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they can pretend to be different people. This sort
of communication is not real,
since gamers would never be able to talk the same way with people in the normal
world.
The most negative stereotype about gamers is that they possibly have
emotional problems.
Many video games are violent, so gamers might be
influenced by that violence. They may start to feel that it is OK to use violence in
real life. Further, gamers spend too much time in the false worlds of their games.
The result is that they can no longer recognize the real world. They may come to
believe that they are characters in a game. The result of this could be violence or
destruction of
property, either real or through computer hacking.
Of course, these
views are only stereotypes. There may be some gamers that
fit the negative stereotype. However, a recent study about gamers was conducted
in the United States by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. This research
involved a survey of 1,162 college students across the United States.
The survey
found that most gamers are the same as normal people. According to the survey,
both gamers and non-gamers spent the same amount of time doing different
kinds of activities, like studying and exercising. Gamers
did not spend all their
time playing games. They did not spend all their time alone, either. Most of the
gamers in the survey lived normal lives and had normal friends. For them,
gaming
was a social activity. These gamers were unlikely to
commit violence against others.
Finally, the survey found that just as many women as men played video games.
According to this survey, at least,
gaming has
become a normal hobby, like any other, and as is the
case with many other stereotypes, the stereotypical
image of gamers
does not seem to match with
reality.
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emotional problems --- extreme emotional reactions not usually
found in others
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destruction --- damage; complete ruin
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views
--- ideas
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commit --- to do; to carry out
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