Identity and Technology
blog for UN1001
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- Assignment 1: Introduction to Self
- Assignment 2: Favorite Technology
- Assignment 3: Avatar Portfolio and Presentation
- Assignment 4: Perspective and Learning Analysis
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- Today’s Class (Friday, Dec. 12th)
- Questions for Wright reading: How does user created content influence learning from games?
- Questions for Wright reading: What are some of the drawbacks from learning from video games or certain types of video games?
- Questions for Wright reading: Do games offer problem solving? Provide an example of how a specific game offers or does not offer problem solving.
- Questions for Wright reading: Do games offer self-esteem? Provide an example of how a specific game offers or does not offer self-esteem.
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I really don’t think it is possible for use to keep those to identities from forming into a projective identity. Even in the most mindless of games such as hack and slash zombie games or first person shooters, we tend to control our character the way we would act, or the way we subconsciously would like to act in real life. We also have a deeper care for our virtual identities than we would if they were not connected to our real world identities. A perfect example of this was referenced in one of our other readings. The fact that we say “I died” when our character dies is proof that these two identities are not separate.
I don’t think that a person can keep their virtual and real world identites completely separate. After all, the virtual identity was created using some of your real world identities values, morals, looks, intelligence, and so on. So your virtual identity can never truly be separate, it has to be built off of something. But on the other hand, they are not completely alike either. Usually when a virtual identity is created, it is made to be slightly different. After all, in a virtual environment with a virtual you, you can basically do whatever you want, within the limits of the game of course. So you can play out your wildest dreams, to an extent as mentioned before. But there are still mental limits to playing out those dreams. Either way, your real world identity is going to have some say in what happens.
As the two other posters have commented here, it is entirely impossible to keep your real-world identity from influencing your virtual identity. You are making the appearance, behavioral, and naming choices, along with many other decisions, for your virtual identity. The virtual identity is some projection of your real life identity, even if you try to do the opposite of what you would in real life. There are still real-life reasons you chose those options, and this means that the real-life to virtual-life bridge is in place.
However, there is another argument to be addressed here. Does the virtual identity influence one’s real world identity? The answer to this question is much harder to come up with. The first impulse I have is to say that it must, as the real “you” is sitting in front of the computer (Xbox, Playstation, Wii…) instead of engaging in real-life interactions face-to-face. However, that isn’t necessarily the right answer, just my opinion.
I believe that it is impossible to keep the two worlds (virtual and real) from bleeding into each other to some extent. Certainly some people have strengthened that bridge much more than others (we Facebook users are generally much more immersed than our parents, many of whom only engage in reading news and checking e-mail). However, I believe that if you have any tie whatsoever to the virtual world, you have influenced that identity, and that identity has influenced you.
I don’t think it possible either. I mean you might what to be a completely different person in a gaming space, but if you want your morals to be different that affects your life as well.
It affects your life decisions because you decide to change your morals. It’s kind of confusing to explain. jbotalan said it pretty well, if you have any tie whatsoever to the virtual world, you have influenced that identity, and that identity has influenced you.
I agree completely with this statement.
There was an argument made that we can only keep our virtual and real world identities separate when we aren’t playing the game. When you are in the game you aren’t having those two “worlds” separate because you as in the real world you is operating the virtual world you. If you are not playing the game and you continuously talk about the game and about how you are in the game and that is all that you can talk about then, the game has consumed you and there is nothing there that is keeping the game and your real world self apart. People who think that the game is real, they talk about it as a real thing that has happened to them then it is never going to be a separate identity for that person.
So what I am getting at is that it really depends on the person, how the person takes the game and how they think that they game relates to their life that they are living right now.
I agree with most of the people above in that I don’t think that it is possible to keep your real life and virtual life separate because you are the one controling your virtual life. With that I mean that everything that you do in your virtual life is because of something in your real life whether you realize it or not. You may want to be someone else in real life so you make your character in your virtual life like what you wish you were really like, or something in your real life may have influenced you in some way that you need to have some sort of release and just forget everything for a while. I dont believe that it is possible to keep them totally separate.
I think that it depend on what you are talking about. When you talk about things like facebook and myspace, I think that both the virtual and real life are pretty much the same. I know that personally, I have a big difference when it comes to things such as online video games. I take on an entirely different personality. I do things that I would not do in real life. I think that there is a difference when it comes to things like videogames because people use this a means to be something they cannot be in real life.
I think it’s impossible for one to keep their virtual and real world identities 100% separate because your virtual world identity was made by your real world identity. Your real world identity is made from experiences and society. Your virtual identity is made by the identity you already have. And since that real world identity is based off experiences, it’s possible for events that happen on someone’s virtual world identity could change a person’s real world identity.