It's a Wrap!

Endings are so bittersweet.  The time has come to say goodbye to Hank Hoover and Smallworlds.  Of course, I could continue this experience if I wanted to but I've determined that it is just not for me.  Real life is far too busy to get away with mingling amongst pretend people in an imaginary world.

At the beginning of this experiment, I set out to see what it would be like to live out the experiences of someone completely different from my real self.  I chose an avatar whose gender was opposite my own and whose age exceeded mine by about two decades. 

From the start, it was very clear that females in Smallworlds interacted with avatars very differently than males did.  First of all, there were more females than males in Smallworlds and they seemed fairly comfortable speaking to avatars of the same gender.  Males, on the other hand, seemed to mostly seek the company of female avatars.  So, as a male in Smallworlds, I got used to communicating mostly with female avatars as male avatars tended to ignore my advances. 

With this said, I am not sure that I really achieved my goal of understanding what it was like to be someone else.  I was never able to lose myself in this virtual world because I was always aware that I was playing a game.  I suppose some people are able to leave their real bodies behind and use their mind to completely immerse themselves in the virtual experience, but I was not one of them. 

Furthermore, I am someone who is strongly tied to my female identity.  I enjoy frilly clothes, chick flicks and girl talk.  Someone else may not be as intimately tied to their gender and may have an easier time losing their real self in the virtual world.  If, for instance, someone born in a female body feels more comfortable being identified as a man, and this person enters a virtual world assuming the identity of a man, it may be far easier for her/him to connect to their virtual experience than it was for me to connect to mine.  I think my ability to adapt (or not adapt) to Smallworlds was strongly linked to my vantage point.

For the most part, I do not think I was treated differently because of my avatar's age.  Although Hank had grey hair and crow's feet, I'm not sure Hank's age was as obvious as I had intended it to be.  At the same time, there were a few times that I approached characters that completely ignored me and for all I know, they could have been ignoring me because of my age.  That's the thing about discrimination; it's hard to tell exactly why someone doesn't like you.  Since our identities are an intricate web of characteristics, it's difficult to find the cause of discrimination.  Hank was a white, middle-aged, skinny, straight, grey-haired man.  All of those characteristics made up his identity and it is possible that other characters in Smallworlds chose not to interact with him based on any one of those characteristics.  This identity web transcends to the real world as it is not always possible to determine why someone else doesn't like you (unless they flat out tell you).

Overall, I thought it was neat to experience a virtual world as I would have never thought of trying this on my own time if it weren't for this assignment.  It has definitely been a conversation topic amongst me and my friends.  I have not mentioned this tid-bit up until now, but I modeled my character, Hank, after my boss.  My co-workers (and even my boss) got a kick out of it.  Well, this is it! So-long Smallworlds and Comm 418, it's been real.

Sexual Healing

I postponed writing about sexuality until my very last blog because the idea of people milling around, having sexual interactions in a virtual world with virtual characters creeps me out.  It makes me feel icky on the inside to think that people get all hot and bothered by being sexual with other virtual characters.  That is one fetish that I just do not understand.  Anyhow, I've spent a lot of time in Small Worlds and I really have not noticed anything too crazy when it comes to sexual exchanges.  I've read a lot of other people's blogs and some of my classmates have experienced some really obscene things in their virtual worlds.  I'm sure there are plenty of variables that effect that kind of experiences we have in our virtual worlds.  One of them might be the time of day we log in.  I tend to log on to Small Worlds during the morning hours (between 7am and 11am) whereas some of my classmates might log in later on in the day.  In the morning, there are probably less avatars to interact with than there are later on in the day.  As a result, I have seen avatars flirting but nothing more.

Furthermore, there is a lot more to sexuality than sexually explicit interaction.  As a male avatar, I am mostly approached by female avatars which means that most characters in Small Worlds assume that Hank is heterosexual.  This seems to be the basic assumption under which Small Worlds operates.  I see a lot of female-to-male flirty interaction.  I also see a lot of females conversing with other females but it seems to be friendly conversation rather than flirty conversation.  I have rarely observed two or more male avatars having conversation which supports my theory that most people take a heterosexual approach to Small Worlds.  Again, there is the realm of the unknown meaning that we do not exactly know who is behind each avatar.  It might be true that some people wear an avatar that is opposite their real gender in order to have virtual interaction with characters who are of the same sex as they are.  

With all of this said, I think that there might be some barriers for homosexual characters in virtual worlds just as there are for real homosexuals in the real world.  In everyday life, homosexuals are surrounding by, for the most part, a majority of heterosexuals.  I think the same is true for homosexuals in virtual worlds.  This leads me to my questions for the class.  Do you all think it is easier for homosexuals to interact with other characters in a virtual world or do these virtual interactions pose just as many obstacles as homosexuals may experience in real life?

Close Race

As I continue to spend time in my virtual world, I am noticing that race seems to matter very little when interacting with other virtual characters.  In real life, a person’s race, class or education level may either provide an opening or barrier to opportunities but in Small Worlds, social capital seems to be extremely valuable.  The more people you know in Small Worlds, the more likely it is that other people will want to interact with you. 

With that said, Hank has had some success interacting with people in Small Worlds.  A lot of the time when Hank approaches people with conversation, he is ignored.  This is true across the board and does not seem to be dependent upon his or other characters’ races. 

Something I have noticed, however, is that the diversity in Small Worlds seems to be limited to two races.  Most characters Hank has seen are either white or black.  There does not seem to be any Asian, Hispanic or Middle Eastern avatars.  This seemed curious to me so I decided to conduct a little experiment.

When choosing your avatar, you basically have control over all of the physical features of your character.  You can choose your skin color, face shape, eye size/shape, lips and the list goes on.  Since I had not seen many (or any) avatars representing races other than white and black, I wanted to see if it was possible to create avatars that appeared to be of Hispanic, Asian or Middle Eastern decent. 

When creating the Hispanic avatar, I darkened the skin to a tanned color and also darkened the hair and eye color.  I played with the facial features a bit until I was able to come up with a fair representation of a character that appeared to be of Hispanic decent.  When I created the Asian avatar, I darkened the skin to a yellowish/tan color and adjusted the eyes so that they were slightly slanted upward.  I also heightened the cheek bones and chose a darker hair and eye color.  Again, I came up with what I thought was a fair representation of a character that was of Asian decent.  I had a little bit more trouble creating a character that fairly represented someone of Middle Eastern decent.  Sure, I could darken the hair and skin color of the avatar but these characteristics alone did not seem to create an avatar with a Middle-Eastern identity.  I think that the clothing and artifact options limited me when I was trying to create this character.  It is possible that I am still too much of a ‘noob’ that I do not have access to such clothing and artifacts.

I did not actually take these characters out into the Small Worlds experience after I created them.  I simply wanted to see if it was even possible to create avatars of different races.  In my experience, it was.  I think that the fact that I have not observed characters of diverse races speaks a lot about the users of Small Worlds.  I did try to ask a couple of other characters in Small Worlds if they had ever interacted with avatars of Asian, Hispanic or Middle Eastern decent but I did not get responses.  Although I cannot make a conclusive statement about why these races seem to be underrepresented in this virtual world, I can make a couple of predictions.  I predict that users of this virtual world are largely from American culture and therefore have created their avatar to represent what they see on television, in movies and in magazines.  With that said, white and black people in the media tend to be the more idolized than other races by the audience (it is important to note that these characters I speak of are created to be idols).  Anyway, I do find it really interesting that there seems to be a lack of diversity in Small Worlds. 

I’m wondering, has anyone else noticed a lack of diversity in their virtual world?  Maybe some virtual worlds are more diverse than others.  I’m curious to know what you all have experienced!  Please feel free to post a comment and elaborate on my observations.

Ciao!

Gender Bender

Gender brought about some interesting happenings in SmallWorlds this morning. In my experience, the women seem to outnumber the men in this virtual world and so in this category, Hank is a minority. Although Hank is still having some trouble overcoming his newness, female virtual characters seem to be more willing than male virtual characters to give Hank a chance.

The first time Hank experimented in SmallWorlds, he had two female characters literally fighting over him. I mentioned this instance in my first blog. Since then, other female characters have shown an interest in Hank. What I found most interesting was that this morning in SmallWorlds, three different female characters initiated conversation with Hank. No male characters attempted to speak to Hank. Hank did initiate conversation with one male who was polite but did not stick around to chat for long.

This morning, two of the conversations initiated by female characters did not have romantic undertones. Both conversations were friendly and Hank gained a couple of new friends but flirting was not an element. However, the third conversation initiated by a female was somewhat flirty. Her name was Anna and she was white with purple hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a mini skirt and tall platform boots. She introduced herself and then asked if Hank had a virtual girlfriend. Hank said no and then she asked if Hank had a girlfriend IRL (in real life). Caught off guard, Hank responded with a yes. In future interactions with female characters, Hank is going to have to be a little more smooth if he wants to woo a virtual lady friend. It is a bit awkward since this is my first time impersonating a man and as you might imagine, I've never had a female try to pick me up. Go figure.

Hank did approach one female character this morning but she seemed to want nothing to do with him. As he walked over to her she said, "Ouch, stop clicking on me. Get a job." I'm not exactly sure what this meant but Hank decided to leave her alone. No reason to get involved with the crazy ones if you know what I mean.
One thing I found interesting after hanging out in SmallWorlds today is the fact that traditional gender roles seem to play out in virtual worlds just like they do in the real world. For instance, I had plenty of interactions with females because I am a male. Only one interaction today was with another male character and that was only because I initiated it. What this says to me is that people assume that, in general, men are attracted to women and women are attracted to men. I think this is a good set-up for my next blog on sexuality. I am going to conduct a little experiment next time I am in SmallWorlds and I will report my findings to you all next week.

Until then, I pose this question to you: if you are hiding behind the disguise of a virtual character opposite your real gender, did you find any surprises when interacting with male and female characters? Was it what you expected? Did you find it enlightening to walk in the opposite gender's shoes?

Identity: Breaking "New" Ground

This past weekend, I spent one hour living vicariously through Hank Hoover in SmallWorlds. Hank and I are still getting used to SmallWorlds but have acquired a couple of friends and some money which makes us feel a little more at home. Hank spent some time approaching other SmallWorld entities to see how they would respond to his distinct identity.

Since I have not yet posted a picture of Hank, here are a few observable traits that might help you create a mental picture of my virtual character. Hank is a middle-aged, white man who has a keen eye for fashion. Hank spent some time shopping in the SmallWorlds clothing store where he purchased a pair of semi-fitted jeans, a green t-shirt, and a new pair of grey sneaks. Hank's style is simple yet trendy. Hank has blue eyes and grey hair which he wears in a style he likes to call "the flip." He has a set of dimples and subtle wrinkles on his forehead appropriate to his age. As far as I've figured out, height and weight are not differentiated in this virtual world.

In my experience, Hank's identity did not seem to initiate experiences out of the ordinary. Hank approached several diverse virtual characters. He sat on a bench with a black female named Andi and had a brief conversation. The conversation was helpful as she explained some of the acronyms that SmallWorld characters use (i.e. IRL= in real life). The conversation was not flirty nor did race seem to be a barrier of any kind. Andi appeared to be somewhere in her mid-20s, a good 20 years younger than Hank, but the age gap did not seem to scare her away either. At most, the conversation was cordial and enlightening.

Hank did not have much interaction of substance with any other virtual people. Everyone was friendly but it seemed like they did not want to deal with the ignorance of a newbie. I guess in this sense, Hank was discriminated against because he was new to the virtual world and it seemed like people could instantly tell that he was a fresh face. This may be one aspect of Hank's identity that will be the hardest to overcome. It has been difficult for Hank to enhance his clout in SmallWorlds because, thus far, he has been stereotyped as a naive newbie and as a result not many people wanted to befriend him. So far, others in the virtual world have not completely accepted Hank's identity as a new member of SmallWorlds. This got me thinking about similar instances in real life and I've discovered that newcomers are often rejected in the beginning. For instance, in my high school the freshman class was always picked on. At general assemblies, the sophomores, juniors, and seniors would all chant, "Go home freshman, go home!" It was kind of like a school tradition. This also happens with some immigrants who come to America. In the beginning, their language and culture may not be accepted by the people of this country and it is not until they have made an attempt to assimilate that they become accepted. I think this is precisely what is happening in my virtual world. Until Hank becomes accustomed to the SmallWorlds lingo and behaviors, he will continue to be rejected by more experienced virtual personalities.

With that said, I wonder if anyone else in the class was stereotyped or poked fun at for being a new member to the virtual world? If so, did it hinder your ability to gain clout in your respective virtual world? Has anyone been able to shake this immature aspect of their virtual world personality and identity?

SmallWorlds welcomes Hank Hoover!

My avatar, Hank Hoover, joined SmallWorlds this morning.  Hank is a handsome, middle-aged white man.  Women were fighting over Hank right off the bat.  One woman was zapping another woman with a hypnotizing gun.  Some #*$^#$* were exchanged as Hank calmly slipped away. It was outrageous.

Hank started to become accustomed with his new world.  He tried on some new clothes but was not willing to commit to any item in particular so no purchases were made today. 

I am still trying to figure out how to get Hank's avatar posted on the blog... stay tuned!