3D worlds and socialising on the internet (Week 5)

Are these 3D worlds for real? Apparently they are. Up until a few days ago these 3D virtual universes seemed worlds away from me. In the tute, my tutor Daniel Hourigan described 3D worlds like ActiveWorlds, as a world inside a computer. But what kinds of people live in these worlds? IM programmes (instant messaging) are more familiar. I’ve used MSN and facebook chat to talk to friends and “socialise”. The difference about 3D worlds and IM programmes are qualitive. Both sorts of spaces are ultimately, identity based. Within virtual worlds, one has more means to change qualities about the/his/her character. Personalities, characteristics and complete self images can be completely different to their true-life selves. You can make people see whatever you want them to see in 3D worlds- there must be a great feeling of control. Identity changes between 3D and the real world. It makes you wonder if people use 3D universes to escape from reality or just to avoid boredom. IM programmes don’t have that flexibility or amount of abilities. Compared to 3D worlds IM sounds boring. Basically its real time communication based on text via the internet. The IM programmes I know allow friends or at least people who know each other to chat. I think IM is just like talking on the phone but in text and with no expression. With both 3D worlds and IM programmes there is a problem - privacy and who can get access to your spaces. One time when I was younger, my friend and I logged onto to my older sister’s msn and started chatting to random people, professing our love for them and sending them multiple x’s. When my sister found out she gave me a Chinese burn that lasted for a week. Not only is hacking a big problem for society, it’s dangerous for the hacker!