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Authors: Selen Türkay, Jessica Formosa, Sonam Adinolf, Robert Cuthbert, and Roger Altizer
CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
April 2020
Pages 1 - 13
Published: 23 April 2020 Publication History
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Abstract
Toxicity in online environments is a complex and a systemic issue. Collegiate esports communities seem to be particularly vulnerable to toxic behaviors. In esports games, negative behavior, such as harassment, can create barriers to players achieving high performance and can reduce enjoyment which may cause them to leave the game. The aim of this study is to investigate how players define, experience and deal with toxicity in esports games that they play. Our findings from an interview study and five monthly follow ups with 19 participants from a university esports club show that players define toxicity as behaviors disrupt their morale and team dynamics, and are inclined to normalize negative behaviors, rationalize it as part of the competitive game culture akin to traditional sports, and participate a form of gamer classism, believing that toxicity is more common in lower level play than in professional and collegiate esports. There are many coping mechanisms employed by collegiate esports players, including ignoring offenders, deescalating tense encounters, and using tools to mute offenders. Understanding the motivations behind collegiate esports players' engagement with toxicity may help the growing sport plot a positive trajectory towards healthy play.
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Index Terms
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: How Collegiate Players Define, Experience and Cope with Toxicity
Applied computing
Computers in other domains
Personal computers and PC applications
Computer games
Information systems
Information systems applications
Collaborative and social computing systems and tools
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Published In
CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
April 2020
10688 pages
ISBN:9781450367080
DOI:10.1145/3313831
- General Chairs:
- Regina Bernhaupt
Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
, - Florian 'Floyd' Mueller
Monash University, Australia
, - David Verweij
Newcastle University, UK
, - Josh Andres
RMIT, Australia
, - Program Chairs:
- Joanna McGrenere
University of British Columbia, Canada
, - Andy co*ckburn
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
, - Ignacio Avellino
University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA
, - Alix Goguey
Grenoble Alpes University, France
, - Pernille Bjørn
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
, - Shengdong (Shen) Zhao
National University of Singapore, Singapore
, - Briane Paul Samson
Future University Hakodate, Japan & De La Salle University, Philippines
, - Rafal Kocielnik
University of Washington, USA
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Published: 23 April 2020
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- Frommel JMandryk R(2024)Toxicity in Online Games: The Prevalence and Efficacy of Coping StrategiesProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642523(1-12)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642523
- Laato SKordyaka BHamari J(2024)Traumatizing or Just Annoying? Unveiling the Spectrum of Gamer Toxicity in the StarCraft II CommunityProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642137(1-18)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642137
- Kao DMubarrat SJoshi APandita SMousas CLiang HRatan R(2024)Exploring how gender-anonymous voice avatars influence women’s performance in online computing group workInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103146181(103146)Online publication date: Jan-2024
- McLinton SPascale S(2024)Tilt in esports: Understanding the phenomenon in new digital contextsComputers in Human Behavior Reports10.1016/j.chbr.2024.10042514(100425)Online publication date: May-2024
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