A Gamer on Social Media
The fact that my brother is a gamer was never something special for me, but for him it was always a vital part of his life. It is very difficult to stand with having a gamer in your house. Gamers tend to spend countless hours on their computers yelling on Skype about the game they play. As you can imagine, having a gamer brother doesn’t let you sleep many nights.
When we asked him for the interview, he was happy to help us. As we waited for him to be ready we watched him play Battlefield 1 for a few more moments. He was talking on Skype and yelling to his friends about their team having to change plans. Then he told them that he will be offline for some time and closed the game.
Let’s learn some things about him…
Neofytos is 18 year old and studies Computer’s programming. In his free time he loves to work out, he plays games on his pc and goes out with friends. He cherishes everything that has to do with pc and programming. Some time ago, he even worked in the central offices of Vodafone as data register.
As far as gaming is concerned, during this specific period he plays three different games: League Of Legends, Battlefield 1, Rainbow six siege. He claims to spend four to five hours daily only for gaming with his friends. At this time of his life, he describes gaming as something he does to spend his free time when there is nothing else to do. Nevertheless, as he confides, he would like gaming to be his job, either as a famous player or as a game programmer.
Collaboration in gaming is a must!
According to Neofytos, if there is no collaboration in gaming then online gaming shouldn’t exist. The games he plays are about strategy and skills. This way, the entire team should cooperate and follow a specific method from the beginning to the end. He explains us that for the game to operate, each player should play with the right way using their skills. To conclude, collaborative abilities in gaming are important for the team to win.
Social Media- Gaming: 0 – 1
Neofytos isn’t quite a Social Media fan. To make ourselves clear, his main use of Social Media concerns only gaming. In his opinion, Youtube affects the players’ collaborative activities. Gamers tend to watch videos of the best players in the world and try to become like them by imitating them. In addition, another Social Media that is combined with gaming is Skype. Neofytos, as many gamers, uses Skype to connect with his friends by chatting and video calling one another during the game. He also admits that he couldn’t imagine how gaming would be without Skype as it makes the game more vivid.
Mobile you
Neofytos uses his mobile mainly to communicate with his friends . If we could take a look at his phone we would find Social Media apps like Facebook , Skype and Messenger . He confides that his relationship with his phone isn't a close one. It seems that the only time he uses it, is when he is far away from his PC. As he states, “When I’m on summer vacation at my village, I spend my time playing app games on my smart-phone, like Subway Surfer” . When in home , his smart-phone is useful for him only for phone calls . On the contrary, when he is out, he uses his phone in order to listen to music and communicate with his friends. As far as gaming and collaborative activities are concerned, he prefers to communicate with his teammates from his PC while he plays. The only reason he would use his phone for that purpose , is for his headphone or another component to be broken down.
Social Media without gaming
The first Social Medium he ever had is Facebook. He opened his account 5 years ago but his relationship with it is a bit complicated. As he told us, the last time he uploaded something in Facebook was around 6 months ago. If you are curious, his main use of Facebook is chatting. He can be online on Facebook all day only to chat with his friends or plan a night out with them. From his point of view chatting on Facebook is helpful as all of his friends have one and it’s easier to arrange something from there.
For him uploading things on Facebook seems silly. As he says, he doesn’t care anymore about what others think about him on Social Media. He claims that there was a period that he uploaded some clever and philosophical quotes in order to not forget them. He featured Facebook as a notebook for him. Scrolling his feed page we can see photos and videos of his friends as well as some articles that he likes to read, about knowledge and game updates.
He described his profile as personal since he doesn’t upload stuff that would make it seem more professional. His point of view is that he doesn’t care about showing to others what he does in his life.
Regarding to his Facebook profile, he claims that someone can understand a small sample from his character by looking at it. His rare uploading activity cannot help someone to know him. As he says “At least one year has passed since I frequently uploaded content. People change”.
Safety comes first
As far as privacy is concerned, Neofytos uses Facebook filters in order to protect his content from those he hasn’t friended on his profile. The only reason he keeps his uploaded photos on Facebook is to have them as an album. Furthermore, he believes that if he ever deleted his photos, every one of his friends would ask him if he’s ok and what has happened to him.
Facebook Friends ≠ Real Life Friends
Neofytos thinks that Facebook friendships are, mostly, completely different from the real life ones. He easily accepts friend requests if the person studies in the same school or he meets them in his everyday life. From his point of view, adding someone can be beneficial for you later by helping you with something you need. Following this logic, he frequently accepts people he doesn’t even like and adds friends when he needs them to help him with something.
His online friendships are found in gaming where he might have fun with someone and then wants to be friends with them in the game.
As far as family members are concerned Neofytos believes that it would be silly not to have them on Facebook. When we asked him if he cares that they see everything he uploads, he said that he uploads only what he wants to be seen from others.
Social Media and Behavior Converter (or not)
Neofytos as a not fanatic with Social Media doesn’t believe they changed his behavior over the years. The only things he believes that might have affected him are some articles he finds on his Facebook newsfeed. These articles, in his opinion, have influenced him in a right way.
Opportunities
We should not fail to mention that Neofytos believes that Social Media, more specifically Facebook, can offer you many opportunities as seminars or job ads. He also, finds opportunities in the games he plays. For example, he has recently attended several tournaments of League of Legends with cash prizes. Furthermore, he tried to work for a google-platform game, ikariam, as a game moderator but they didn’t choose him. As he claims “To have a chance in this sector you have to distinguish yourself from others”
