Posted September 25, 2023 by TheoHuang
The game is still in the very early stages and I haven't even come up with a proper name yet. However, I have already done quite a bit of research on the subject. I believe these surveys will help me understand and better bring to life the social issues that this serious game wants to express.
Social media contains an exceptional amount of topics that can be discussed. I chose cyber violence because I have seen various real-life cases. All of them have caused a lot of damage to the victims. Some of them have even gone to extremes, such as turning to violence in real life or committing suicide. As an ordinary person, I am too small to stop the abusers on the Internet, nor can I save the victims. What I can do is use my own research to bring these issues to the attention of gamers.
Another point on the topic of cyber violence is whether or not there are forces behind these behaviors. The power of social media nowadays has given it the ability to benefit some businesses or individuals as well. This may be through conventional and legal means, such as advertising, gift-giving, and online shopping. But it can also be through gray area or even illegal means such as scams, hacking and cyber violence. Cyber violence may not seem like a profit to many people. But if a celebrity who is the subject of cyber-violence is the face of a brand, could it be that the person who organized the cyber-violence, or the person who pushed for it, was intentionally orchestrated by a competing company of that brand? Or let's say a group member of an organization is subjected to cyber-violence because someone digs up some wrongdoings he did when he was young. Could that person who did the initial digging then be someone whose personal gain was affected by the activities carried out by this organization? These are just assumptions, and characterizing something requires sufficient evidence. But on the internet, the act of forensics will become very difficult. The person who started the cyberstorm or provoked the incident, their name may soon be drowned under the sound of people's mouths. Although it is difficult to find the real aggressor, I hope that through this game, you can find a direction. Whenever you encounter an incident of cyber violence, you can try to follow this direction to find the cause of the incident and the possible culprits behind it. This may help people to stop being used as a tool of speech and to avoid such bullying.
I hope that the environment on social networks will be more tolerant and understanding, and less hostile and hateful.