Estudo do Discurso de Ódio Online em Comunidades de Jogos:

Perspetivas de Grupos de Foco com Jogadores Jovens

Authors

Abstract

This paper is part of an ongoing research on hate speech in online video game communities. Through the perspective of younger gamers, and using focus groups as a qualitative methodology, it was possible to gain an insight into their experiences with offensive messages, toxic online environments and game conduct norms. The analysis of the testimonies of 19 students disclosed what hate speech means to them, how they have been affected by it and what possible responses they imagine to this phenomenon. The findings revealed a paradoxical acceptance of toxic gaming environments, often due to desensitization. Young players' narratives pointed to power, pleasure, conformity and status enhancement as motivations for disruptive online behavior. This study aims to contribute to a broader understanding of perceptions, behaviors and motivations in online gaming communities, emphasizing the need for a collaborative approach involving players, game developers and platforms to promote a more respectful and inclusive environment.

Author Biographies

Susana Costa, Universidade do Algarve. Universidade Aberta. Centro de Investigação em Artes e Comunicação

Susana Costa is a PhD student in Digital Media Art (UAlg/UAb) and a collaborator at the Research Center for Arts and Communication (CIAC). She is the editor of Rotura – Journal of Communication, Culture, and Arts, and collaborates as a reviewer and editor for CIAC Editions. She has published in various peer-reviewed journals and presented scientific papers at national and international conferences. Actively involved in collaborative projects, her research interests include education, arts, and technology. Her doctoral research examines the manifestations and consequences of hate speech in games and online communities of young people and adolescents, proposing game-based and gamification approaches to address this issue.

 

Ana Filipa Martins, Universidade do Algarve, Centro de Investigação em Artes e Comunicação

Ana Filipa Martins is an adjunct professor at the University of Algarve’s School of Education and Communication, Portugal, where she teaches in the undergraduate program in Communication Sciences and the master’s program in Communication and Digital Media. She holds a PhD in Communication and is a researcher at CIAC – Research Centre for Arts and Communication. She has participated in several funded projects in media production and media literacy as a researcher, local coordinator, and Co-IR, including the PROPS – Interactive Narratives Propose a Pluralistic Speech project. She has also promoted and coordinated various initiatives in collaboration with news organizations and other entities.

 

Bruno Mendes da Silva, Universidade do Algarve. Centro de Investigação em Artes e Comunicação

Bruno Mendes da Silva is a coordinating professor with habilitation at the School of Education and Communication of the University of Algarve (UAlg).

He is currently the President of the Technical-Scientific Council and the Director of the Communication Department at ESEC-UAlg, as well as the Vice-Coordinator of the Research Center for Arts and Communication (CIAC). He is also a Visiting Professor at Saint Joseph University of Macau and has worked as a director and producer at Teledifusão de Macau (TDM).

Throughout his career, he has participated, by invitation, in international festivals of video, digital media art, and cinema, such as FRESH (Thailand), Thinking Media (South Korea), Dokanema (Mozambique), Loop (Spain), Festival de La Imagen and Ecologias Digitales (Colombia), The Script Road (China), and FILE (Brazil).

Bruno Mendes da Silva has been involved in 23 scientific projects (as principal investigator or team member), has published approximately 120 works, including books, book chapters, and scientific articles, and has been an invited speaker in countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Tunisia, Mozambique, Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, and China. He has supervised seven doctoral theses. He is the Director of Rotura – Journal of Communication, Culture, and Arts (indexed in Scopus) and the Coordinator of the Educational Technologies Working Group of Metared Portugal.

 

Alexandre Martins, Universidade do Algarve. Universidade Aberta

Alexandre Martins is a PhD student in Digital Media Art (UAlg/UAb, CIAC), holding a master’s degree in Heritage, Arts, and Cultural Tourism (ESE-IPP, 2020) and a degree in Foreign Languages and Cultures (ESE-IPP, 2018). He is currently collaborating with the Regional Directorate of Culture of the North (DRCN), contributing to the review and editing of the monographic collection Património a Norte, and with the Cine-Clube de Avanca, assisting in the organization of its documentary archives. He is a researcher at the Transdisciplinary Research Center Culture, Space, and Memory (CITCEM) and the Research Center for Arts and Communication (CIAC), where he conducts studies on digital arts and audiovisual communication.

 

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Published

2024-12-31

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 39 (2024): Estudos em Comunicação

Section

Artigos

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