The Playcology of Digital Gameplay: Looking Through Affinity Spaces With Adolescent Boys and Call of Duty

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Social Media and Online Communities

Abstract

The current paper reports on an investigation of an affinity space that formed at the intersection of a boy culture and Call of Duty. Learner centered approaches often fail to consider the learner centers. This study, however privileges participant voice to unpack the intricate motivations and meaning of game play within the designed experience (Squire, 2006) of digital game play. As such, the cultural tenants of the study are fore fronted and projected through an ethnographic phenomenological design methodology. Ultimately this study forwards the notion of a playcology as a means to understanding the underlying magnetizing forces within social cultures and the formation about digital affinity spaces.

Author

• Jason A Engerman, East Stroudsburg State University of Pennsylvania