I was pretty excited for this assignment. I’d never interacted with others on Second Life. I thought about what kind of avatar I wanted to use and decided to be short, rotund female with short hair and casual clothing. I wanted to see how people would treat me online Second Life, and how that would affect my own behavior. I found that this character made me feel awkward, perhaps because I created it knowing it was an “unattractive” avatar. With this knowledge, I was hesitant to ask for help from other avatars, even though I clearly needed it. After reading about online self presentation, I felt especially hesitant to talk to characters which were clearly opposite of my presented image. I felt detached from those avatars who were obviously attractive and interacting with others. Instead, I choose to ask the more plain avatars for help and to interact with. While these characters answered my questions, they did not seem eager to stick around to get to know me more or offer any extra helpful information.
In order to test this out, I then changed avatars to a tall, slender female with long hair and trendy clothing. Just looking at this character made me feel more confident. I thought others would be more responsive and felt more comfortable approaching other characters. This time, I did not shy from the more social characters. Yee and Bailenson were correct that having a more outgoing character makes the entire virtual world experience more friendly and intimate, meaning there is a higher chance of forming online relationships. Other characters were more willing to hold longer conversations with me and invited me to other areas of Second Life.
Even when I was alone just walking around in more “attractive” character, I felt more confident. When I was exploring Second Life alone as a less “attractive” character, I felt more reserved and like an outsider. According to the proteus effect, this is normal because individuals behave according to beliefs about what others would think and not actual responses from others. None of these effects roll over to real life. As soon as I logged off, the feeling of self consciousness or confidence were gone.
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5 comments:
Hi you!
Great job! The way you ran your own “mini experiment” was a great take on the assignment, and when I first ventured in to the Second Life world, I too was going to change my avatar and its level of attractiveness to see how it would change my interaction. I, however, became too engrossed and interested in the world with my “attractive” avatar, and never got around to changing my appearance. Nonetheless, I am glad that I have the opportunity to read about the experience you had while undergoing this transformation, and it is really interesting how much level of attractiveness changes ones interaction.
I am curious as to whether or not you are going to play Second Life, or any type of virtual world games, again. Although I have already deleted the program from my computer, it is easy to see how online gaming such as this can lead to Problematic Internet Use, problematic behavior related to too much online time.
Overall, great post! I look forward to reading more!
Lauren
Great post! I liked how you experimented with a less attractive avatar first and witness how others treated you and how you behaved while being that character. Having a less attractive avatar decreases confidence levels, willingness to talk to others, and openness towards others. Feeling intimidation, nervousness, and anxiety in an online space surprised me too as I experienced the same feelings you did. I assumed because of my appearance, people didn’t want to talk with me due to preconceived ideas about who I was and what I was interested in. It’s interesting how second life isn’t too different than real life. People want to fit in and be a part of the “in crowd” and often times will change their behavior to achieve this. Being considered more attractive affects one’s confidence levels and ultimately how they interact with others. Having a positive attitude about your appearance and social life influences the friendliness of the “community environment”. Relationships are easier to form as conversations are more than just a hello here and there. I really enjoyed reading your post!
I really liked your post, it was an interesting take on the assignment. Most people seemed to make a very attractive character as opposed to an unattractive one. I like that you tested out both extremes and found the effects to be similar to the proteus effect. I kind of want to try this out myself!
"Even when I was alone just walking around in more 'attractive' character, I felt more confident."
This quote taken from your blog really fascinated me. The thought is valid, it's 100% valid. I wrote about this idea in my blog, you wrote about it in yours. The reason why it is only just striking me now with fascination is a perplexity.
Why, I am now asking, are the benefits associated with beauty so casually accepted? Why does this...phenomenon I suppose we could call it...continuously occur?
Beauty is a socially constructed concept and could be measured differently by various people. I find it incredibly interesting that the concept has found its way into video games. Video games, entertainment once sought when attempting to escape reality now reflects reality. In fact, beyond just relecting it, perhaps it now aids in creating it.
As you can see, your post really got me thinking! So clearly, great job!
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