Rethinking Affinity Spaces and Discourse Communities

• In Event: 63.084 - Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: 63.084-12 - Roundtable Session: The Many Facets of Video Game Communities, Design, and Discourses

Abstract

This paper revisits the concepts of ‘community’ and ‘Discourses’ as it examines data from two separate studies of gaming affinity spaces. Though Gee (2004) has argued that the hierarchical structure of membership is not part of affinity spaces, our data from two longitudinal studies suggest that, in some cases, specialized language and behavior work to (un)intentionally include or exclude others, thereby drawing attention to the membership and community as concepts that need to be revisited as part of the discussions about learning and videogaming.

Authors

• Sandra Schamroth Abrams, Saint John's University

• Jayne C. Lammers, University of Rochester