I think it's not so much a phenomenon as it is just a particular form of activities to do together keeping friendships alive. For many other people, the activity that helps them with maintaining...
I think it's not so much a phenomenon as it is just a particular form of activities to do together keeping friendships alive. For many other people, the activity that helps them with maintaining their friendships might be going golfing, watching sports (maybe at a bar), playing poker, going skiing, or anything else they can do together with friends that also allows for talking about unrelated topics.
The unique and interesting part about gaming is that it's an activity you can do together with someone at a distance. That makes it possible to maintain relationships along the lines of "golfing buddies", even if none of you can get together in person. The potential for hanging out for shorter periods is a neat aspect too (like playing something together for less than an hour), and even interruptable periods, which isn't possible with many other activities.
I think it's not so much a phenomenon as it is just a particular form of activities to do together keeping friendships alive. For many other people, the activity that helps them with maintaining their friendships might be going golfing, watching sports (maybe at a bar), playing poker, going skiing, or anything else they can do together with friends that also allows for talking about unrelated topics.
The unique and interesting part about gaming is that it's an activity you can do together with someone at a distance. That makes it possible to maintain relationships along the lines of "golfing buddies", even if none of you can get together in person. The potential for hanging out for shorter periods is a neat aspect too (like playing something together for less than an hour), and even interruptable periods, which isn't possible with many other activities.