Identity in the Context of Virtual Worlds

For this assignment I read the article 'Identity in a virtual world' which was achieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/06/07/virtual_identity/index.html?iref=allsearch then I read the article 'Neutralizing Identity: Exploring Language and Gender in a Virtual World' which was retrieved from http://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/content/neutralizing-identity both of these articles touched upon the role of identity in virtual worlds.

The article 'Identity in a virtual world' explored the idea that people use their avatars to become who they really are inside and their avatars are a better reflection of themselves. The avatar allows a type of anonymity which allows people to feel more comfortable being themselves. Although there is so much freedom in the virtual world this article also brings up the fact that social constructs are formed and the people in the virtual world tend to self-regulate.

The article 'Neutralizing Identity: Exploring Language and Gender in a Virtual World' proposed experiments where students could use second life to learn more about gender and language identities in the virtual world. Second life provided opportunities to meet other avatars and some may speak other languages and some may experiment with their genders. Students could go around and ask the other avatars by conducting interviews in the worlds that exist in second life. The article did propose some challenges that the students may face in the virtual worlds, such as not having quality interactions with others and some worlds and people on these servers have fetishes. 

During this course I entered many virtual worlds and I have had interactions with other avatars through Meshmoon and Second Life. I never have experimented with avatars and virtual worlds before this course. We recently conducted our own gender identity experiment where we experimented with some of the freedoms the virtual worlds offer for different gender, race, and language identities. Many of these points about identity in virtual worlds were brought up in the articles that we have read.

During my time experimenting with second life I found that it was difficult to know what language people speak or where they are from by just looking at their avatars. In the real world, you can usually make inferences about a person’s origin and language through visual cues. This meant that I had to actually interact with these people to understand their background and personality. I observed this type of different language identity while in Second Life where I met people that were from different countries. When I messaged different people, I was shocked to find out that they were from America and that they were not great English speakers. It was very shocking for me however it was a great experience; I even met a person from Russia who asked me for help practice their English.

I also noticed Social construct, social structures, and the self-regulation that occurs in virtual reality worlds such as Second Life. For instance, when I entered the world of Second life I received a great deal of criticisms for not fully embracing my avatar and using the editing features. I was also criticized from my unoriginal name. There were clearly social structure that Second Life upheld and I was unaware of them.

Many of the avatars in these worlds were concerned about the integrity of the virtual world. They would self- regulate themselves by creating rules in second life. The article 'Identity in a virtual world' pointed this out saying “We bring a lot of ourselves into the game space, the appropriate norms, what's considered proper and not proper” I personally experienced this when I was in Second Life. The people in these worlds were adamant about using dressing rooms to change; they had strict rules in place regarding avatar nudity in public places.

Although virtual reality worlds can give a person much freedom to explore themselves and the different virtual realms, the worlds also have many constructs that limit one to be completely free. In virtual reality, a person is given the opportunity to use their avatar and chats boxes to disguise their real gender, race, and dialect by creating a better or different version of themselves. However in the experiences that I have had, people are still restricted to the social norms and rules that carry over from the real world.

The following are some picture I took over the course of  this semester using avatars!