After listening to a discussion in class last week about Second Life, I decided to try it out. Now, I am an avid facebook/ internet guru, but Second Life to me sounded very bizarre and much too time consuming. The thought of creating an avatar and actually putting myself into the very real virtual world, I started thinking about what my friends would think if i went ahead and joined the second life team. Once I got over the fact of what they would think, I decided to try it out.
When I got home from work, I couldn't procrastinate enough so I went ahead to check out what this second life is after all. From hearing Annie talking about it in class, I really was intrigued that people would rather live their avatar lives than that of their own. After a grueling installation process, I finally had downloaded the program. Once I entered the second life world, I was in a completely different place. Not only was I confused on what to do, I didn't know how to make an avatar. After reading the fine print, I figured out how to create who I wanted to be. I'm not going to lie, creating a new person was too much fun. I got to customize my character down to the size of the nose to the width of her hips. The only trouble I had was clothing her, so my character went out into the world of second life, semi naked on my behalf.
Once I finished customizing my avatar Zoey, I took a stroll in second life world. I could walk in all directions, run into other avatars and even fly. Flying was pretty cool, although I didn't understand the purpose. I used my chat box to get help from other avatars to tell me what exactly I was supposed to do. I didn't understand the purpose of this so called second life. After initiating a conversation with a male avatar, I told him that I was new here and looking for something to do. After he repeated second life jargon to me, I decided to move on to a different friend. Once I went around the town I was in, I got bored. Still didn't figure out the point or what exactly I was doing here. So I said my good byes and left second life.
Not only did this program slow down my computer and take up a ridiculous amount of space, It made me someone who I was not. Well, in fact I made me someone I was not. It was amazing to see how much time I spent on customizing my character to be someone I wasn't in real life. When conversing with other second life avatars, it was hard to tell if there was any truth to our conversations. I know I made everything up that I said, because I didn't want to give out personal information, and for that matter have someone find out that I was actually on second life.
Programs like second life, and other virtual reality online programs makes interpersonal relations almost exstint. With everything handed to us on the internet, We don't even have to leave our beds to meet someone new. Now, we can find friends, lovers , even animals online at the convience of a click of a mouse. It is ruining our abilities to interact face to face. It is one thing to chat online, you don't have to look them in the eye, you can think for a long time what you are going to say, and you can even get embarrassed without showing the pink flush in your cheeks. I think meeting people online is a fine thing to do, especially for those who are more shy, awkward or even have disabilities that prevent them from being about to socially interact. But, what are we learning from this? There is a huge difference between chatting online and chatting face to face. There are emotions, mannuerisms, and gestures that you get from interacting face to face. When you're online, you lose that ability to use your emotions as words. Things get misconstrued often online, and problems arise.
After I left second life, I decided to uninstall the program, because honestly I would never go on it again. It was a good experience, and I'm glad I saw what all the hype was about, but it definitely was not for me. I can totally see why people join it though, everyone one the site was very friendly and welcoming. There was no judging like there is in the real world, at least I didn't see any. Users lose themselves in this virtual reality until it becomes hard for them to distinguish between the two. The internet is a very powerful and influencial system, and through it many opportunites arise. I just don't want to see the internet take over our society and until we actually become robots and reliant on technology.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I still haven't tried Second Life, but I think I eventually will... It seems to me that it is like an evolution of a chat room. We started with straight up text based formats, like lambdaMOO (mentioned in the A Rape in Cyberspace reading), moved on to chat rooms that had color, and eventually graphics...then on to more detailed message boards and forums, with little pictures for your avatar. After that, the only thing left would be to have a full bodied avatar that looks like you (or doesn't) that you can customize however you like, so you get a more personal feel when you are chatting with people. It does seem arbitrary to me though to make a game out of talking to someone... Personally, I stick to MSN messenger, or iChat. If just the text isn't enough, you can have a video chat.
ReplyDeleteThe only drawback to that, is that you have to know the people before hand, you can't meet "new" people on an instant messenger. Forums and message boards are a simple way to talk with like minded people, and possibly meet new people...
I have built some friendships with people from all over the country through a sneaker group that is pretty much a message board, on myspace - currently the only reason I use myspace anymore. I have made some great trades, and purchases with these people and when I travel near where they live, we hang out and they show me where their sneaker spots are. If a deal comes up, or something new is coming out, we let each other know. It all comes from a mutual respect for a fellow sneakerhead. It may sound weird, but its true.
It is kind of hard to find people who are into the same things you are, that have the same passion/outlook. Using things like chat rooms, message boards, second life, etc. help you find them and bridge those divides. It is another way of networking and connecting with fellow human beings. Sure, there are people you can talk to around town about your interests, but it will take a lot longer to find them unless you happen to luck out.
I think I may have ranted a bit, but I hope this applies :)
I have always thought about making a second life too because I heard about it and it sounded interesting but I thought the same thing about what people would think if I had a Second Life account haha. I still have never made one, but wondered what it is like, maybe one day I will try it out. I agree with you on most of your points--especially how it is changing our ability to interact face to face. I feel like people are only comfortable when they are communicating over text, IM, email, etc. and when they get face to face with someone they become awkward. Even if they aren't an awkward person, I feel like it has made people become awkward. It's strange. Programs like second life are taking online social interaction to a whole new level. I don't know how beneficial it is. It seems like it generally only makes the person's real life worse, or hurts them in their socializing. I do think that things like this can be great for disabled people though. They can communicate with people easier and have a "life". However, for others I don't feel like it is something that they need. If people do have it, I would assume they probably spend a good amount of time on it. When I used to have the game Sims I would be on it for hours without realizing how much time I had spent. I'm sure it is very similar. If people spent the same amount of time trying to improve their real life rather than create a fake life, then I think people would be a lot happier and it would solve some of the social problems that Second Life creates for them.
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually experienced the whole Second Life gig but I can imagine how it would be. I have played other games and made avatars but it seems to me from reading your blog that Second Life is a little more intense. From how it sounded in your blog it seems to me that second life in general is like trying to have a personal relationship on the web but not really. Personal Relationship's should be based on one being yourself and being able to talk to anybody. I mean I'm not saying at one time I wasn't shy but people that have problems with social skills I can totally see turning to this maybe as a tool to help them. I might try this the other avatars I've made on games back when I was young were just characters on sports games never really anything big, never really got into the Sim's but at times I wonder what it would be like to be some one else for a day. I think if everyone could take that chance they would.On the other hand I think that in a perfect world everyone would be happy and content with who they are, but with all of these creations made by new media there is a clear picture sign that people are not. If people spent there time on this stuff for help I think it would be a good thing but some people just get addicted to this stuff so much. One of my friends plays WOW all the time and I swear he just doesn't leave the computer, but truthfully is it for fun or to be someone else? I honestly don't know he hides out for hours on end and won't answer his phone because he plays it so much. I think that being an avatar if your in it to be someone else is artificial. I think that people need to get up and get out its not that hard to socialize with other people.
ReplyDelete