I just heard about this cyberworld called Second Life in my Media Lit class. Our professor shared a story of a couple who met in Second Life and got married in real life. Well, one day the wife saw the husband's Avatar (which is basically a little character that you pretend is you) sitting on a couch with another female avatar in Second Life. Now she has divorced him for cheating on him.
WTF?!
I had to stifle my uproarious laughter so as to not disturb the class. I have never heard of anything so tragically ridiculous. How sad that people can actually feel as though this virtual reality is truly "real life". It's one thing if he were discovered flirting in a chat room with another woman, since that is likened to flirting in person. But these avatars are not even real. *sigh*
I have an avatar. Her name is Serendipity and she "lives" in Yoville, which is a cyberworld available on Facebook. Although I, too, participate in such an activity, my grasp of reality remains strong. I know that Serendipity is just a bunch of pixels in a graphically created program on a friggin computer. "She" goes to a "factory" and earns her "coins" to buy "furniture". This is just a cartoon character that I find mildly amusing at best. Notice I don't even refer to it as "her". She is NOT REAL.
Technology is clearly leading our society astray, when a couple meets, marries, then breaks up based on activities in cyberspace. Human beings are yearning for a true connection, and technology keeps separating us from each other.
Consider online communities like Facebook, myspace and the like. These sites are supposedly intended to bring friends together, but I gotta tell ya that I see maybe a tenth of these folks in real life situations, mostly on an infrequent basis. My myspace page has about 200 + "friends" on it, and I know that about 3 of them are real friends. In fact, out of this group of faces on a page, I speak to one of them in person regularly. Otherwise, that is exactly what they are: faces on a page.
So I guess I am not surprised that their relationship didn't last. After all, they met each others' avatars, not each other. Healthy relationships include real, live meetings to get to know one another; not what clothes their avatars are wearing, but who they truly are as people. They were doomed from the start, using alter egos in graphic form to make a good impression.
If you are someone using an avatar to pick up guys/gals, just remember that a cartoon is make believe and we humans are flesh and blood. Real people cannot hide who they are, even if they try really hard. Besides, an avatar can't give snuggles and kisses like a real man or woman can. They can't comfort you when you are down, share in your joy, or raise your kids. You might wanna try taking a risk and going out into the world to find that special someone. Reality is far more exciting and wonderful than any fantasy world.
