Over the last few days in class we have been discussing online communities and in specific an online virtual community called Second Life. Every time I’m online I’m always looking for interesting things to blog about. Today I was checking my email on America Online and one of the news headlines from the welcome screen stood out to me, it was titled, “Woman Jailed for 'Killing' Virtual Spouse.” (http://news.aol.com/article/woman-jailed-for-killing-virtual-spouse/223052). This headline seemed so strange to me so of course I had to find out what the article was about. A woman in Tokyo was part of a virtual world with an interactive game called “Maple Story.” According to the police, “A 43-year-old player in a virtual game world became so angry about her sudden divorce from her online husband that she logged on with his password and killed his digital persona.” She could face up to five years in prison and fines up to $5,000 for suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data. She used his user ID and password to log into the game and “murder” his avatar.
When people become participants in these online worlds they tend to use anonymity to fulfill their fantasy identity. “In virtual worlds, players often abandon their inhibitions, engaging in activity online that they would never do in the real world.” People talk with complete strangers and disclose private information and participate activities they would never participate in real life such as emailing provocative photos to someone. These virtual lives can have negative consequences in real life. “In August, a woman was charged in Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through the virtual reality Web site "Second Life." People can indeed use these sites for negative actions. They are just as dangerous as any other online type of communication.
I personally think it is healthier for a person to develop relationships in real life rather than a virtual world. There are so many positive things that come from new technologies, but it is also important that people don’t let themselves get so caught up in a virtual world whether its online or even just with video games. All of these technologies suck people in and hold them back from developing healthy relationships in real world settings. It gives a person the ability to lie about who they really are. They can like about their personality, their looks, and whatever else they want to exaggerate about themselves. Be yourself. It’s just like the famous saying, "Its better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you're not."
3 comments:
I really enjoyed reading this posts because I actually found myself laughing at first at the thought of a person being so enraged and the result of their emotions is the homicide of an avatar! On the other hand, though, as I read on, I was brought back down by the idea of a woman actually planning to abduct an individual she met online. It's crazy to look at these events as an outsider and try to imagine how somehow allows themself to become so consumed in these worlds. I suppose this is where the idea we recently discussed in our online forums comes in about just what makes these worlds so great. I guess if we remain outsiders we may never know.
I think that this is such a humorous idea. If someone deleted or “murdered” my avatar, I would laugh and make a new one. People usually get in trouble for something that begins in a virtual world and escalates into real life. This reminds me of when my younger brother would delete my game on Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo. Could I have got him put into jail or made him pay a fine to me? How far can we take this? Is it really that large of an offense to log onto someone’s account and alter or change things? I think that it may depend on your addiction or commitment to the virtual world or game.
I actually read this same article for my blog and think we have the same sentiments about it. Its crazy to think how far people sometimes go in the online world. Developing a relationship in person, or meeting in person soon after beginning a relationship is a smart idea. There is always the fear of people hiding his or her identity online.
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