Keywords

Ethnology, Internet games -- Social aspects, Social groups, World of Warcraft

Abstract

Cyberanthropology or the anthropology of cyber space/culture is an emerging subfield of cultural anthropology that deals with the varied integration of human beings and technology. This specialized area of study focuses on topics ranging from new technologies used in ethnographic research to information and communication technologies utilized by specific societal groups. Communication technology encompasses the World Wide Web, email, and online multiperson interactive spaces such as chatrooms and video games. In this work, I ethnographically investigate human social interactions in the online gaming realm of World of Warcraft. On the whole, the expanding numbers of virtual communities in existence today offer new and exciting realms for social scientists in general, and anthropologists in particular, to expand their knowledge of social interaction. During the period between August 2007 and May 2009 I “lived” with the players of WoW as a participant observer. The culmination of this research spotlights virtual group formation and dynamics from an anthropological perspective and is intended to pave the way for future research.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2010

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Matejowsky, Ty

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Anthropology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003462

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003462

Language

English

Release Date

December 2010

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

Download

Included in

Anthropology Commons

Share

COinS