Video games as a factor in the formation of "gamer" youth subcultures in modern Ukrainian society
Students Name: Matsiuk Oleh Mykhailovych
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: Sociology
Institute: Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Mode of Study: full
Academic Year: 2022-2023 н.р.
Language of Defence: англійська
Abstract: Nowadays, it is becoming more and more obvious that youth culture in its specific manifestations has an increasing influence on the value orientations of society as a whole. And one of the main factors that are decisive in the formation of modern youth subcultures are video games.. Thanks to the development of the latest technologies, video games are becoming more and more interactive and spectacular, which allows to satisfy the maximum of human needs and, therefore, video games thus have a wide range of influence on the personalities of their consumers. The Internet space can be considered as a set of positions, roles, relationships, resource flows, in which grouping mechanisms are formed based on common value orientations of gamers. From the side of practical relevance - the topic " Video games as a factor in the formation of "gamer" youth subcultures in modern ukrainian society" was chosen due to the growing popularity of video games in the lives of modern ukrainian and world youth, and due to the rapid development of the video game industry. From the side of theoretical relevance - relevance of the topic is emphasized by the significant interest of representatives of the humanities and technical sciences, who turn to the topic of research on the impact of video games on society. Purpose of research - to establish, based on the analysis of scientific literature and conducted empirical studies, what role video games play in the process of formation of youth subcultures among modern Ukrainian youth. Object according to the the general problem - formation process of gamer subcultures in society. Object according to the bearer of the problem - modern Ukrainian youth. Research subject - video games influence on modern Ukrainian youth. The term "youth subculture" refers to a specific culture of a certain young generation, which has a common lifestyle, behavior, group norms, values and beliefs. The gamer subculture includes all the main features that are characteristic of other subcultures: common views on the world, common topics for discussion, a unique style of speech (slang), a style of behavior. The phenomenon of gamer subcultures and video games is studied by many sciences, such as: sociology, psychology, economics, cultural studies, philosophy, religious studies, pedagogy. The results of the research showed that the majority of young people are familiar with the main terms related to the gamer subculture, the majority of female respondents do not identify themselves as a member of gamer subcultures, while the majority of male respondents do. The majority of young people noted that there are also "gamers" among their friends. Which testifies to the widespread prevalence of this phenomenon among the younger generation. Young people have a positive attitude towards video games and their role in the lives of players, but it is worth noting that among the older age groups, the percentage of those who have a positive attitude towards video games is lower. The most common motivations for young people to play video games are having fun, competing with other players, and spending time with friends. Keywords: subculture, video games, youth.