Avatars, Identity & Deception

I. A.R. Stone “In Novel Condtions”

II. Julian Dibbel, A Rape in Cyberspace

III. PBS Channel, Is Facebook changing our identity

Dibbell: A Rape in Cyberspace (LamdaMoo)

LamdaMOO- online database maintained for experimental purposes inside a Xerox Corporation which had open access to the internet

MUD- Multi User Dungeon Interact with other users from around the

world Dr. Bombay created an online persona to

witness the incident Unsafe because there wasn’t any authority

Cyberspace Incident

Rape Display from an Online User named Mr. Bungle by using a Voodoo Doll in the halls of LamdaMoo

Legba & Starsinger (usernames) were the victims

Mr. Bungle used a computer form New York University

Interaction across the United States Mr. Bungle had Social Issues in real life No Explicit Rules against before the Incident

Results from Cyberspace Incident

Social Forums were created about Mr. Bungle Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from Victims In 24 hours, 50 players wanted to banish Mr.

Bungle started by Evangeline (Survivor of Virtual Rape)

Blocking other users Harassment under California State Law? Online Rape versus Actual Rape Online Democracy (Banishment, Toading) No Journalistic Value for the Media

Novel Conditions: The Cross Dressing Psychiatrist

CompuServe one of the main information sources “People are willing to pay money just to connect, Just for

the opportunity to communicate.” Role Playing Game- less expensive and becomes part of

their daily lives First RPG Established (1972) Dungeons and Dragons Multiple User Domain (1980)- multiple user social

environment MUD name was switched multiple times

Online Persona

Sanford Lewin, a Male Psychiatrist in the Real World

First Account “Doctor” which online users mistaken him as a female

Created a 2nd account Female Psychiatrist named Julie Graham in the virtual world

Julie was disabled and had a traumatic life Started a woman’s discussion group and talked to

individuals about suicide, depression, drugs etc. Protected females from Rapists Volunteered to help individuals who are

intoxicated

Online Interaction Results

Julie became married, attended conferences, talked about going to college

Disabled Individuals questioned in Julie was disabled in real life

Lewin feared about Julie’s popularity and only expected to make a few friends

Lewin tried to kill the Julie character Online Users found out about Julie Graham

was Lewin Many individuals felt betrayed because of

deception. Julie was not real

Pros about online gaming/interactions

Helpful for the economy and a from Marketing/Advertising standpoint

People are willing to pay money just to connect on the internet and communicate

You can make a private account Helpful towards individuals, example

the cross dressing psychiatrist Huge Profit, Low Cost funding

Cons about Online Gaming/Interaction

s Dangerous people on the internet

Can create traumatic mental experiences

Difficult to differentiate online versus physical rape

MMO, RPG- have no regulations under law when first created

Difficult to track actions of other players

Is Facebook Changing Our Identity: PBS channel

Facebook facts:

Facebook has 955,000,000 users. 552,000,000 of those users use the internet daily.

That’s as many people that’s in Unites States, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Italy all

combined All of these people are uploading 250 million

photos a day and clicking the like button 2.7 billion times a day

Is Facebook Changing our Identity

Facebook is used for users to create a digital version of them and advertise their life styles and to show friends their location and what changes has happened recently in their life.

Lock Theory

Philosopher John Lock theory is that we tend to construct our idea of ourselves and our identity

based on what we know and over past experiences, things we cant or don’t know is not

apart of our identity.

Facebook’s Facts Pros and Cons

(Pro)Fact: The average brain holds over one to ten terabits of data. Facebook can hold that much data in

just an hour.

Other interesting facts:

Final Thoughts

How social media sucks our brains dry:

(Pro)Fact: Facebook can help you hold thousands of friends that you would have kept in contact with if it

wasn’t for this social site Facebook then just becomes a memory holder for us.