Exploring Toxicity in Online Gaming Communities: Reasoning and Mitigation Strategies

Abstract

The research conducted in this paper sought to understand why some gamers choose to partake in toxic behaviors and whether anonymity is a factor in these mindsets. This research also sought to determine ways to discourage these toxic behaviors and the effectiveness of those methods. In addition to these two explorations, another key factor in this research was identifying the demographics most victimized by toxicity. Research found that there are effective ways to discourage and monitor toxicity in online games, and they are a recent implementation to some games. Research conducted in this paper also found that toxicity affects almost every player who encounters it, and that anonymity is a sizable factor in a player's choice to behave toxically.