Facebook and FarmVille

A Digital Ritual Analysis of Social Gaming

Bibliographic Data

ID2409513
AuthorsB Burroughs (0000-0002-1298-4161, University of Iowa, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume9
Issue3
Pages151-166
Publication date2014-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGames and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1555-4120 • E-ISSN: 1555-4139
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1555412014535663
OpenAlexW2319481490
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited24

This article seeks to build a digital ritual framework for the analysis of social gaming and social networking. The architectural design that intertwines Facebook and FarmVille is heightened by the formal and informal participation in ritual practices, which we theorize as digital rituals. Facebook and FarmVille provide a substantive case study that delves into the topical blurring of lines around the game space or magic circle. Through digital ethnographic methodologies the article identifies a number of digital ritual engagements that fit well with Grant McCracken's (1986) four different kinds of consumer rituals: exchange rituals, possession rituals, grooming rituals, and divestment rituals. Social gaming is contextualized as the extension of digital third places complicating distinctions between social network and social networking sites. Beyond simply phatic communication or decompression, FarmVille and Facebook through digital ritual participation are increasingly the manifestation of our networked interests, communities, and lives

Advertising · Aesthetics · Art · Bespoke · Digital culture · Ethnography · Internet privacy · MAGIC (telescope · Media studies · Possession (linguistics · Sociology · Anthropology · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction