Halloween costume parties have always been popular with adults and teenagers because they provide a fun opportunity for them to act out their alter egos. Today, masquerade parties are giving way to sophisticated online worlds, where people create alter egos through "avatars," virtual characters you present to others.
The more I hear about the growing popularity of virtual worlds like Second Life, the more I wonder about the psychology behind anyone's desire to use an avatar to create a new identity. On the surface, I understand the attraction of living in a virtual world. Old people become young. A person's insecurity is replaced with confidence. A man who wonders what it's like to be a woman can get away with his secret fantasy in a three-dimensional, interactive world on the Internet.
But does masquerading as an avatar in a computer-generated, virtual environment do more harm than good? Avatars may be a fun way to explore your identity in imaginary scenarios, but they could expose your vulnerabilities or allow you to develop a false sense of security about your fears and expectations in real life. I know, all of this sounds like I should "get a life."
Whatever is behind the popularity of virtual worlds, it's sure to entice more businesses to follow the lead of IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Linden Lab -- the creator of the popular virtual world Second Life -- and become more involved in virtual worlds. At the same time, we're bound to see more case studies and research about the psychological affects of living as an avatar. In the long run, I have a feeling that once these virtual masks are removed, what we see behind them may not be a pretty sight.
We can't possibly ignore the blatantly obvious fact that people with avatars are trying to create an alternate persona -- perhaps to make up for the areas of their own life in which they have failed according to their own standards. This seems so obvious to me. If I were a psychologist I'd jump all over this. Maybe I'll become a psychologist avatar and try to help all of the sad, sad weirdos lurking around in virtual environments. But then who is going to help me when, at the end of the day, I turn off my computer and, in turn, hand in my PhD? We are headed in a really weird direction if this continues to evolve and catch on. This alternate persona thing is nothing new. We've seen it in real life with cross dressers. We dress up for Halloween. And now NYC even has its own band of "real-life superheroes." It's just much easier to allow your other self to come out when you're hiding behind your computer. For many people, it seems second life is like a second chance to be something they aren't in real life. If you look at it as a fun and interesting virtual platform for learning and evolving online, then it all seems just fine. La-dee-da. But a deeper dig into what lurks behind the avatars could get pretty disturbing.
Is the Avatar , on properties such as Second Life, like the second email account most us have ?
A nameless account which is used to sign up for newsletters, get information from company websites etc. All to ensure that one does not get unwanted email or unnecessary follow ups. Perhaps, Avatar is an alternative identity that secures the real world identity from prying eyes, unwanted info etc .
Alternatively it could be an identity , as the post implies, which has all that is missing in the real world person. It may have some benefits for the individual but i eventually foresee greater personality distortions in the real world identity. Perhaps a study on Second Life Avatars and their Real Life personas may be in order.
Having said that, I have been curious about relating Second Life to the Real Life example. Is Second Life an alternate way of existing or is it a new way of representing products and services to customers.
I have tended to view Second Life more as a digital mall which is seemingly bigger than the Real Life malls that one goes too. So one goes there for a bit of entertainmment, window shopping for some and some business for others. Maybe if they are "Malls" , there could be speciality malls or even business to business malls.
Finally , just a quick question, how many of us in the corporate world have an Avatar on Second Life ? I don't . My guess is that the numbers may be far less than the optimism . It simply is a question of the "have and have nots". Look at the average corporate machine configurations that are shipping today and then compare then with the system requirements of Second Life. Add the element of speed bottlenecks on corporate networks to the Avatar of Second Life.
The visualisation that comes to mind is an Avatar desperately short of energy and gasping for breath. That is for now. The future will unfold shortly.
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