Thursday, January 13, 2011
Virtual reality discussions
Hi, all. This is Lindsay. I’m the American one. I have a question for anyone that’s familiar with the game Second Life; it came up in tutorial on Thursday. I wonder about the discourse of the online community when people initiate those virtual interactions. For me, as a public relations and mass communication student, one of the most interesting things about online communication is how the web alters conversations. To a degree, I’m biased, because much of the online content that I read is political, which tends to engender confrontation/shrillness/general hatred. American politics, if you all don’t follow it closely, really lends itself to that sort of thing. I do think, though, as a more general trend, that people online are more apt to act in ways that they would not were they in a face-to-face conversation. Certainly, that goes for people in vicious political flame wars. But for those of you with experience in virtual interaction games that involve conversation, do you think people behave pretty much like they would in real life? Or are many people putting on an act? Or do you have no clue/never thought about it/don’t want to think about it?
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I think there's a wider context for online discussion going nasty, which is explored here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/3/19/
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if people behave has they would in real life. Some people do, and it's hard to predict who will do what. On the other hand, it doesn't have to political to become a flamewar: the pros and cons of different console ownership, which game line is better, or how best to play an elf can all lead to shouting and noise.
- Kevin.