I’m very new to online gaming, as the most recent computer game I’ve played was Rollercoaster Tycoon in seventh grade. I had no clue where to start but after seeing Dwight and Jim’s Second Life avatars on “The Office”, I decided to check out Second Life. After wasting ten minutes on finding an available name, I started to understand how much people could spend on this website crafting a perfect world for their avatars.
I decided to start my avatar with the “girl-next-door” look, which was a thin female with long brown hair, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. I wanted see the effect of changing certain features to make her “more attractive”. As my dirty blonde hair is rapidly turning brown, the minute I figured out how to change her hair color, I made her a blonde and I also put her in nicer clothing. However, after doing so, I didn’t feel a surge of new confidence as I tried interacting with other avatars. In fact, I found the whole thing a bit awkward as I was constantly trying to figure out how to maneuver in the new environments I transported myself to while simultaneously enhancing my appearance and attempting to talk to complete strangers online.
My encounter with the Second Life world was less consistent with the Proteus Effect than I had initially expected. According to Yee and Bailenson (2007), a person will conform to individual identity cues (his/her digital self-representation), independent from how others perceive them. A more attractive person would self-disclose more about themselves and tend to interact with attractive others. I thought that my anonymity mixed with my attempts to make my avatar more attractive would have provided an environment in which I felt completely comfortable in and that was conducive to self-disclosure. Yet, as a newbie to the gaming and chat room world, it’s perplexing how one can really think that avatars are that attractive in general. Additionally, I’m really not great at entering a chat room and making a connection with someone beyond learning their most basic information. While in the “Dance Island” location, I tended to interact with people not who I thought were attractive, but rather who presented themselves in a less eccentric fashion, which is similar to my preferences in FtF interactions. My lack of experience in Second Life and with avatar based computer games in general made me feel extremely distant from my digital-self representation and therefore disagreed with the Proteus Effect.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I found your post to be really interesting. I also did not really enjoy Second Life – I felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable. I found myself unable to do two things at once – such as figure out how to change my appearance or even move and keep up with a conversation. I think at first it is really difficult to get the hang of this new environment. I also felt that my anonymity affected how I interacted with others. Because my avatar was one of the generic ones for new players, I didn’t feel as if it represented who I was and was hesitant to approach or start conversations with others. Overall, I definitely agree with you that the lack of experience makes one feel distant from the avatar and the game.
I found myself distant from my avatar as well although I tried to fashion my avatar as close to my real physical appearance. It makes sense that changing your hair to follow stereotype did not affect your attitude. I also agree that trying to maneuver Second Life was challenging and distracted me from interacting with other characters.
Post a Comment