I have never conversed in a chat room before, but I’m sure a chat room conversation would not be far from my expectations, so I decided to move way outside my comfort zone and join the meta-world, Second Life. I was instructed to choose a first name (which was an open form field) and a last name (from a drop down list). I was sent to Orientation Island, along with a few other newbies that had just joined the game as well. As I entered the immersive 3d world of Second Life, my identity was instantly switched from “Alon Sharbani” to “Sher Burger”. Instead of appearing as a 5’10” guy with black hair and a medium build (my true self), I was represented by the avatar I chose, who has blond hair and seems to be about 6’4”. It took me a little time to gain basic control of my body, but eventually I got the hang of it and was able to carry out a conversation with a few people. The conversations were text based, and resembled instant messages, but were accompanied by a full 3d view in the background. (see image).The first person I tried to talk to was completely naked, and thus looked like almost everyone else on Orientation Island. When I approached her and started a conversation she responded to me very abruptly and inconsistently, indicative of an unconscientious and cold personality. She soon left the scene by teleporting to, I assume, another island.
I then walked into this fellow named tylerkordalis Ultsch who was a very well dressed. He was wearing a suave black suit and nice shoes. He was certainly the odd one out on Orientation Island. He informed me that he had spent over 30 hours on Second Life. He was in the process of upgrading his avatar’s features. He has two girlfriends, both of which do not know the other exists. He even offered to find me a girl. He seemed very conscientious in that he was very proud that he had two “very hot” girlfriends. He even remembered and disclosed how many hours it took him to get each girl, one took three hours, and the other took five hours. He responded to all of my questions in much detail as well, indicative of intense extroversion. However, this detail did not have breadth but was focused. From our first conversation I do not think tylerkordalis is particularly neurotic, open, or agreeable. A second conversation would be necessary to verify the intensity of that impression. He seemed to be in a very comfortable and relaxed state and all in all, he played the part of his suave avatar.
My impression was in line with the hyperpersonal model. I probably over-attributed certain traits, especially conscientiousness, because the person’s avatar (visual appearance) augmented and bolstered my text-based impression that he was conscientious. I also think that selective self-presentation played a huge role in impression formation tylerkordalis didn’t talk about any of his problems, only the “great” things that he has done in Second Life. I also doubt someone that takes pride in having 2 virtual girlfriends looks much like tylerkordalis’ avatar. Nonetheless, his appearance was unmistakably specific and convincing at some level.
*A note on the bottom of my screen reads "Second Life is now fully voice enabled." If I attempted to carry out the conversations with a microfone and speakers, the outcome would have been closer to that of an FtF impression, because I would have been able to judge voice inflexions and the conversation would have greater bandwidth, more cues, and therefore more social presence. Though gestures are a possibility on Second Life, unfortunately none of the people I talked to bothered to use them.
6 comments:
This post is incredibly interesting, I'm almost tempted to investigate Second Life myself.
I'm intrigued by the fact that you applied tylerkordalis' avatar to his persona. Do you think his appearance allowed him to express an air of authority on the island, since he was dressed so vastly different from everyone else? I also wonder whether or not speaking via microphone would have changed your perception of tylerkordalis. For instance, would you imagine the voice coming from someone dressed like his avatar, or would the voice cause you to disassociate his avatar's physicality from his real-world appearance?
While tylerkordalis' avatar clearly added a great deal to your impression of him, I wonder if you would have developed a similar impression by chatting via instant messenger where the avatar would not be present. I'd imagine your impression would either have been completely different or at the very least not quite as strong.
Alon, I enjoyed reading your post because I found the experience you shared while exploring Second life was very interesting. Like you expressed I also was outside my comfort zone when entering into my online conversation, because it was my first time. I did not use an avatar in my assignment, but I still believe that I gained the impressions I formed by way of the Hyperpersonal Model. Selective self presentation was a contributing element as to how I formed those initial impressions as well. Your interactions with an avatar must have been helpful in learning more about those you conversed with, because the only cues I had were either verbal or iconic.
If you would have engaged in the voice option you mentioned was available, perhaps you would have developed fewer impressions through the Hyperpersonal Model. This is because you most likely would have reallocated many of your cognitive resources to focusing on the additional instrumentation of the voice option.
I loved this post. I was tempted to try out Second Life for this assignment, and I'm glad that someone else actually did.
I'm sure that selective self-presentation played a huge role in Tyler's online persona. I wonder if he honestly thought he was impressing you when he told you how he amassed two "very hot" girlfriends. This is an interesting case - his persona seems so unlikely and that it becomes natural to form an impression of him that is virtually the opposite of the one he is trying to present. Like you said, it was very easy to doubt that his avatar misrepresented his true appearance. It's easy to form a stereotype of the type of person that might play Second Life enough to have two in-game girlfriends, and it seems like that stereotype molded your impression of him more than how he presented himself.
I've heard a lot about Second Life and it was cool to read about your experience.
I thought it was a bit ironic that tylerkordalis came off as extroverted online, when in reality, he had just admitted to you that he had spent 30 hours on Second Life. It doesn't really seem like tylerkordalis is trully extroverted in real life, or that he has much of a real life at all!
This goes along with how people have the ability to present their ideal selves online.
So after this experience, would you use Second Life again?
I'm going to jump on the bandwagon here and agree that your investigation into Second Life is very interesting and, at least in my opinion, original and daring. In a cyber world (literally! the game goes beyond the gaming category to create a mock reflection of the real world), a person’s avatar is essentially the image the player wishes to project to the world. The only time I have gone on Second Life was years ago when I joined some friends in an attempt to vandalize a cyber-property – it was no more than a gimmick event and I created a humorously hideous avatar to enhance the effect. Those who take the game more seriously, such as Tylerkordalis, would no doubt create more attractive personae.
Tylerkordalis shares the majority of the players’ desire to express themselves openly, and regardless of his actual physical self (who knows, he could very well be a morbidly obese man living in a trailer stealing his neighbor’s wireless), he assumes the identity of a suave “player” when he logs on to Second Life. This definitely supports the hyperpersonal model as the players basically use a very particular self-presentation to bolster their avatars’ image, and in turn the community provides feedback to further augment the intensity of their experience. In your example, tylerkordalis plays up this character with a relaxed and extroverted personality that apparently was convincing enough to net him two “very hot” girlfriends (who may or may not be very obese men livin-- you get the point).
Excellent choice for an online psychological space! I am very interested in this online space, since it combines synchronous text chat with a greater ability to customize one's avatar's appearance. I am wondering if you were able to determine how involved tylerkordalis Ultsch was in the world of Second Life: the more detailed and customized his facial features and clothing were, the more likely he was to have spent Linden Dollars (paid for by real cash!). I find it hard to pay for something so unpalpable as virtual clothing/accessories for an online avatar; it would be an interesting follow-up if you interviewed a paying contributor to the Second Life economy, ideally someone who bought or produced many virtual goods.
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