The present study investigated Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) as situated phenomenonin Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) servers. The popular videogame of Minecraft was chosen as a testbed to examine CMC within its simulated environment. Previous research on videogames explored CMC without considering the role of the server. This research suggests that the onlineserver represents an integral part of the digital environment, in which communication is situated. Data were collected from four servers that shared the same game play mode. A total of 11,658 chatmessages were collected and analyzed with Basic Content Analysis based on word frequencies. Codes were developed and sorted into three predetermined categories: socioemotional positive, socioemotional negative and task area. Results showed that communication significantly differed between almost all servers. Furthermore, it also appeared that in three of the four servers, communication varied between the two weeks of recordings. Future research on CMC is encouraged to consider the role of the online servers. The social construct that may be represented by the MMO servers ought to be explored more thoroughly. / I föreliggande studie så undersöks datormedierad kommunikation (CMC) som fenomen baserat iMMO-servrar (Massive Multiplayer Online). Detta utförs genom det populära TV-spelet Minecraft. Tidigare forskning har fokuserat på CMC utan att överväga olika servrar som faktorer. Resultatet av föreliggande studie indikerar att online-servern väsentligen hör ihop med den digitala miljön, där den kontextuella kommunikationen sker. Datainsamling skedde från fyra servrar som har överensstämmande spellägen. Totalt 11 658 chatmeddelanden samlades in samt analyserades genom innehållsanalys vilket baserades på ordfrekvens. Koder utvecklades och sorterades i tre förutbestämda kategorier: socioemotionell positiv, socioemotionell negativ och ”task area”. Resultatet indikerar att kommunikationen skiljde sig signifikant mellan servrar. Dessutom såvarierade kommunikationen mellan de två veckorna av insamlade data på tre av fyra servrar. Framtida forskning rörande CMC bör vidare överväga serverns roll. Därutöver bör det sociala konstrukt som framkommit ur MMO-servrar vidare utforskas.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-185133 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Colombo, Simone |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för psykologi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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