I was thinking the other day about the ability of VWE's like SL to expand our cultural awareness by providing opportunities we would most likely never take in the real world. Yesterday, I had some Linden in my virtual pocket and decided to go shopping for a leather jacket. So I opened up the search window, typed in leather jacket, and teleported to the first location that came up...
I found myself in a place that (no offense) I would never have visited in real life, most likely for fear of my life. It appeared to be in a "rough" part of town, and the combination of a large number of chains, hells angel's types, and goth dress made me feel decidedly uncomfortable. I doubt I would have gone forward in real life, but being pretty sure that I couldn't get damaged (my avatar, that is), I began to walk around the store and look at the merchandise. Although I didn't find anything to fit my tastes (I'm not a fan of the long leather jackets worn in the Matrix movies) I did observe an individual that looked like a vampire and another one that appeared about 4 foot tall, and was some sort of copy of something out of a mythical netherworld.
I admit, I didn't want to talk to them. But my curiosity got the best of me and I discovered that they were not as scary as they looked, were rather friendly, and I got invited to a few parties too. I'm wondering now whether if I had an avatar that looked like theirs, would I have felt more comfortable interacting with them? Or would I have been equally socially awkward? Do my real life physical, emotional, psychological characteristics have more to do with who and how I socially interact with in SL, or is it my avatar's physical, emotional, psychological characteristics?
2 comments:
I was glad to read this comment because, from reading other comments about business and the like, it seems like others are grappling with complex things, while I am struggling mightily with the most basic of questions. And yet I often find the simplest questions are the hardest to answer well, so I'd be interested to hear how the "SL veterans" in the class have solved these problems.
In particular I have been baffled about questions of identity like those in this post. Even a basic question like "how do I refer to my avatar" has been a problem for me. Do I say "I flew over to Gator Island" or "He flew over to Gator Island"? What if my avatar is a female?
Should I respond in situations as I would respond, or as Jameson would respond? And what's the difference?
Most things we do are performance, but since we are (mostly) tethered in "RL" to our body and history - so we don't often come up against our own identity as a separate construction.
I keep think of the short reflection by the author Jorge Luis Borges entitled "Borges and I" - highly recommended for anyone in this class if you've never read it.
Anyway, I was wondering how others in the class have been referring to their avatars.
I'll be interested in what Keith has to say about the identity thing, since he has a theater background.
I've worn uniforms for most of my professional life, and starting about ten years ago I began Civil War reenacting. The common thread with these experiences and Second Life is that you are assuming roles and are "on stage" whether you are in the public eye or not. You put on the appearance, and you join the culture (along with subcultures), and attempt to achieve recognition as a good player under the written and unwritten rules.
Trooper Brown, the Civil War Cavalryman, and Officer Brown, the modern police officer, showed a specific "face" to the public and interacted with them in ways constrained by the uniform they had elected to wear. The public also responded to the uniform before they responded to the individual.
Second life will be about similiar choices. Do you want your public face to be cutting edge or conservative? Furry or Human? Biological or Robotic? Have fun deciding, and change it later!
Doug
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