Second Life Ruminations Week 2 addendum

My friend Dean who is also taking the class had a really interesting post that I wanted to ruminate on a little more… his post included the following paragraph

A couple of observations…co-presence or ambient awareness – the sense of being there and connected, is really evident when we’re in Second Life. I mean it literally seems we’re meeting face-to-face when we’re in class and meeting with our groups. I wonder if it’s because, subconsciously, we know that someone is controlling each avatar we see in class? It was funny when Mark, Cheryl and I met a few nights ago in Second Life. At the end of our meeting both Mark and I complemented Cheryl’s dress- her Second Life dress. It was a beautiful dress! The lines are getting blurred. Are we beginning to interact with avatars in Second Life or are they merely a window to the person behind the avatar? That would be an interesting study – to see who we begin to associate more with when we’re in a virtual world, avatars or the people who create and control them? In our minds, do we acknowledge a difference or are one in the same? Is Techtiki and Dean the same? Do people in class think that Techtiki and Dean are the same, think the same, act the same, etc.? I think the methods of communication impact our perceptions. I believe it’s easier to represent yourself differently if you only use local chat and IM. It’s harder to do so when you use audio. Not sure if I’m making sense, but I’d like to follow this train of thought throughout the class and see how I feel at the end. Stay tuned….

Link back to his blog here: http://abbahawaii.com/techtiki/

my response is below:

Hi Dean
I enjoyed reading what you wrote about the Blurred line in the virtual world and reality. I agree with you that there is a level of comfort and interaction that is happening now is that is surprising. I think you pose a particularly intriguing question about identity — in world and real world. It is one thing in Second Life when we are using this class with an instructor. In that case, we take an extension of our identity, but not really a new one.
I am quite certain that there is a large percentage of Second Life participants that “jump the fence” and take on a new identity — explore new ways of communicating, expressing, being. At one level I find this a little off putting, as interactions in Second Life ought to be the real thing. In this sense it is like going to a costume party, where people take on the identities of the characters they are dressed as. I guess I would think of this as a novelty, but I wouldn’t expect to come back to the party over and over again and interact with same fake identity each time. Maybe it’s the social nature in me, but I expect my interactions to be with the “real person”. But maybe that’s an indication of my age and my expectation or interaction.

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