Video gaming has been around for more than 30 years, easily, and yet there are so many outdated, irreverent misconceptions about gamers. Here are a few of the worst.
"Gamers are awkward, socially inept rejects."
This one is particularly obnoxious, because rarely, in any other instance, do your hobbies affect how people perceive your sociability. There are plenty of communication-competent gamers out there.
"Gamers are lazy."
Listen, we as a society are becoming lazier, you can't just blame this all on one group. Furthermore, I've mostly only heard this within the context of gamers not leaving, mid-game, to do something for someone else or during a long gaming binge. It's not that we're lazy, sometimes we just get really into a gaming groove!
"Gaming is a boy's space."
I hate this for a multitude of reasons. Gaming is one of the most welcoming communities out there. I know this might sound a bit far-fetched, but given that gaming can be both single and multiplayer, nothing stops you from joining and reveling with fellow gamers about the games you've come to love. Not to mention (including the grey-area that is mobile gaming) girls make up the majority of gamers.
"Gaming is child's play."
Maybe when you were a child Grandma, but given that most '80s, '90s, and early 2000s children grew up with gaming and are now (mostly) fully fledged adults. Gaming has transcended into a normal part of daily life for children and adults alike. As we've grown up our favorite games and game characters have too.
"You're wasting your time."
Oh, but you're not while you binge Dr. Phil and Maury, Karen?
"Gaming isn't a viable career."
Maybe not for me because I'm a casual player, but plenty of platforms and corporations have made gaming a viable industry. Thousands of gamers have full-on careers from streaming their gameplay or uploading it to YouTube. While it is certainly a difficult career to get a foothold in, it is still a viable career to aspire for.
"Can't you pause it?"
No.
"Gamers are nerdy."
Evidently you aren't, otherwise you'd know the difference between nerdy and geeky.
"Esports aren't real sports."
Yes, in the same way chess isn't a REAL sport, but so long as chess is dubbed a sport why shouldn't gaming be considered one too?
"Gaming makes impressionable people violent."
As much as you've probably heard this, it is, in fact, an unsubstantiated claim. There's no solid connection between gaming and violence. Not to mention, there are plenty of non-violent games out there and this broadly stated slander does nothing but hurt all of gaming.
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