Abstract
This chapter looks at bridging and bonding social capital in the context of mobile online gaming. We explore how in-game international communities like guilds can facilitate accumulation of cross-cultural social capital. Reporting on a four-year ethnography of a mobile massively multiplayer online roleplaying strategy game called Lords Mobile, we describe emotional support provided by members of the community, regardless of cross-cultural differences. We argue that in an international space such as an online guild, bonding capital and bridging capital are often simultaneous. Bonding capital promotes bridging capital and vice versa. Further research should be done in intentionally international online spaces to understand the mutually supportive relationship between bonding capital and bridging capital.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Social Capital |
| Subtitle of host publication | Issues, Challenges and Perspectives |
| Publisher | Nova Science Publishers, Inc. |
| Pages | 73-109 |
| Number of pages | 37 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781536196429 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781536196221 |
| State | Published - May 6 2021 |
Keywords
- Bonding
- Bridging
- Ethnography
- Guilds
- Mobile game
- Multicultural
- Video games
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
- General Business, Management and Accounting