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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Player Guild Dynamics And Evolution In Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Chien Hsun Chen, J. L. Hsieh, C. T. Sun Nov 2008

Player Guild Dynamics And Evolution In Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Chien Hsun Chen, J. L. Hsieh, C. T. Sun

Chien Hsun Chen

In the latest versions of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), developers have purposefully made guilds part of game environments. Guilds represent a powerful method for giving players a sense of online community, but there is little quantitative data on guild dynamics. To address this topic, we took advantage of a feature found in one of today’s most popular MMOGs (World of Warcraft) to collect in-game data: user interfaces that players can modify and refine. In addition to collecting data on in-game player activities, we used this feature to observe and investigate how players join and leave guilds. Data were analyzed …


Exploring Cyberfriendship Formation Among Malaysian Youth, Abu Sadat Nurullah Jan 2008

Exploring Cyberfriendship Formation Among Malaysian Youth, Abu Sadat Nurullah

Abu Sadat Nurullah

Cyberspace has become a common place for youth to involve in online networking and to make new friends. This paper focuses on: a) the dynamics of cyberfriendship formation; b) the role of self-disclosure, alienation, and frequency of online interaction on formation of cyberfriendship; and c) the extent of satisfaction achieved from that relationship. A stratified random sample of 250 youth (Mean age = 21.16, SD = 1.36) studying in different undergraduate faculties from a large Malaysian university responded to self-tailored questionnaires. The results revealed that 85.6% youth have formed online friendship using multiple communication channels. Major findings of this research …


Acculturation, Allen Gnanam Jan 2008

Acculturation, Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

Acculturation is an experience/ phenomenon that occurs when groups of individuals with different cultural backgrounds engage in on going/ continuous physical contact, which in turn causes one or more of the different cultures too experience adaptation/ a change in their original cultural practices (Berry, 1997); (Berry, 2008). Acculturation is a phenomenon that occurs at a macro level/ group level and a micro level/ individual level, and this means that an individual of a certain ethnic minority group can experience acculturation differently than their ethnic minority group (Berry, 1997). Macro level acculturation occurs when the original culture of a specific ethnic …


China- Tibet Conflict, Allen Gnanam Jan 2008

China- Tibet Conflict, Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

China- Tibet tensions are continually growing, as Tibetans are protesting for total independence from China, despite condemnation from their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is only seeking a sense of autonomy for Tibet (Sinder, 2008). As Tibetan protests are becoming violent and aggressive, the Dalai Lama has also threatened to resign as Tibet’s government in exile (Sinder, 2008), however, his rhetoric is not being exposed to the Tibetan people, due to government censorship in China. Therefore the Dalai Lama, an exiled institutional entrepreneur, has to find new methods that will enable his influential message, to be received by the …