How Connecting and Learning Online Saved My Life in 2020 - Affinity Groups

My Animal Crossing Tattoo by @betzylootattoos on Instagram from February 2022.

In 2020, something crazy happened. I know what you’re thinking: that Covid thing. However, something fundamental happened on March 20, 2020: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) came out on the Nintendo Switch.

As someone who had played Animal Crossing throughout my childhood, I was beyond excited. The world was still open at this time, but a few weeks after it came out the world closed from the pandemic. I was still working as a resident assistant for students who had nowhere to go and I convinced my boss to buy a copy of ACNH for the department. In May 2020, the school year ended, I ‘graduated’ (no graduation), and I finally went home to stay with family. As a graduation present, I was gifted my own beautiful Nintendo Switch and a copy of the game. 

On the flip side, I felt like everything I had been planning during my college years had crumbled, and it was hard to not take the fear of the unknown personally. I was depressed. I was away from my immediate family and isolated. I was unemployed. During this time I started going online to watch other people play Animal Crossing and this opened up an entire community to me. 

I spent most of my time on YouTube, Facebook, Discord, Reddit, and Nookazon, immersing myself in the world of Animal Crossing. Watching tutorials on how other players decorated their islands and achieved milestones in the game became a daily ritual. Additionally, I joined various online groups to connect with fellow players, exchanging tips and items to enhance our gaming experiences. To this day, I've logged over 910 hours of gameplay in ACNH.

Not only was I meeting people who liked the same things I did, I was learning. I learned skills in the game but I also learned that I wasn’t alone and that many people felt the same way I did. I learned how others coped and I learned to ask for help. Affinity Spaces became so important to me.

Affinity Spaces, or ‘loosely organized social and cultural settings in which the work of teaching tends to be shared by many people, in many locations, who are connected by a shared interest or passion’ (Gee, 2018) are powerful and needed. When it comes to the weaknesses of affinity spaces, I would argue negative influences and mentors in these groups could be detrimental to the learning process of vulnerable students. Information learned may not always be correct or reliable. 

As I reflect on the events of 2020, filled with personal battles and global uncertainty, one unexpected hero emerged: the Animal Crossing: New Horizons community. As the world shut down, it played a vital role in my sanity, motivation, and learning. In these Affinity Spaces, I learned invaluable lessons—not just about gameplay, but about resilience, coping mechanisms, and the power of connection. As we navigate these spaces, it's essential to tread carefully, mindful of possible misinformation. 

References

Gee, J. P. (2018). Affinity spaces: Where young people live, learn, and play. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(1), 25-30. Retrieved from https://kappanonline.org/gee-affinity-spaces-young-people-live-learn-online-school/