Can You See the Real Virtual Me

Can You See the Real Virtual Me An Exploration of Digital and Analog Identities in Second Life

” “ Virtual worlds construct places and involve multiple people, it is perhaps not surprising to customs and cultures emerge that are built around cultural places. – Snowdon, Churchil and Munro in Collaborative Virtual Environments

” “ Virtual communities are social aggregations that emerge from the net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace. – Howard Rheingold

” “ As much as the synthetic space had come to feel the Earth now appears somewhat unreal. I’m arguing that , but that their cultural differences are so great as to impose a truly mind-altering culture shock . – E. Castranova both are real real,

Why?

Why? User created Increasing cultural involvement Digital = culture We are media Economy Deserve our attention Culture redefined

What is Second Life?

M ulti

U ser

V irtual

E nvironment

Not a Game No goal No missions No defined path

” “

while tick-tocking for her prims to rez on her avi, i worried if she was a greifer , grid hopper, or just wanted all my L$. then the sim

crashed and i went back to rl.

BSU Involvement in SL English 104 CMD

Not Alone

Identity Analog Identity Digital Identity

Identity in SL Name (Taxonomy narrative) Avatar (Visual narrative) Location (Geographical narrative) Actions and speech (Textual narrative)

The Story Center Exhibits Hundreds of visitors Museum/ Gallery

Identity Types Identity Slippage Identity Stability Identify Shift

Identity Slippage Role reversal When who you (digital) are and who you (analog) are don’t match. Slight change from analog identity Psycho-social moratorium

Second Life allows anyone to explore new places and experiences Many different situations in a safe environment”

I am who I am, digital or analog Replication of analog identity Never complete Always mediated Identity Stability Always mediated

I cou “ I could be perfect . I want to be me .”

Identity Shift Total change of Identity Identity conflict Hidden identities Identify Shift

Please come and visit Let me show you around