Social Connections in Gaming
Whether building an esports program for high school and college students or studying behaviors in online gaming platforms, Professor Constance Steinkuehler’s work focuses on the social implications of online games. “If ever there’s been a time in history when we need more social connection, it’s now,” she says. “Part of the problem is that technology isn’t just mediating our interactions. It’s designed to reward extreme behavior.” Through her research, Steinkuehler is finding ways to better design online games for learning, growth, empathy, and connection.
Battling Extremism
Concerns about toxicity in gaming resulted in Steinkuehler leading an exploratory study of hate and extremism in online games among adolescents. The prevalence and potential normalization of hate-based harassment she found has her sounding the alarm. “In game spaces, verbal harassment is rampant,” she says. “People think it’s funny to use racialized, sexist language, and you can see the damage.” She is now exploring ways to battle extremism through bystander training, code of conduct enforcement, healthy interventions, and other programs. “We need to address this harmful toxicity so we can leverage the full potential of games to positively impact society.”
Designing for Positive Impact
Steinkuehler is finding inspiration from an unlikely group as she leads a collaborative research project with a nonprofit led by incarcerated people at San Quentin. “I’m helping these individuals evaluate and evolve a game-based program designed to reduce racial and gang divisions and humanize relationships of power inside the prison,” she says. Using games to support rehabilitation saves money through reduced recidivism and incarceration, improving lives and building safer communities. “If we can reposition games to promote feelings of belonging and social connection in prison, under the worst set of circumstances, imagine what games could do in more productive settings for the broader community.”
Education
Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2005
const@uci.edu