Abstract
This chapter examines the recruitment, work, and identity of community managers in online games. Community managers play an intermediary function between game players and game developers. Drawing upon an analysis of job advertisements and face-to-face interviews, Kerr argues that the location of these jobs is shaped by existing labour mobility and geo-linguistic markets; while recruitment practices, working conditions, and working practices are often shaped by gendered and heteronormative standards. Community management (CM) allows game players to convert informal forms of social and cultural capital into low-paid, precarious, and largely invisible forms of work. As a form of creative work, it demands passionate commitment, but requires real emotional and cultural labour.
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Offshoring occurs when companies move elements of production outside the home country.
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Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the editors and my interviewees. While this chapter builds upon research conducted with others, any errors are mine.
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Kerr, A. (2016). Recruitment, Work, and Identity in Community Management: Passion, Precarity, and Play. In: Webster, J., Randle, K. (eds) Virtual Workers and the Global Labour Market. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47919-8_6
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