The Wall Street Journal Online article "Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?" is a feature of one man's virtual marriage and its toll on his real marriage; his example tests the impact of virtual identity on real, face to face relationships.
53-year old Ric Hoogestraat is one of eight million "residents" of Second Life, an online virtual fantasy world where people find jobs , attend concerts, date, and even build their own "homes". It is here where he met his online "wife," a slim, redheaded avatar named Tenaj Jackalope, controlled by a 38-year old Canadian woman, Janet Spielman. As unnatural (or natural to some) as it may seem, their virtual relationship resembles that of real-world relationships: they own two dogs, spend hours shopping together, and even pay a mortgage together. To make it even more "real," a marriage ceremony took place; thirty of their avatar friends attended the "ceremony."
However, the wife whom he is legally married to, 58-year old Sue Hoogestraat, is extremely concerned about Mr. Hoogestraat's online marriage and his dependency on this "second life." He assures her that it is only a game, but Mrs. Hoogestraat begs to differ. Since February of this year, Mr. Hoogestraat has been spending six hours a night and fourteen hour stretches on weekends as Dutch Hoorenbeek in Second Life, his six-foot-nine, muscular cyber-self. On Second Life, he is a successful entrepreneur and the owner of a mall, a private beach club, a dance club and a strip club, and his net worth is about $1.5 million of the virtual world's currency, the linden, which can be earned or purchased at a rate of about 250 lindens per U.S. dollar.
Analyze it in terms of 1. Deception and 2. Relationship factors
How did they play a role?
Was there something from our discussion that was missing?
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