If I were an avatar
Is having an avatar a waste of time? Mac McClelland, writing for Orion magazine, suspected that it was. But she joined up with Second Life anyway (SL, for short), just to make sure. I hesitate even to write about SL for fear of sending recruits. But for the three of you out there who don’t already know, Second Life is a cross between a self-directed reality show and an out of body experience. By going “in world,” players can project themselves onto the avatar of their dreams, even a raccoon with big, human boobs; live in a pirate ship; own waterfront property; teleport from one popular spot to another; attend real lectures with thousands of avatar friends; and become skilled enough at the controls that they can even blush and have sex. After a fashion.
The avatar who gives McClelland a tour of SL is so enthusiastic about its virtues that she sounds like she’s hawking time shares in Cabo. She argues that a virtual world peopled with avatars is so much more satisfying than a chat room, because it creates as “sense of presence” and “brings people together.”
So let me get this right: You switch on the electrons, log in and launch the program, create a representation of some alternate self, and thus regain the presence you’ve lost in a chat room?
It makes sense that people want to feel more present. We spend way too much damn time online. The night McClelland first went in world as “Girl Next Door” with the name Isis Askenaze (great name, btw), 47,758 other users were already there. If by “there” you mean sitting at their computers manipulating simulacra of themselves inside a world built by computer code. Here’s a thought: how about inviting your neighbors over for dinner, (more…)
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