The Effects of Digital Gaming Communities on Youth Communication

Abstract

Digital gaming communities have grown in popularity among young people, serving as platforms for engagement, collaboration, and communication. These communities go beyond entertainment, encouraging social relationships, teamwork, and shared experiences. In addition, gaming helps young people form social relationships, improve their communication skills, and engage in collaborative problem-solving. Furthermore, as online gaming environments improve, they offer a platform for users to communicate, express themselves, and form meaningful relationships where this contact contributes to a larger digital culture, influencing how young people communicate and connect in virtual places. This study seeks to examine how digital gaming communities affect youth communication, focusing on three major areas, gaming frequency, social skills, and peer connections. Based on Social Presence Theory, this study investigates how virtual interactions within gaming communities influence communication patterns. Besides that, a quantitative research design was used, with data collected from 353 students from the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam. Moreover, the study used structured questionnaires to collect data, which was then analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis to discover the correlations between the independent and dependent variables. Finally, this study contributes to the field of communication studies by expanding our understanding of Social Presence Theory in digital gaming contexts.