AbstractTitle: Onlinegaming – A qualitative study of young people's attitudes about online gaming(Onlinespel – En Kvalitativ undersökning av Ungdomars attityder om onlinespel)Number of pages: 34 (35 including enclosures)Author: Armin MoradiTutor: Else NygrenCourse: Media and Communication Studies CPeriod: Autumn 2009University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science,Uppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: The purpose of my thesis is that from a social perspective to examine and discussyoung people aged 16-18 vision of online gaming. Why online games are so popular and to see ifthe stereotype is a reality among young people in their late teens ..I also have a secondary purpose where I want to explore the social function of online games have,and what or what needs it fills in young people's everyday lives.Material/Method: The main method used in this essay has been qualitative group interviewswith 17 high school students. The result from these interviews has then been analysed usingseveral theories, Uses and gratification theory, Socialinteraction theory, Interactivity theory andmedium theory.Main results: The compilation of collected my results have shown that young people makeextensive use of online gaming pastime and to socialize with each other both virtually andphysically. Online gambling has on young people an entirely different meaning than it does forolder generations.For young people online is as natural as watching TV is for the oldergenerations.There are gender differences in perception of online games but it is not at all in the same highdegree as can be expected, the differences were minimal. The participants in my interviews havealso made an association exercise in which I presented as the words of 15-20 seconds to describeother words. Most replied to the word "Homework" that it was "boring" and the word "computergames" was the most frequently used word "fun".Keywords: Uses and gratification theory, Socialinteraction theory, Interactivity theory , Mediumtheory, Online gaming,