Identity Online

Frankly, the readings for this particular session have felt a little surreal to me and created a sense of discomfort. The whole idea of gaming online with MUDDS for hours at a time seems unhealthy for most people. I think something seriously is wrong with the world if people have to retreat to MUDDs either to gain a sense of themselves or to escape their reality. I understand that some people with poor social skills would benefit from a world in which social cues are different but this is not true for the vast majority of us. In fact just reading these articles made me feel lonely.

I agree with Turkle that we all have multiple identities. For example , I am a mother, wife, employee, student, South Asian. If we engage fully with the world, why does anyone need to go to MUDDS to experience and test multiple identities. We have the real world around us to test out our identities. It could be that the virtual world feels safer in which to do that. But I feel that the lessons we learn by testing in the real world are difficult to replicate in the virtual. For instance, its easy to misconstrue what is said or communicated online without visual social cues. In fact this happens often. Turkle herself says so when she explores a young man's meeting with his online paramour.