Does Xbox Live Improve Or
Impair Your Social Skills?
"What's up, man? Where are you from?"
So begins an interaction during a game of Halo. It doesn't matter if you're from Sydney or Seattle - if you're playing on Xbox live, you can have a similar conversation with people from just about anywhere on the globe, typically people from western countries like the U.S., Australia, and western Europe.
That, of course, is just a healthy interaction that might take place on Xbox live. They're not all so healthy.
What goes on at Xbox live isn't exactly real life - it's more like a form of the Internet in which people are free to trash talk anonymously while channeling their aggression into a sleuth of their favorite combat games. This is fun, of course, but it does lead to an important question: is Xbox Live becoming a substitute for real human interaction? Just one look at the amount of players online on any given Saturday night may be a clue, but let's dig deeper.
Video Games and Aggression
You know all about the debate over video games and aggression - some people think that video games inspire greater aggression and increased desensitization in today's youth, while others view video games as harmless fun. That paints a broad stroke on the debate, but those are the bare bones.
As the generation known as the "Millennials" grew up, the increased sophistication of video games and the simulated reality they provided alarmed many parents, triggering a study by the American Psychological Association. Back then, there was concern that video games with aggressive themes and violent images influenced children to become that way themselves. Add the fact that video games are more interactive and involved than television and movies and you can understand why so many were concerned.
But how bad has it really turned out to be, looking back on that study a decade later? Some studies have shown that the crime rate in America was the same in 2004 as it was in 1970, which would suggest that video games haven't had a large-scale impact as the APA study might have suggested.
If you're not concerned about video game violence, then there's another aspect of gaming to consider: plain, old-fashioned, staying in the house.
Video Games and Social Skills
If you're an Xbox Live lover, then there is a bit of a good news. As it turns out, some social interaction is better than none! Maybe you didn't need anyone to tell you this, but sometimes it's better to make sure - you know, just in case.
As ScienceBlog.com notes, even the nerdiest of games can provide some amount of social interaction if they're online. Even computer-based games like Evony have drawn attention for their level of interaction with other players across the world.
Yes, there is still an element of "trash talk" when it comes to platforms like Xbox Live, but some may argue that being exposed to insults can actually be a good experience. The veil of the limited Xbox Live interaction promotes anonymity while the insults provide the sometimes-stinging reality of interacting in the social world. In other words, Xbox Live may not be a "formal," but it's not exactly total seclusion, either.
Parents who are looking for advice on what to do about their child's Xbox Live habit will find some here: relax. Xbox Live is not the scourge of modern social skills. If anything, you should be more concerned about a child who keeps to himself too often. Social isolation is a frequent contributor to violent and aggressive tendencies, and at the very least, Xbox Live provides a platform to vent frustration in a healthy, social way. In other words, it might just beat playing "Clue" with Grandma on a Saturday night.
