Hello, I am anonymous

Julianne Miranda discussed Second Life with our class last week. The discussion was thought-provoking as we touched on identity and narrative. Is the way that people present themselves on Second Life the same as in the real world? If we tell stories about who we are in order to discover who we are, are the stories that we tell in the virtual world really us? are they a continuation of our awareness of existence? Are they who we want to be?



In short, this can get very philosophical very quickly.
“virtual community originates in and must return to the physical one” Miranda's points on the virtual and physical world is that they "inform each other." Even though these two lives may be very private, they somehow connect to who a person is (or pretends to be) in each life. The avatar that is created is perhaps the ideal self that someone wishes to portray. If this is the case and limitations are non-existent in the virtual world, what is keeping someone from being their ideal self in the real world?



Miranda's presentation even went on to describe the virtual merchandise that people find to be stimulating. The ability to purchase products online for online avatars may not appeal to people, well, like me. But if someone is making a living off of these products, it is obviously appealing to a good portion of users of SecondLife. I have to admit, it was intriguing to be on SecondLife; I could see where the addiction comes in. In fact, when I was younger I used SIMS on a regular basis. The idea of creating my own world was stimulating, and incorporating real interaction with other users of avatar makes it all the more interesting. I have to limit my criticism of SecondLife because being on for half an hour made me realize what people are getting themselves into. Generally, I think humans crave interaction, and when that interaction is done by meeting interesting people (or avatars) all over the world, people are going to continue to tune in.