Digital games and e-sports activities in the context of digital media literacy: A case study of university students

Rapid and transformative developments in communication technologies are shaping and reshaping the global society. These technologies are fundamentally altering various aspects of human practices, such as communication, access to information, socialization, and leisure activities worldwide. The swift diffusion of new communication technologies has accelerated these changes and impacted all facets of society. In this era of communication transformation, the individual occupies a central role within the digital media environment. Digital media encompasses various multimedia features that allow both personal and mass communication, transcending temporal and spatial boundaries, facilitating real-time interaction. However, in addition to its opportunities, the digital media environment also harbors risks. To effectively navigate these risks, individuals must possess digital media literacy skills and competencies, enabling them to perceive, interpret, analyze, and contribute consciously to the production process of media messages. Digital media literacy, encompassing all media messages and content, is particularly crucial in the context of digital games, which are highly popular among young individuals. The rapidly evolving communication technologies of the 21st century have opened the doors to entirely new gaming environments like e-sports. These technologies have transformed the traditional understanding of games and enabled competitive e-sports to become not only a hobby but also a recognized sport with a substantial following. In this period where traditional sports have acquired a new identity in the digital world, e-sports brings together players in digital arenas while providing a social, psychological, and physical experience that impacts participants in multiple dimensions. The widespread popularity of these games among university students, both as club activities and as participation in international e-sports tournaments, has contributed to their increasing popularity among young adults. Within this context, this research aimed to measure the level of digital media literacy among university students aged 18-26 who engage in e-sports activities. An extensive survey was conducted, and to complement and provide diverse perspectives, semi-structured interviews were carried out with e-sports club coaches. The research aimed to assess the e-sport players' critical thinking skills within the gaming environment, internet ethics awareness, online security awareness, digital content access and technology usage skills, rights and responsibilities awareness, information research and verification skills. The analysis revealed that the opportunities and risks individuals encounter in digital gaming environments are closely linked to their digital media literacy skills and competencies. Furthermore, it was found that players might face various risks during the gaming process, including manipulation, disinformation, propaganda, digital surveillance, awareness of fiction-reality differences, awareness of the background of messages within game narratives, online traps, online security, false identities, virus attacks, addiction, asocial behavior, and physical issues (eye and joint pains).