research-article

Gender swapping and user behaviors in online social games

Authors:

Chin-Laung Lei,

Kuan-Ta ChenAuthors Info & Claims

WWW '13: Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on World Wide Web

Pages 827 - 836

https://doi.org/10.1145/2488388.2488460

Published: 13 May 2013 Publication History

Abstract

Modern Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) provide lifelike virtual environments in which players can conduct a variety of activities including combat, trade, and chat with other players. While the game world and the available actions therein are inspired by their offline counterparts, the games' popularity and dedicated fan base are testaments to the allure of novel social interactions granted to people by allowing them an alternative life as a new character and persona. In this paper we investigate the phenomenon of "gender swapping," which refers to players choosing avatars of genders opposite to their natural ones. We report the behavioral patterns observed in players of Fairyland Online, a globally serviced MMORPG, during social interactions when playing as in-game avatars of their own real gender or gender-swapped. We also discuss the effect of gender role and self-image in virtual social situations and the potential of our study for improving MMORPG quality and detecting online identity frauds.

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Cited By

Han YHo X(2024)“More Than Just Playing a Character”: Gender Exploration and Expression in Avatar CustomizationGames and Culture10.1177/15554120241307982Online publication date: 26-Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241307982
Zomerplaag SBakkes S(2024)An Exploratory Study on Gender Dysphoria & Character CustomisationProceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3649921.3650020(1-12)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649921.3650020
Huang YLiu TChen Y(2023)The (unlocated) in-game gender performativity in contemporary China: exploring gender swapping practices in the online game sphereFeminist Media Studies10.1080/14680777.2023.225829624:7(1617-1634)Online publication date: 15-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2023.2258296
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Gender swapping and user behaviors in online social games
1. Applied computing
  1. Law, social and behavioral sciences
2. Information systems
  1. World Wide Web
    1. Web applications
    2. Web services

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Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences

WWW '13: Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on World Wide Web

May 2013

1628 pages

ISBN:9781450320351

DOI:10.1145/2488388

General Chairs:
Daniel Schwabe
PUC-Rio - Brazil
,
Virgílio Almeida
UFMG - Brazil
,
Hartmut Glaser
CGI.br - Brazil
,
Program Chairs:
Ricardo Baeza-Yates
Yahoo! Labs - Spain & Chile
,
Sue Moon
KAIST - South Korea

Copyright © 2013 Copyright is held by the International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2).

Sponsors

NICBR: Nucleo de Informatcao e Coordenacao do Ponto BR
CGIBR: Comite Gestor da Internet no Brazil

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SIGWEB: ACM Special Interest Group on Hypertext, Hypermedia, and Web

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 13 May 2013

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NICBR
CGIBR

WWW '13: 22nd International World Wide Web Conference

May 13 - 17, 2013

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Acceptance Rates

WWW '13 Paper Acceptance Rate 125 of 831 submissions, 15%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,899 of 8,196 submissions, 23%

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Citations

Cited By

Han YHo X(2024)“More Than Just Playing a Character”: Gender Exploration and Expression in Avatar CustomizationGames and Culture10.1177/15554120241307982Online publication date: 26-Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241307982
Zomerplaag SBakkes S(2024)An Exploratory Study on Gender Dysphoria & Character CustomisationProceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3649921.3650020(1-12)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649921.3650020
Huang YLiu TChen Y(2023)The (unlocated) in-game gender performativity in contemporary China: exploring gender swapping practices in the online game sphereFeminist Media Studies10.1080/14680777.2023.225829624:7(1617-1634)Online publication date: 15-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2023.2258296
Whitehouse KHitchens MMatthews N(2023)Trans* and gender diverse players: Avatars and gender-alignmentEntertainment Computing10.1016/j.entcom.2023.10058447(100584)Online publication date: Aug-2023
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2023.100584
Gonçalves DPais PGerling KGuerreiro TRodrigues A(2023)Social gamingComputers in Human Behavior10.1016/j.chb.2023.107851147:COnline publication date: 1-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.chb.2023.107851
Kneidinger-Müller B(2023)Identitätsbildung in sozialen MedienHandbuch Soziale Medien10.1007/978-3-658-25995-2_4(191-212)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-25995-2_4
Zhou LHan NXu ZBrian CHussain S(2022)Why Do Women Pretend to Be Men? Female Gender Swapping in Online GamesFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2022.81095413Online publication date: 12-May-2022
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.810954
Deaner RDunlap LBleske-Rechek A(2022)Sex Differences in Competitiveness in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs)Evolutionary Psychology10.1177/1474704922110938820:2Online publication date: 22-Jun-2022
https://doi.org/10.1177/14747049221109388
Bredikhina LGiard A(2022)Becoming a Virtual Cutie: Digital Cross-Dressing in JapanConvergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies10.1177/1354856522107481228:6(1643-1661)Online publication date: 10-Mar-2022
https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565221074812
Robinson J(2022)“I Ain’t No Girl”: Exploring Gender Stereotypes in the Video Game CommunityWestern Journal of Communication10.1080/10570314.2022.213000487:5(857-878)Online publication date: 5-Oct-2022
https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2022.2130004
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