeks to answer why, we first must define toxicity.
What Toxicity In Online Gaming Is and Is Not
Toxicity must be defined because you may view the term differently than I do. This could lead to confusion for the rest of the article. If there is confusion, the point of the article will be lost. Toxicity in online gaming is far worse than annoyance and is several things. While you may disagree with my definition, I hope you understand why I define the term the way I do. Toxicity is a problem within the gaming community which must be stopped. Toxicity occurs when:
- A player(s) chooses to download a program to hinder the progress of other plays or hold a game hostage.
- A player(s) uses abusive language at teammates or the opposition based on one’s sexual orientation, ethnicity, sex, religious affiliation, or disabilities.
- A group decides to hate raid a streamer when based on one’s sexual orientation, ethnicity, sex, religious affiliation, or disabilities. A hate raid is when a group of gamers join a Twitch stream with the intent of using hateful speech.
The above three actions are done to hurt other players mentally, emotionally, or physically. The reader may read this and say, “How is someone hurt physically by online toxicity?” One of the biggest lies ever told is, “Stick and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me!”
In 2020, the Anti-Defamation League performed a study on the effects of online toxicity. 68% of those questions experienced toxicity. 53% were targets as they were minorities (sexuality, gender religious affiliation, race, and disabilities). How were they affected?
- 60% felt less social after the abuse.
- 14% felt isolated after the incident.
- 1 in 10 took steps to reduce the risks of self-harm. The incidents led to thoughts of depression and suicide.
- Some quit playing a certain game or gaming.
Another word we could use in place of toxicity is abuse. When anyone chooses to act in a toxic manner while gaming, they are choosing to abuse a stranger.
What Causes Toxicity in Online Gaming?
One possibility is a phenomenon called “Online Disinhibition Disorder.” From this point forward, we will refer to it as O.D.D. for the sake of space. The theory behind O.D.D. is one’s inhibitions become lowered when using the internet. O.D.D. is not always negative as someone might be more altruistic by donating to an online charity when normally the person would not. This might also explain why some are toxic while gaming. O.D.D. has six basic factors which will be discussed in brevity.
- Dissociative Anonymity. When gaming, we are known by our usernames. No one knows who I am, where I live, what I do for a living, or anything else about me.
- No one may know of my presence when I join the Twitch chat of a larger streamer. This causes me to possibly go unnoticed as I set about doing something evil.
- We may not always react to each other in real time. We can send a vulgar DM that may not be seen until later.
- Solipsistic Introjection. We do not see someone face to face. This means I cannot see their reaction or the pain in their eyes as they read said message. That makes it easier for me to use hate speech.
- Dissociative Imagination. My username and I are separate entities. Think of our username as a second personality. It was not me who did those things. It was the username.
- Minimization of Status. A person may not be able to say something to the face of another. Online is a completely different story. Think of Twitter responses to Democrat politicians by Republicans and vice versa.
These six factors may lead others to act in a toxic manner. A large part of this problem may be due to anonymity but that leads to another question. How do we handle anonymity? One response may be to rid ourselves of usernames but Blizzard tried that in 2010. The decision was reversed after a moderator’s personal information and pictures of his family were leaked onto the forum.
We, as players, are limited as to what we can do. The block/mute button helps us out in-game but that only does so much. The gaming community must do a better job to address this problem. For far too long, this hateful type of speech has been dumbed down to “locker talk” and players are told to “get tough.” This ignorance not only accepts the worst parts of humanity but also encourages it.
The worst part is the deafening silence from video game companies. Despite toxicity in online gaming growing more problematic, developers seem content to profit while others suffer. Gamers need to stop complaining to the closed ears of companies. Maybe the best way is to speak from an area that hurts them the most: the wallet. Then we might see action.
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