This is a collection of tweets that chunksĀ the main points of my thinkpiece essay titled “Video Games Struggle on Violence.”
1/17 Ever thought about how violence in video games started? Do you know what video games popularized it? Its effects on ppl? #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
2/17 Nintendo of America spawned the belief that video games were toys targeted towards children. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
3/17 But as the video game industry grew, so did its audience. Games were trying to appeal to teens and up with undue-violence #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
4/17 Many consider Mortal Kombat to be the one to kickstart video game violence due to its controversial fatalities. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
5/17 People mainly remember Mortal Kombat because of these fatalities-you can pull off someone's spine out or burn them alive #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
6/17 Because Mortal Kombat was one of the first arcade games to have blood and gore, it attracted the attention of politicians #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
7/17One in particular was former chief of staff Joe Lieberman. He wanted to create a rating system so that kids couldn't play. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
8/17 Years later, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas would release and become just as controversial, perhaps even more so. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
9/17 GTA games in general allowed players to murder innocent civilians and police officers. #gameviolence pic.twitter.com/EeH4G026lO
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
10/17 According to Doug Gross of CNN, GTA "inherited the mantle of violent game poster child from āMortal Kombat.āā #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
11/17 GTA San Andreas, however, contained a more notorious, albeit hidden feature called āHot coffee.ā #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
12/17 Despite being made inaccessible, Hot coffee was programmed in by modders. It featured two characters having intercourse. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
13/17 The ESRB noticed this and recalled all versions of GTA SA. it changed its rating from M for mature to A for adults. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
14/17 GTA and MK would cause researchers to study to the effects violent video games have on those who play it. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
15/17 A report from the APA found that games may lead to increased aggression, but not to the point of committing crimes #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
16/17 Another study from PLOS ONE concluded that video games such as Doom may lead to depression and conduct disorder. #gameviolence
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
17/17 Despite the criticisms games receive for their violence, the industry continues to be successful #gameviolence pic.twitter.com/ghleyz2T4Q
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
For more information on #gameviolence please watch: https://t.co/AcvIKm2RoC
— Chris Navarrete (@NavarreteChris5) April 21, 2016
Before this rant was created, I had issues writing one tweet due to Twitters 140 character limit. Not only was it because I had never used Twitter before, but because I wanted to write in complete sentences and not useĀ the internetās language. After several hours of trial and error in Microsoft Word, I adapted to Twitters format and pieced together this rant. I then had to decide what tweets would contain the photos and video I created from previous projects.
Unlike my thinkpiece essay, the audience for this Twitter rantĀ includes individuals who either don’t know or have little information as to how video game violence became popular. To connect with my audience, I gave a brief explanation on what the video games I discuss (Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas) are about, and why people considered them to be violent. I included photos on tweets that highlighted these games so that my audience can visually see and understand what made them so controversial.
As for how effective my tweets were, although it did manage to spark some conversation and interesting comments on the topic of video game violence, oneĀ student may have thought I wanted to banĀ video game violence. I believe this came to their mind becauseĀ I wrote my rant in anĀ objective point of view (not saying I was against it).
After reviewing the analytics ofĀ my Twitter rant, I was surprised by the numbers. I expected it to be much lower because I made a Twitter account only for this project. Besides outside activity, there was a good amount of comments and likes from those in our class as well.
Unsurprisingly, the tweet that received the most attention was the tweet that kick-started the rant (1/17) as it has 134 impressions. Overall, my tweets “earned 1.1k impressions over this 20 day period” and about 18 likes total.
