Constance Steinkuehler

TL;DR: This article examined the form and function of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in terms of social engagement and concluded that by providing spaces for social interaction and relationships beyond the workplace and home, MMOs have the capacity to function as one form of a new "third place" for informal sociability.

TL;DR: Examination of massively multiplayer online games in terms of social engagement finds that by providing spaces for social interaction and relationships beyond the workplace and home, MMOs have the capacity to function as one form of a new ‘‘third place’’ for informal sociability.

TL;DR: The authors examined the scientific habits of mind and dispositions that characterize online discussion forums of the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft and found that over half of the forum discussions were posts engaged in social knowledge construction rather than social banter.

TL;DR: This paper outlines an ongoing cognitive ethnography of a currently thriving MMOG, paying particular attention to the forms of socially and materially distributed cognition that emerge, the learning mechanisms embedded within community practice, and the ways in which participation shapes and is shaped by the situated (on-and off-screen) identities of its members.

TL;DR: This article used functional linguistics to unpack how a seemingly inconsequential turn of talk within the game Lineage reveals important aspects of the activity in which it is situated as well as the broader "forms of life" enacted in the game through which members display their allegiance and identity.