Identity in the Context of Virtual Worlds

After reading the two articles and reflecting on my own experiences in virtual worlds, I agree with everything that the CNN article mentions about virtual identity. I have played many MMO's or Massively Multiplayer Online video games and can relate to the article. I love playing virtual world video games because you are able to customize a character and make it look however you want. Furthermore, you are not limited to only playing your gender.

Even I am not an introvert, I can see how these virtual worlds can help people that are not very comfortable with real life confrontation. They can create identities for themselves in these virtual worlds and pretend to be someone they wish they could be in real life. A person can be whoever they want online and become anyone they want. I like how the article mentions that there was a professor who played a little girl in a video game. This just proves that there are no limitations to a virtual identity and a person can take on whoever they wish.

Relating virtual identity to Second Life, this game allows a person to actually make an avatar that resembles them because there are so many options a person can choose from. This gives them the opportunity to be themselves in virtual world or be a completely different person. It also talks about how a person can create an identity through the chat and language that they use. I agree with this because if a person only speaks English in real life, but wants to start taking on the identity of a Spanish speaker, he can start speaking Spanish in Second Life.

From my personal experience and playing video games for a long time, I do not think that I choose avatars based on myself. I usually choose the most bad-ass looking one or sometimes I choose a female to mess around. However, even though I choose these avatars, I do not think that they represent my personality. I know that for a lot of people, they try to create a different persona online and be someone they're not. For me, I usually just play to get stronger in the game and do not really care how my avatar looks.

Virtual worlds are a great place for people to create a "new self". A person can be whoever they want to be because they are not bound by the limitations of the real world. I think that virtual worlds are great for people who want social interaction (introverts), but not able to talk to people in real life comfortably. This still allows them to talk to others, while being hidden behind an avatar of their choosing. A virtual identity is what you make of it because the possibilities are endless.