Masculinity

Expanded constructions of masculinity in these spaces can lead men “naturally, to uncertainty and even anxiety, but eventually to a greater level of self-awareness and personal freedom.” (78)

I think this quote hits it dead on when it refers to the creation of an avatar, especially a male one, in Second Life.  For my experience, I created a male avatar, and I wanted one that shared some similar traits with my own self.  While being limited in the beginning, down the road we were able to customize our avatar to better suit our interests.  But I think I was worried when the process was complete because despite my customization, I really did not like the look of my avatar, in the same way that somebody might be unhappy with the way their own physical body looked.  Anxiety was definetly there, because if I wanted to interact with the world, I would have thought that my avatar would have to be appealing to others in order to interact with it.   But as I interacted more in the world, I realized that those things were not important.  People did not care about those things in the virtual world of Second Life, as opposed to the real world.   It certainly lifted a weight off my shoulders, and in a way, masculinity as defined above could be described as seeing what is right with your own self, as opposed to what you’re lacking-whether it be your real self or your virtual avatar.

Avatar

As we move into a new age where we are finding new ways of exressing ourselves and sharing information, we are in the beginning stages of creating that digital environment we desperately desire.  But in order to do that, we need to put ourselves into that location.  And we need to do that by creating avatars. 

Meadows describes an avatar as an interactive, social representation of a user.  I tend to agree with the analysis of an avatar that Meadows pursues in his chapter.  They are customizeable( as we could spend hours customizing the Sims characters we created in class by just looking at their faces and clothes), and interactive in the world that they are placed in.  We as users control their actions, and they are an extension of ourselves into the world…they are a character as we are a character in the real world.  And Meadows provides examples of that interaction.  Whether it was the Sims, Mario, or World of Warcraft, all of them had the same basic pretense: to interact with the world around them.   And simply by your prescense, you are affecting the outcome of the world.  I also agree with Meadows’ four types of “players”, because in my experiences using avatars and seeing others with avatars, I have seen how people truly interact with their avatars-in good ways or bad ways.

Next, Meadows discusses the paradox of what defines what the confines of an avatar are.   He talks about the dilemna of leading people on with your avatars, and to what extent we need to hold back on our digital representation( if we have to at all).  I remember the debate following Youtube Users like LonelyGirl15.  People were outraged at the creation of this digital fabrication.  But I have to agree with Meadows’ point.  We see avatar-like creations in movies, and we know that those are fake.  I think that the fact that people were lead on by LonelyGirl was the real issue, but isnt that what the internet is all about?  It’s all about expression and thats what an avatar is. 

Third, Meadows describes avatars and point of view.  In what way do we interact with our avatars.  Is it in the first-person, like Halo or Bioshock, or do we walk with our avatars, behind their shoulders in the second person?  Or we can fufill the role of God in the Will-Wright created games?  It is all about narrative.  In my mind, I enjoy them all.  I have played World of Warcraft and love being right behind my character.  I get to fully enjoy the world around me, while still keeping close to my avatar.  But the Sims is fun as well, because you are almost playing the role of God or an overseerer over a world.  We all would like to have that kind of power-whether to be a part of that world or to create that world for other avatars to enjoy.

And finally, what is more important in the ”life” of an avatar?  It is all about the story behind that avatar.   Whether it is creating a life for the Sims we create, watching them grow a family and build a house, and making friends( along with ourselves doing that as well), or saving the world through your avatar’s actions, we want to be able to make a difference in the world-whether it is through the digital one or the real world. 

Chell.

The Digital World in the Classroom

After reading Robbins-Bell, I had to agree with her.  I feel like the virtual world offers more fun, creativity, and a wider horizon for learning in and out of the classroom.  For example, with my Game Design class, we are looking at reasons why millions of people play games for hours, and yet will not read a book.  It is because people are looking for something new in their way of learning and enjoyment.   And I feel like a new system of learning is something we need.  Things like Second Life or Virtual Worlds could provide. 

When asked about a class that would benefit from this new type of technology, I had a real hard time thinking of a class that would benefit from something like this( probably because I’m used to the boring, dull classroom setting).  But one idea did come into my head.  During my junior year, I took a sociology class.   What better way to learn about a group of people or a certain community than to build a virtual world of that particular culture? The idea of talking about culture would be so much more fun living and interacting in a created world than learning about sociological phrases in a big textbook.  Put people in the neighborhood and let them interact within it.  I feel like that could be a very efficient way to get people to learn about people by virtually living as a member of that group.  And with the idea of avatars and other forms of expression, we can see how members of the group, or of the classroom, perceive themselves and the world around them. I quote the reading: “Tell me, and I’ll forget; Show me, and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

And, I think the other important matter in this case is that the discussion should not return to the classroom about the world that we are virtually stuck in.  If we are residing in this virtual world, we should have that discussion virtually as well.  Also, because of that aspect of technology, the sociological discussion could also occur between people outside of our classroom, and it would be easy to invite them into our world, and vice-versa.  Like the reading said: “The more conversations that an instructor can encourage, the more involved the students may become.” And that just enhances and increases the chances for learning.