The articles for this week explained how people react with virtual environments and virtual technology, how people use virtual communication, and what are the implications of these virtual communities. By covering these themes the articles worked together to fully explain the virtual communication system.
The Stone article was a good introduction to the other articles. It described technology as an extension of a person (a prosthesis). It also provided a brief history of the development of virtual communication and technology. She explores ones identity and role in the "virtual age". Identity also plays and important role in the Campbell article (his gay identity was very important to his research).
The article by Campbell focused on the idea of a virtual community using IRC's. He investigated a gay oriented chat room using participant observation. He examined the way in which people interacted within this type of environment. People communicate more openly in this type of setting because because there is no face to face interaction. I notice myself communicating more openly in programs like AIM, I think it is an easier way to communicate, though anti-social.
The Turkel article and the Dibble article had a lot in common. They had a negative opinion of the implications of virtual interactions. The Turkel article explains how people are losing touch with real life (RL). This happens in a number of ways: virtual experiences seem real (Disney Land Effect), the fake seems more compelling then the real (fake crocodile), and by participating in a virtual experience you feel like you have done more then you actually have. I have often refereed to an AIM conversation s "talking" to someone and I sometimes think my AIM conversations are better then real ones. All of these things are negative because they remove a person from reality. You can have a career in a virtual world, shop online, meet people in chat rooms, and even have sexual interactions. Chat rooms are replacing local bars and face to face communication. There should be a balance between virtual and real life communications. Virtual experiences should be used to help improve real life ones.
The Dibble article investigates a particular incident of a member of a virtual community who sexually abused other players with voodoo dolls. This presented a problem because the virtual is not real life. It is difficult to deal with a serious problem that have occurred in the virtual realms. It also showed just how seriously people take their virtual lives. Concerned members congregated in s forum to discuss virtual polices concerning violence (this reminded me of Friedman's utopian sphere).
As explored in the other articles people may use the virtual as a substitution for real life experiences. The author mentions how quickly she became engrossed by the LamdbMOO community and their unique situation (this happened in the Campbell article as well).
The Dibble and Turkell article seem like they are talking about how the separation between virtual and real life experiences is becoming blurred. In the Dibble article the people involved with the sexual assault scandal took the matter as if a rape had actually occurred. They were personally affected by the damage done to their virtual community. Turkell talked about how real life experiences are being replaced by virtual ones and distorting peoples view of reality.
While reading the articles I was constantly reminded of Second Life (which I figured out is a MOO (object oriented) from the Dibble article. Second Life is a large virtual community. Many of the themes mentioned in these articles apply to this game. It simulates social interaction in an artificial environment. The name suggests that it is an alternate life for the player. If one is unhappy with their life they can start a new one that they have much more control over. This brings me back to the Turkell article where she talks with young college graduates attempting to better their lives through the virtual world.
2 comments:
Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games, written by Edward Castronova, associate professor of telecommunications at Indiana University, as well as the other assigned readings emphasize the science and culture behind video games and massively multiplayer online worlds, a rapidly expanding segment of the entertainment industry. After reading Jenna Kline’s blog, in which she discusses the importance of people’s interaction with virtual environments, it is reminiscent of some of the major points brought forth by this week’s readings—immersion, communication, and play.
The Blending of the Real and Virtual in Massively Multiplayer Online Games
In Synthetic Worlds, Edward Castronova comprehensively analyzes the online game industry, exploring the ways cultures have been greatly affected—and in turn, have changed—with the advent of this technological medium. I agree with Julian Dibbell and Sherry Turkle, as well as your affirmation, that the separation between “virtual and real life experiences is becoming blurred.” For example, in Synthetic Worlds, Edward Castronova looks at some of these online “gamers,” briefly trying to contemplate the intention of these players, as they act out an entire new persona in these virtual environments. Are their avatars appearance and actions a virtual representation of themselves? Or, do these avatars represent an idealistic vision? In one instance, Castronova asserts: “as you became immersed in the synthetic world, there were moments worth pausing and reflecting over. The first occurred at the moment the avatar’s attributes felt like they were your own attributes (45).” With the support of Dibbell’s anthropological analyses, Castronova argues that as these environments become more realistic, more people will continue to flock to them, just as they have done in the past (71). With the addition of new technologies, which will continue to gain popularity in the coming years, such as voice video chat, the boundary will continue to shrink.
Immersion and Communication in the Virtual Sphere
Your mention of Stone’s allusion—technology as a prosthesis, an extension of the physical body—is important: identity is a particularly significant aspect of virtual reality. According to Thompson’s Science of Play article, game development companies, including Sony and Microsoft, spend millions of dollars per year on testing, trying to assure themselves that games are marketed toward the correct audience, games aren’t too difficult, and that there aren’t any software bugs that will hinder game play. One important, and quite interesting aspect of the article is that these company testing labs make sure that all types of people can identify with the game, and would be willing to play it, if they had to do so. For example, these testing lab managers would wonder if people—of all races, genders, and ages—can identify with the characters or situation.
Even so, it is important to note that, according to McKenzie Wark, in Gamer Theory 2.0., “the gamer achieves worth through victories of the character,” as one continues to be engrossed in a God-like game, such as The Sims, a symbolic, or allegorical representation, of the way or things we want to achieve in life. Similar to the Campbell article, which you mention, identity can take many forms, and as ‘players,’ we can perpetuate this identity, create a new one, or modify the old one. The computer—especially the World Wide Web—allows us to create a new persona, where a vast network of information and people who we never met before awaits us.
Overall, the topics mentioned in your blog strongly relate to the final theme in this class: computer gaming. It is true, as evinced by Castronova’s Synthetic Worlds as well as the other readings, that the line between real and the virtual is getting thinner and, as technology becomes more powerful, it is likely, just as Castronova predicts, that they will co-exist, becoming one. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future, as more people join these online games, and as personas continue to morph, as they try to reflect—or rebel—against that time’s societal norms.
Works Cited
Castronova, Edward. Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Wark, McKenzie. "Gamer Theory 2.0." 23 Apr 2007.
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