The Internet and Synthetic Worlds

The concept of online living for this weeks readings interested me in and of itself. Prior to this course I was familiar with online gaming but I never was an active gamer or cared to become one. After reading various articles assigned early in the course there is no doubt in my mind that there are users who do become completely immersed in the world of online communities but I can not see these worlds becoming so populated that it would impact the real world in any dramatic type of way. However, the two articles did make some interesting a though provoking points.

The Andrejevic article, Three Dimensions of Culture, discusses iCommerce, iCulture, iPolitics, and iMonitoring. Each of these concepts discusses the relationship between gathering information and the Internet, whether its for production, consumption, or feedback. Recently I was booking a trip to Las Vegas for Spring break. I was obviously doing a lot of research on flights and hotels, like a typical person would do before planning a trip. Over the next 24-48 hours of Internet use, I noticed I was being plagued with ads on Facebook, Google, and other various websites about Las Vegas deals and shows, etc. We all know this is not a coincidence. Nothing on the Internet is private and if companies and businesses want to find out the preferences and wants of their audiences, they are going to do it. The only thing that bothers me about this aspect of the Internet is not so much the bigger companies monitoring my online behavior, but that they can access this type information for free to essentially make their companies more money but when I want to access a free movie online it’s becomes a crime.

The Castranova article discusses a lot of the major reasons why online gaming and synthetic worlds will affect us and why we should care. I think the author makes some compelling arugments, but personally I don’t think synthic worlds will have such of a great impact on the real world in any amount of time. Within a synthetic world romance can be found, entire new worlds can be built, and money can be made, however I do not feel that online gaming is popular enough among individuals to create said impact. Even if things like “managing a complex organization” but being present in a synthetic world for enough time to see benefits requires a substantial time commitment and within the U.S. majority of the population is concerned with getting and education and getting a steady job. There is no time to sit for hours and hours of day and run around as an avatar. 

Another reason I have experienced with synthetic worlds that will prevent their popularization is the poor level of quality. When I go on Second Life the screen is so buggy and freezes all the time it is almost impossible to do anything but walk around. When we read that IBM article and how the incorporated SL into their organizational structure as a training tool, I could not understand how they were able to achieve anything because I have had the worst experiences with the platform in general. The only thing I can imagine is that they have some other type of SL system that has less bugs and runs more smoothly.

– Victoria Gingeleskie