The ability of being whoever you want to be appeals to many people as it allows them to experiment with their own personalities, in a way that they would not do so in 'real-life'. 'Second-Life,' with 800,000 registered users, is growing at the extraordinary rate of 20% a month.(Jefferies, S, www.guardian.co.uk) This shows that the idea of being whoever you want to be appeals to many people. I think it can give people confidence to say things they wouldn’t say, and generally express themselves in a way they don’t feel they can do in real life. Personally, I can see this as a positive thing, until people online lie, or deceive people about their identities. It does allow people to disconnect and experience new identities, as described in the lecture, it can create a “better self.” However, I agree with the post-modern views - “technological embodiment of a post structualist theory” (Lister page 167) when the element of escapism is confused with real-life. This is evident within the case study in Lister page 168, the “Cross Dressing Psychiatrist.” Although an experiment, it is clear that these events happen so often online and I think this makes these sites, where identities can be hidden, a problem.
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to me, i believe that the site second life is a lie. I dont know whether you went on the site but you create a completely different name for yourself, you have to choose a character, as i said in my blog to me, it just seems like the sims. i wouldnt want to get in contact with anybody from the site, outside of the site because it could honestly be anybody.
ReplyDeleteWe all seem to have similar views on these internet forums. We tend to agree that discussing their views is a great thing, however it ruins it for many when some people go too far.
ReplyDeleteChoosing a character and a new name could be exciting, and i appreciate why people would want to do this, should these sites be shut down, or monitored heavily - restricting people from displaying their views- just because there are a small amount of people who take it too far?
If we think about the extreme, should we stop these forums because of the danger that some people are subjected to?
I have wondered about shutting the forums as well, obviously not myself! We didn't have them before, and we managed? I suppose you can say that about everything though. If they are monitored then doesn't it just defeat the object of completely being able to say what you want without the pressure of anyone else judging? As I personally do not use forums I do not see the problem is just shutting them down, it stops any offence (racism, bullying) being given online and creates less paths for paedophiles and psychopaths to get to people. As I said they weren't there at one time. However this is just my view as I do socialise offline a lot so do not need them. Maybe some do.
ReplyDeletei think that the idea of 'freedom' on the net is a scary idea, because it is one place where u do not feel necessarily safe. most of our lives are monitered and controlled then the internet is a 'open architecture' where you can pretty much do as you wish. Like Turkle says you can do what you want and this freedom is some ways is good, but in other ways it can be very dangerous!
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