Unpacking Time Online: Connecting Internet and Massively Multiplayer Online Game Use With Psychosocial Well-Being

Abstract

By unpacking different forms of Internet and massively multiplayer online game (MMO) use, the present study adopts a nuanced approach to examine the connections between online activities and psychosocial well-being. It combined self-reported survey data with unobtrusive behavioral data from server logs of a large virtual world, EverQuest II. Over 5,000 players were surveyed about how they use the Internet, their specific activities in the virtual world, and their psychosocial well-being. In-game communication networks were also constructed and analyzed.The results showed support for both time displacement and social augmentation effects for various activities. Whether Internet and MMO use were associated with negative or positive outcomes was largely dependent on the purposes, contexts, and individual characteristics of users. The results suggest that Internet use and game play have significant nuances and should not be considered as monolithic sources of effects.