He was yelling at his computer.
My brother has gone crazy was my initial reaction when I saw him leaning over the keyboard speaking to the screen, but luckily I saw the microphone and it clicked that he was playing a game.
I thought it was weird to see how people could live this alternate life online, and be whoever they created. Then I realized it gives people a sense of acceptance to have others who they can relate to, and be able to interact with them online.
My brother probably wouldn’t tell his friends that he spends hours at a time online playing with people he has never met. So by playing the game and being a part of the online gaming community it makes it easier to know he is not the only one.
Even though I caught him sitting at his computer alone, I now realize he wasn’t. He was playing with fellow members of the community he has become a part of.
Before that ecounter with him, and taking this class I would have said communites are the places we live, or the churches we attend. Now I realize a community is a much broader term, because I think it has turned into a place of acceptance, and the ablility to interact with people who have the same interest. Where I live and the Church I attend, both incorporate those ideals, but now I see it doesn’t have to be just those traditional community types.
kchulick