Curating the Self-Identity: Tabletop Game Hobbyist Online Practices as an Extended Leisure Experience

Abstract

This interdisciplinary study investigates how networked online media facilitates meaning-making and identity (re)construction in distinctively material leisure. It presents a detailed and empirically grounded exploration of tabletop game hobbyists’ online practices that extend the leisure experience beyond playing. The data (N = 190) was collected with a mixed-method online survey, and responses of six open-ended questions were subsequently analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Theoretical frameworks from leisure, consumer culture, game, and media studies informed the analysis. The results are discussed through three broad themes, (1) curating the personal world, (2) situating the self in the social world, and (3) engagement through everyday creativity. The study suggests that online practices allow deeper engagement with tabletop gaming through identity (re)construction. In conclusion, the contributions to literature, practitioners, and society are discussed.