This post was the most frustrating for me thus far. Although I spend a large amount of time online every day, I have never ventured into a MUD/MOO or any kind of interactive-fantasy world. I first checked out Everquest, but having no interest in magic and dragons, I decided to explore Second Life
When I first logged in I had to pick a username, consisting of a first name (which could be anything I wanted), and last name (from a list which they provided). The first name I chose was already taken, and I ended up with Water Frog. I then chose my Avatar: City Chic.
Most of my time on Second Life was spent figuring out what to do. I stayed on Orientation Island for the entirety of my time. I saw many others there too but no one really talked to me, which I'm assuming is because we were all somewhat new to this world. I kept wondering if the people I was passing were students in Comm 245.
Finally, as I was nearing the end of my time in Second Life (due to my frustration and clueless-ness) I decided to chat with someone. I asked Herbert Doobie for help, who also admitted to be very new to the game. We talked for a few minutes and then Herbert asked if I knew how to add someone as a friend. I didn't, but was able to figure it out fairly quickly and then added him. As silly as it sounds, this made me feel good since I had originally asked him for help, and then ended up helping each other.
In their article, Yee and Bailenson refer to the Proteus Effect, which they describe as the way an "individual’s behavior conforms to their digital self-representation independent of how others perceive them." I did not find this to be true as I wandered through Second Life. The reason I didn't feel this was because I was so concerned with adapting to my surroundings, and learning how to drive a car and sit and fly, that I didn't have time to worry about what others were thinking of me. I was unattached to my avatar.
I definitely don't discredit Yee's findings, however. Second Life has (literally) opened up a new world of possibilities and I may go back and explore it some more.
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5 comments:
Gretchen,
Your post caught my attention right away because I definitely shared your same frustrations with this assignment. I don't use online games much so it took me a long time to figure it out. It is unfortunate that we both could not truly experience online gaming and its various aspects because of our difficulty in understanding how to work the game. I did enjoy, however, that you still managed to talk about Yee and Bailenson and their theories. It would be interesting to see your opinions of the gaming world in the future after you try and exlpore it more. Good job on the post!
I feel like your post very well reflects the general consesus among the student population that this was a frustrating assignment to undertake. You and many others reported that there was little evidence of the Proteus effect that could be found in just a few short hours (or even less) of MMO exploration. We were all caught in a bit of a grey area between the tightly quartered experimental conditions that Yee and Bailenson produced for their study, and the true behavior alterations that the Proteus Effect could be capable of among MMO players. Unfortunately, many of us were unable to discover much, if any, correlation between their behavior and the avatar they chose. I feel that our interactions were forced under the pretense of this assignment and thus, many of us acted not from the influence of our avatars but our scholarly endeavors.
Great post. I too found out that it took a long time to figure out what to do on Second Life. I didn't even know that you could add someone as a friend! Like you, I found that it was difficult to find people to talk to in the space. It was interesting that nobody initiated conversation with me, which was a very different experience from what happened in chat-rooms for earlier assignments.
One thing that you could have discussed more is what you avatar looked like and how you acted in the space. Perhaps you weren't consciously aware of how these two were related, but there may have been some underlying connection that could be interesting to explore.
Danielle
Great post Gretchen. I completely share in your frustrations. I felt completely clueless on Second Life. I think it's funny you were constantly wondering if everyone you passed was a COMM 245 student. It was definitely a possibility. I too experienced not being able to pick the name I wanted and I think it contributed to the deindividuation of my character. I did feel some of the Proteus Effect because my image as a new player (even after vainly attempting to change my avatar's body type and face) made me feel even more uncomfortable. I think it may be helpful for you to discuss more about how your avatar looked and whether you felt there were certain aspects of your avatar that may have elicited specific actions from you or from others. If you felt more attached to your avatar or been more invested in interacting with others on Second Life, do you think your opinion would change? Good job figuring out how to use everything though!
Hey Gretchen,
Your experience sounds similar to my initial frustration with the game. It seems if there was so much initial frustration and investment without much payback or gratification from the game, many people would be turned off of it and not continue. I find it surprising Second Life has such a huge following. It’s also interesting that there are some elements of social support in you experience in a collaborative virtual world. Do you think the presence of this helpful person who you could identify with would have encouraged you to continue with the game despite frustration (if it wasn’t a mandatory assignment)? You mentioned that you did not feel you were conforming to others’ expectations of your avatar. Do you think this would change if you spent an increasing amount of time in the world as many with problematic internet usage and compulsive playing do?
Great post,
Christina
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