“BRAVE NEW” VIRTUAL WORLDS – A SOCIO-HISTORICAL APPROACH
Accepted
25 March 2026
Available Online
15 March 2013
Abstract
THIS PAPER PROPOSES A SOCIO -HISTORICAL APPROACH TO THE EMERGENCE OF (ONLINE) VIDEO GAMES IN ROMANIA. AS A PART OF THE POPULAR CULTURE, VIDEO GAMES (ARE SUPPOSED TO) INFLUENCE SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL VALUES, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS , AND TO CHALLENGE COMMON UNDERSTANINGS OF COMM UNITY OR LESIURE TIME WITHIN THE DIGITAL ERA. THIS PAPER AIMS TO FIND ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING RESEARCH QUESTIONS BY ANALYZING THE SOCIAL CLIMATE IN WHICH VIDEO GAMES DEVELOPED IN ROMANIA: WHAT TYPES OF GAMER COMMUNITIES EXIST AND WHAT ARE THEIR MAIN CHARA CTERISTICS? ARE THE NEW VIRTUAL WORLDS ABLE TO CHALLENGE GENDE R, ETHNIC OR CLASS DIFFERENCES? THE PAPER EMPHASIZES THAT IDENTITY RECONFIGURATION IN CYBERSPACE – THROUGH ERASURE OF THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED IDENTY MARKERS – IS STILL A UTOPIA. THE
Keywords
VIDEO GAMES
VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
OFFLINE-ONLINE DIVIDE
GENDER
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