Pokémon GO, underhållning eller arbete? : En studie om upplevelser och värdeproducerande aktiviteter i spel

Sammanfattning: This paper investigates players experience of the augmented reality game Pokémon Go in relation to value producing activities. The game uses geographical places to encourage people to walk around in the real world. The goal of the game is to find and catch all 700 different types of pokémon. The theoretical perspective come from a contemporary marxist tradition that examine digital user activity as labour. The purpose of the study is to investigate players experiences of playing the game and if and how it changes due to being value producing activity that benefits the game producers. To examine this phenomenon we used autoethnography as basis for developing an interview guide and then interviewed 9 players of the game. The study shows that players mostly enjoy their time in the game but that some activities can be precepted as forced in certain conditions. People enjoy having a goal to pursue and being active and social in the game. At the same time, the game calls for attention based on the location and time. This can make the players prioritize the game even when they feel they should not. The findings stress the importance of more thorough research on how the profit gaining purpose of media companies affect people's everyday lives and experiences. It also stresses the importance to have a broader societal debate about how data collection affects us, not only by being sold but by changing our behaviour to the likes of the companies.