Evolving Games - From Youth to Young Adult Safety in Gaming With Matt Soeth

About this episode

Larry speaks with Matthew Soeth about making multiplayer gaming safer and the benefits of gaming for youth.

This week, Larry speaks with longtime ConnectSafely partner Matthew Soeth, head of the nonprofit Thriving in Games group, about why online games matter and how to make multiplayer gaming safer and more fun. They discuss the social, cognitive, and teamwork benefits of gaming and esports, including opportunities for neurodivergent youth, and how design choices (like player matching and communication settings) can reduce friction and harassment while encouraging helping behaviors. Matt addresses toxicity, misogyny, moderation, and community self-regulation, and explains why research does not link violent games to offline violence, emphasizing attention to broader behavioral indicators and parent-child conversations. He shares practical parenting advice on setting limits, shared screen time, and staying engaged, and shares his podcast, Safety Is Redacted. 00:00 Welcome to Doing Tech Right 00:28 Meet Matthew Soes 01:58 Why Kids Love Games 03:06 Gaming Goes Mainstream 05:15 Skills and Esports Benefits 07:00 Toxicity and Game Design 10:48 Sportsmanship and Cheating 14:24 Violence and Ratings 18:22 Stereotypes and Overuse 20:58 Misogyny and Moderation 23:26 Parenting Tips for Gaming…

People in this episode

Host: Larry

Guest: Matthew Soeth

Topics covered

• gaming safety
• multiplayer gaming
• neurodivergent youth
• toxicity in games
• parenting in gaming
• esports benefits

Keywords

• gaming
• safety
• multiplayer
• toxicity
• parenting
• esports
• neurodivergent

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Thriving in Games, ConnectSafely

Books & works: Safety Is Redacted

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