assignment 10

I am anything but internet savvy. I despise reading the newspaper online, and require a print version of the New York Times every morning; I never go on aim; I check facebook about once a day. So when I was given the prompt to play a computer-based multi-player video game, I was lost.

I had recalled seeing a link on the website cwtv.com, which I visit on a weekly basis to watch the guilty pleasure, “Gossip Girl”, for a virtual “Upper East Side”. I went to the site and pleasantly discovered that this link was for Second Life, and decided that this would be the perfect medium to complete this assignment.

After downloading the Second Life application, I apprehensively entered the virtual “Manhattan” world, which attempts to mirror the real-world environment in which I grew up. I was quite amused by the digital renditions of the Bethesda Fountain and the Palace Hotel.

My lack of internet skills became immediately apparent with my struggles to navigate my avatar around the virtual world. I began testing my abilities by “shouting” and making unprovoked gestures to passerby’s. I felt totally uninhibited, due to the anonymity of the avatar. When I grew tired of leaping and flying around “Manhattan”, I decided to remake my revise the physical appearance of my avatar.

I decided to be original and not create an avatar that was six feet tall, blonde, and thin. Instead, I created a character that was slightly overweight, with dyed yellow hair and clothed in an unflattering outfit. At first I did this because I had the preconceived belief that regardless of what my avatar looked like, it would behave in the virtual world similar to how I interact in real life. How could a computer animate image affect how I interact?

However, upon entering the Second Life realm, I proved myself wrong. I immediately felt like an outsider when I noticed that the other users in the game were all engaged in conversation. Though I tried to participate, I found that I had little to offer to the conversation due to the fact that I was so unfamiliar with the game and its overall purpose. I further felt isolated due to the rather unfortunate physical appearance I created for myself. All of the other avatars I can into contact with were tall, thin, and wearing sexually provocative clothing. I stood out from the crowd, and found myself increasingly frustrated with the online space.

Upon reflection it is clear that my experience in the “Gossip Girl” virtual world is in line with Yee & Bailenson’s hypotheses. The Proteus Effect accurately explains why I felt as distanced as I did in the virtual world. The Proteus Effect states that an individual’s behavior conforms to their digital self-presentation, independent of how others perceive them. In other words, regardless of how others actually do perceive you in an online space, your behavior is affected by your own perception of your digital self-presentation. In my own case, I felt self-conscious occupying the digital body of a borderline obese avatar whose physical appearance was most drastically different than that of the other avatars. The confirmation of the Proteus Effect emphasized how significant the removal of gating features is as a relationship facilitation factor in other online spaces. While in other online spaces, such as chat rooms and aim, gating features such as physical attractiveness are not apparent, in Second Life they are. According to Yee & Bailenson, the avatar itself is the primary identity cue in online environments, which therefore explains why I felt so constricted by my avatar’s physical appearance.

Though I think I can safely say that my experience in Second Life will be my last, it was definitely worthwhile to take a peek into the virtual world that has consumed so many individuals in recent years.

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