A Video-Editing Game for Social Impact

›YourTurn! The Video-Game‹ is a social network game for Viennese youth. Players engage in ›versus‹ battles on Facebook. Taking turns, they select snippets of Youtube (music) videos, which they append to a mutual video mix. Playing against each other leads to a shared and creative result; a video mix made by two players who previously did not know each other. Thus ›YourTurn!‹ brings together youth of different ethnicity, gender and place of residence who normally would not be in contact with one another. Thereby, music acts as identity-related tie. The sustained yield of the forming relationships is supported by a series of events and workshops.

Videos are created based on a topic and for example allow players to reflect their place of residence. Taking turns players negotiate meaning by submitting adequate video responses. The free association style of play enables shared cultural reflection and furthers the process of acculturation. Other topics allow players to express their identity. Doing this together fosters inter-cultural understanding.

Striving for game goals together ideally overrides the cultural restrictions present in everyday life. Players gain media competence and media literacy. Finding a fitting clip means learning to reflect communication, aesthetics and context.

YourTurn! launched on February 21st, 2012. It’s impact was measured through a second round of interviews in May 2012, using gameplay metrics and social network analysis.