Description: In this edited volume, eighteen scholars examine the increasing role of digital media technologies in identity construction through play.
Brief description: Joost Raessens is Full Professor and Chair of Media Theory at the Faculty of Humanities of Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
Review Quotes: "Playful Identities is an illuminating study on the increasing complexity of digital playgrounds, ludic media, ludic interfaces and technologies of the self. The book presents a variety of roles and identities such as: players, learners, gamblers, users, fans, role-players, theory crafters, cheaters, and digital savages." Prof. Dr. Mathias Fuchs, Leuphana University Lüneburg
"What a brilliant, refreshing, and positively playful approach to the ludic imperative. In stark opposition to the business world's cynical application of "gamification" to productivity or even the social do-gooders urger to make games "serious," these essays reveal and reify play as the essence of human experience. Herein lies access to the truth: the play is the thing. These are the smartest, most articulate, and up-to-date essays on this subject, by the very people creating this field of study" - Douglas Rushkoff, author, Present Shock, Program or Be Programmed, and Playing the Future.