Video Games as Technical Communication Ecology

Abstract

With an ecological approach to the genres that circulate within communities of practice, this article traces the overlap between technical communication and online gaming communities in terms of their rhetorical uses of technical communication genres. Through shared practices, technologies, and epistemologies, online gaming environments call upon gamers to become technical communicators and provide opportunities for technical communicators to apply their expertise within the gaming industry.

Keywords:

• community
• gaming
• pedagogy
• rhetoric
• technical communication

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julia Mason

Julia Mason is an assistant professor of English at Florida Atlantic University. Her research interests include cultural studies, visual rhetoric, posthuman studies, and professional and technical writing.