A recent article in the Wall Street Journal was discussing the "surprising power of synthetic identity." (WEEKEND JOURNAL; Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?
Alexandra Alter. Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Aug 10, 2007. p. W.1 - link: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1317807881&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=20179&RQT=309&VName=PQD). Some interesting statistics reported in the article: 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their rl friends... and 25% of the 30,000 surveyed said the emotional highlight of their past week occurred in the virtual realm. The link to the Stanford study should be attached. I find this fascinating and curious. Is it bad, good, neither, or both? Thoughts?
3 comments:
I can't say I would be part of that 40%. Most of my encounters in VWs have been rather empty. I don't think I've ever had an emotional highlight in a virtual realm. To me, interactions in VWs feel very detached, not being able to see or hear (in most cases) the actual person. So I can't see myself having any virtual friends that I prefer over real friends.
"To me, interactions in VWs feel very detached."
I completely agree. In fact, a conversation on AIM feels more personal than an avatar to avatar interaction. The only reason I can think of for people feeling more connected or "real" with virtual friends is the lack of inhibition in a virtual environment.
I can't say that I completely disagree with the OP or those commenting, but I will in the extent that while many VW interactions are empty, some are very much not.
My hubby plays Socom (or use to, it's been a while). The guys he played with became his friends, exchangnig numbers, discussing RL situations in world, etc. They were nice guys too. One of then specifically asked my hubby to give me the headset. I'd played a few times and the guys knew me fairly well. He asked to talk to me to ask my advice about a situation with his own wife.
In another VW situation, my husband and I both play Last Chaos - a neat MMORPG. We play because it's free, it's entertaining, and we can do it together, oh yeah, and it's free. We are both in a clan on this game, and the thing I've noticed is that we all know quite a bit about each other. They know that me and huby are married, that we have a 3 yr old son, that I study Anthrpology, that he is a manager of tire sales for Firestone. They know that I've been doing a project working with SL, are eager to hear the results, and that we live in FL. In addition, I know which other two in the clan are married. i know that 3 of the characters are actually the children of the married couple. I also know that when one is on, the others will not be because they all share one computer. I know that one of the other characters is just getting over a relationship with an ex who has been calling her lately, but she knows he's engaged to someone else. I know that one of the is 18, and doesn't quite get why women put up with men like his dad. I know that one of the other clan members is married to someone who HATES RPGs, so she plays Last Chaos while he plays Bejewled, or whatever else he wants to play. And finally, one of the clan members lives about an hour away, has just moved and doesn't know anyone. We're thinking of meeting him for dinner one night.
We are not best friends, but we have forged relationships with one another in a way that we can reach out to each other if we choose. Maybe the difference is that there is a time input needed to forge these relationships. Last Chaos gives you time to know people better as you fight monsters together, or work togther to find needed items. It requires interaction. It's only natural that while everyone sits around to heal after a fight that you would talk to one another. You also learn about people from thier BRBs - for instance, one of mine is often.. "BRB, Baby's up" but we are just as likely to be in a group and get the following... "BRB, wife needs help." "BRB, Mom's calling." "BRB, gotta take dog out." "Brb, laundry needs to be switched." "brb kid agro - they must need dinner." "brb, gotta smoke." "brb, gotta start dinner for the herd." etc. You learn about people this way, but it does take time.
In SL, what I've found is that (especially) for us, we've spent quite a bit of our SL building houses, and doing things solitarily. We have not invested time into meeting people and forging relationships (just like in RL, you must put that time in place). Some of us have, of course, but those are probably not the ones making statements about empty relationships. It all depends on what you put into it. Give time and effort to a VW to meet people and create relationships with them, and you will probably have a different expereince.
Also - is he cheating? In SL, one of our group's participants invited me to go to a sex club to "try out a few moves," I went and looked around, then told them I had to go. Why? Well, it would have been neat to see the animations, but what it came down to was that my avatar was a digital representation of me, and I'm a married woman - therefore, so is she. It's up to the couple. There are many, many online relationships that MIRL, Cyberbullying is a real threat to many school children (they committ suicide over it), and there are people that do become so absorbed in a VE, that they stop living thier own lives.
Do I prefer to hand out with my "peeps?" Yes, always, but I also enjoy meeting people and learning about them. VE allow me to do that with people that I don't live near.
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