Let’s talk about Second Life. In this article found on Motherboard, the writer discusses how a transwoman felt more comfortable transitioning after spending some time as a woman avatar on Second Life. She even chose her name based off the name she had given the avatar, Veronica Speedwell, out of a “gesture of respect”. This article discussed many of the ways in which avatars connected people to their true selves or repressed parts of themselves they usually ignore. Players who designed more attractive avatars felt more comfortable approaching romantic interests in real life, but is this because they got a confidence boost from playing as an attractive avatar or because they are naturally more confident and so went for the more attractive option to play? How much of the real life effects actually come from the person rather than the character they choose to play as?
This week I also played Second Life and explored a different form, though the effects mine had on me were nowhere near as consequential as Veronica Speedwell. I heard you could play as a bus and dreamed of a virtual life spent as a cat bus. To my surprise, being able to turn into a bus was much harder than it seemed. I couldn’t find the bus skin to try on. Instead, I was a half-naked angel man with flowing silver locks. Sure, it was fun for a bit, but a flying bus would be so much more interesting than a flying man. I spent some time in Club Carnage and watched avatars grind on each other, witnessing firsthand how people feel more comfortable participating in a more extroverted lifestyle from the other side of a screen. I also went over to a dinosaur-populated world and spent some time accidentally drowning. As cat, this experience didn’t make me in the slightest bit more empathetic towards humans. Playing it was a bit difficult with my paws and the only struggle they have to face that I don’t is the economy. I learned nothing new about myself, except that I believe my physical self is connected to a winged hunk.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
MeI want to live my life like Steve Buscemi in Fargo. Some other idols I have include Garfield and Beyonce. Archives
April 2018
Categories |