title: Interweaving interactions in virtual worlds: a case study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of playing the online game World of Warcraft (WoW), both on adolescent's (effective) social interaction and on the competence they developed on it. Social interactions within the game environment have been investigated by integrating qualitative and quantitative methods: conversation analysis and social network analysis (SNA). From a psychosocial point of view, the in-game interactions, and in particular conversational exchanges, turn out to be a collaborative path of the joint definition of identities and social ties, with reflection on in-game processes and out-game relationship.
authors.affiliation: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Centro Studi e Ricerche di Psicologia della Comunicazione, Milano, Italy. matteo.cantamesse@unicatt.it
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cantamesse
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galimberti
authors.forename: Gianandrea
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giacoma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology*