Once a gamer, always a gamer.
Mobile Me & You Project (Gaming Community) Part I | “New Consumer Trends” — “Mobile Reputations” course | Panteion University
In a world that is constantly changing new trends are taking place. In the frame of our course “Mobile Reputations”, we, as students of the Panteion University, run a qualitative research in order to examine the use of mobile phones by millennials. More specific we decided to focus on the gaming community and we managed to interview 12 persons, in order to meet the needs of our project.
Every gamer has a story. This was our thought when we started our research and so, in this first part of our project, we asked from two millennials to share their story with us. Here we are about to see Dimitri and Theodora speaking about the way their mobile phone has affected their life so far.
Dimitris N. is a 25 years old biologist who works in a diagnostic center in Athens. He has been playing video games since he was 10 years old. “Since I started playing in my old game console I haven’ t stopped playing.” he said. We asked about his mobile daily routine and usage time. For him the day starts with a cup of coffee and scrolling Facebook or watching videos on YouTube. On an average day he uses his phone for 5 hours and a half total, 3 hours browsing through Facebook, YouTube, 9gag or popular science magazines such as Nature or Science, or using transport apps such as OASA telematics, Moovit and Google Maps or communicating with his friends and colleagues through app like Viber, Messenger, Gmail. The rest 2 hours are consumed in gaming and a half hour in streaming.
To organize his daily tasks, he needs only the apps calendar, alarm and note. Due to his job he believes that the mobile phone is only useful for emergency contact with his colleagues while being on the go. For more important tasks he uses his laptop. This is the reason he favors his personal computer over his mobile phone and other devices. That said he believes he could manage with his daily tasks without his phone. Although he would be irritated because he could not be reached in case of an emergency. When asked for his sharing activity he responded negatively. He does not like sharing much. He prefers watching what others share about videogames, in order to learn from them, and giving feedback. For that his favorites apps are Twitch, YouTube and 9gag. Although it seems like Dimitri does not like the concept of influencer either. “I am not interested in someone’s face but the content they create. I search for different channels on Twitch and YouTube. I don’t concentrate on people.” he says. However, he does not feel disconnected from the world due to his lack of sharing. “I can call anyone I want whenever I need something. And I know what’s happening in the world and my social circle.” he responds.
Even though he uses his phone to keep up with his friends he does not really use when he is hanging around with them, unless it is to play all together. He says that they have some common gaming habits but they have different interests in general. Apart from his friends he plays and chats with random people online and that makes him feel like a part of a big gaming community. And he does not want to create a social brand or evolve into professional. He simply wants “to have fun and relax with a nice story or a good 10-minute match”.
Finally, we ask him if he uses a complementary gadget for his mobile gaming. He shows us his trigger fire button he uses for PUBG Mobile. “I got them for 5€ on Gearbest. It was a good deal.” he says. We ask him for his view in mobile online shopping. He has used his phone to browse and buy from online stores such as Skroutz, Gearbest, Steam and Play store and to pay the bills online like rent, electricity bill or the water bill. But he does not trust services app like Airbnb or Uber because he believes they are not trustworthy.
As for Theodora, she is a 23 years old student of Panteion University, Department of Communication, Media and Culture. She has been playing videogames for the past 6 years. We asked about her mobile daily routine and usage time. She starts her day with YouTube. During the day she will scroll through the social media like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or check her contacts with Email, Viber and Messenger, or navigate her way through the city with OASA telematics and Google Maps for 3 hours total. After a day’s hard work, she will relax watching Twitch, YouTube for 1 and a half hour, or playing videogames for 2 hours like PUBG mobile. She wishes she had more free time to play more.
Her most usefulapps for the daily routine are Notes, Calendar and Alarm. Also, she uses Facebook and Messenger in her daily routine in order to keep up with her department’s announcements and to communicate with her co-students about projects. Her favorite device is for sure her mobile phone, due to its speed and mobility but she can’t read or do write her essays. For such tasks she uses her iPad or her laptop. This is the reason she would feel lost had her phone been removed from her. She wouldn’t be able to call anyone or organize her day.
Apart from her daily tasks she uses her phone on some not so usual occasions, like buying airplane tickets, renting a room, ordering delivery, calling an Uber, buying theatre tickets, paying her bills, buying electronic products or buying apps from App Store. In such cases she does not mind the fact that those services are provided via strangers. She told us the same thing when it comes to gaming, because she plays with random players online.
We asked her what she shares and with whom, but she really does not like sharing content. She prefers watching what other users share in YouTube and Twitch. In these apps she is following influencers of the gaming community her favorite being Powerbang and Rolex who are famous PUBG players. “I think that these people can affect their followers in a positive way. I like learning tips and strategies from them” she says. That said she really feels her phone is connecting her with the world, because she can communicate with her friends her family, her colleagues and being up to date with the world.
Furthermore, her friends play videogames too so they like gathering and playing online as a group. It is one of the few things she has in common with her friends on the mobile usage. We all have different lifestyles, interests and obligations, so we use our phones differently. “My friend is in economics so he uses Libertex. But we all enjoy a good game” she responds. However, she does not appreciate when someone in her company of friends is scrolling their screen in a bar or a restaurant. She believes it is rude and that person cannot concentrate on what is happening around him. Since she does not do it, she expects the same from everybody. In total she feels a part of a big gaming community and she has no interest in becoming something bigger like a professional gamer or a social icon.
This is the end of our first part and the official beginning of our stories. We hope you keep track of our next interviews and discover with us the world of gaming.
If you want to learn how this project got started and the methodology that we follow you can have a look at the following articles:
If you are looking for the other parts of the interviews about gaming check the links below:
To learn the results and the insights of our research you can check the links bellow. We also made a comparison with global trends.
Team: Korina Simeonidou, Liana Kollia, Antonis Katsis
Professor: Betty Tsakarestou
