A GAME-WALKER
We met a quarter past five out of Starbucks. It could be nowhere else since Sofia has such a weakness for their latte.
As we met, a sweet smile was spontaneously created at our faces upon realizing that for the first time both of us were punctual. The first thing we did of course was to wait for our beverages in this queue that is typical of Starbucks. Then we found the most comfortable seat for our interview and settled there. It all starts with social media, for Sofia, as it seems. Even the interviews, since the first thing that she did after we sat, were to take a photo of her latte, for Instagram stories.
Gaming is not just a hobby for Sofia, it is a part of her life. It all started when she was about sixteen years old. Her companies, a little boredom and a friend’s stories about “League of Legends” were what lead to it and maybe that was the day that Sofia started to slowly evolve in a gamer. Or maybe it could have been on her DNA before that, since when she was a little girl she used to dedicate many hours in PlayStation.
Her favorite games are “League of Legends” and “Counter strike global offensive” and she also enjoys playing “Hearthstone” from time to time.
Considering gaming as one of the most important things on her life, she declares that she spends lots of hour’s everyday playing games. She prefers to start at afternoon and continue playing until the morning. However, on mornings she has other things to occupy her as she is a student at Panteion University.
For our gamer, gaming is a way to forget. When she plays “League of Legends” she concentrates completely on this and nothing can distract her mind.
She prefers to play with company and especially online with gamers that she does not know. She thinks that in that way there is more competition and this is something she adores in gaming. Alone she will play only in the occasion that she wants to improve, something she can manage without company.
Gaming means a lot for Sofia. It is fun and communication. Through gaming she contacts with a lot of people, both with friends and strangers. She even connects with people from abroad. Maybe their contact is dedicated to gaming, but for them this type of communication is really important.
Communication between gamers is further enhanced by internet platforms such as Twitch, where they can stream games and watch other gamers play hence improving their skills. Moreover there are many pages on Facebook and Instagram dedicated to gaming and Sofia follows a lot of them while she also watches videos about gaming. The platform that connects gamers most of all is Skype as they use it very often to communicate with their teammates during games when they are not in the same place.
Sofia uses Social Media a lot, and not just for gaming. She became an active member of Facebook about seven years ago following the trend of the time and wanting to communicate more with her classmates. She is also on Instagram, on Snapchat, on Twitter, on Swarm, on You Tube, on We Heart It and on Skype.
Both gaming and social media are things that Sofia is quite passionate about. She is online on internet platforms a lot of hours during the day. She does not lose the chance to check the publications in her home page and her notifications whenever she finds the opportunity; in the train, between the things that she has to do and before falling asleep.
Her favorite social media platform is Instagram. This is the first thing that she looks at when she wakes up, especially, if she had posted a publication, the day before. Maybe the reason why she likes Instagram so much is her love for photography. She likes as she says to take photos of moments with her friends, of herself, sea, foods and beverages and post them. Nowadays she is more selective when it comes to her posts so they usually are not more than five a weak. She also enjoys other people’s publications and claims that she has not missed any of her friends’ in the four years that she uses Instagram.
Concerning Facebook, she uses it mostly to chat with her friends. She also does some Check Ins, posts some mainstream songs that she is listening on radio and she likes, and some photos. However, the number of her publications on Facebook has been greatly reduced compared with previous years.
And what about Snapchat? She likes it a lot! She believes that Snapchat is a type of communication with photos to have fun with your friends. For this reason she prefers to share these photos with her closest friends.
When it comes to Swarm, that does not normally get much attention from other people, Sofia declares that she likes it, without being able to explain why. This internet platform is about check ins and she makes every day from 6 to 7 of them.
As a photo lover she could not stay out of We Heart It. Certainly, two times a day she will connect to take a look at her favorite’s photos.
She does not use her profiles for professional reasons. She thinks that in the way that she uses her profiles there are not the appropriate standards to give her a professional chance. The only platform that she uses with a more professional way is Twitter, in which she makes publications with context about her studies, more specifically about marketing and advertising.
Sofia uses social media to a great extent and that has quite an impact on her. The fact that she follows all the seasonal trends of fashion makes her look like she just emerged out of an Instagram or We Heart it photo. She also tends to get influenced by social media about the cafeterias that she visits and the travel destinations that she chooses.
If one wants to understand who Sofia really is by looking at her profile on social media, they are out of luck. Her emotions are never on display at social media. She does not show the world a lot of things about her character. She does not care if what she is going to upload will be liked but or not, unless it is something that could cause some talking about her personal issues. However, if you want to learn things about what Sofia likes, you are in the right place if you explore her profiles.
If you saw her photo profile on Facebook, not try to be her friend if you are stranger because there is not chance to accept you. She accepts only people she knows from somewhere. And also there is not a point to looking for her profile. Is locked. In that way she protects her personal data.
Sofia may consider that a friendship is completely different in social media and in a face to face form because she believes that it is better to share experiences live, however she recognizes the positive side. Social media constitute an important part of Sofia’s communication, such as she chat with her squad everyday. Moreover, it is very helpful for communicating with her best friend, who is leaving far away. Thanks to social media she feels like she is with her friend all day.
Before our interview ends I ask Sofia her opinion about collaborative activities on gaming. She declares that the collaboration on gaming is necessary, because the games are usually played by groups. Communicating with other people and discussing is essential. And when the collaboration is successful there are better results.
She does not think that social media help collaborative activities that much. However, it could be a little influence to the same direction, if some gamers follow the same pages or watch the same stream. But on the other side, the passion that gamers share about gaming is the source the team spirit, which is boosted by social media. Many gamers for example are watching together some tournaments or championship.
Sofia has a really good relationship with her mobile phone. She has downloaded all of the social media in her phone. She is grateful about the role her mobile plays in her life because she can stay connected with her media every day and every time. She is not a lot of hours at her home so mobile is very useful for her communication. Except from the social media Sofia also uses her mobile to take a lot of picture, as a photo lover. Also, she listens to music when she is feeling bored and can not use the internet, when she is inside metro stations for example. Sofia is really close with her Smartphone and she can not go anywhere without it. She wants to hold it on her hand or at least have it right next to herself. For Sofia it is a challenge not to use her mobile for one day. When it comes to gaming she uses her mobile for playing some games, such as “Hearthstone”. Sometimes she checks some updates about gaming on her mobile and between playing games she checks her social media. She believes that collaborative activities on gaming are not directly related with using a mobile phone, except form Skype maybe, which gamers can use during a game to communicate more effectively and achieve greater collaboration.
Sofia is a warm person with passion for gaming, social media and photography. However such as Sofia declares, a day spend without social media is a day very weird.
THANK YOU!
