Identity

Introduction - Identity
As the virtual world grows,  so does the use of avatars, anonymity, and an apparant identity crisis.

Finding or Losing Identity?
In a study performed by Kodak Research Labs researchers studied the game  to gain an understanding as to how users change/determine what their avatar will look like. One researcher interviewed a user for hours until she finally convinced him to update his male avatar to be more "socially acceptable". It became clear for many Second Life users that how you make your avatar look is "finding yourself". The user would help the researcher pick out his clothes but refused to help him change his face and body. According to her, that part is self identity. The researchers determined that it is clear social appearanes in Second Life are very influenced by the social environments. Users face pressures to undergo "virtual makeovers" once they are no longer completely new to the game. The researchers determined there are different types of Second Life users:
 * Realistics: Those who want their virtual world and real world identities to be the same
 * Ideals: Those who feel their apperance is lacking in real life so they feel the need to make up for that in the virtual world, their personalities are supposedly the same however.
 * Roleplayers: Have many identities and want to experience life as someone else
 * Fantasies: Want to have two separate identities, one in real life and one for the virtual world 1.

An Emotional Attachment
While identifying with an unreal graphical representation seems odd enough, many become completely emotionally attached to said avatars. For example, according to Roger Scruton of The New Atlantis a user of Second Life tried to sue another avatar for theft of his "adult entertainment".

Users are also resorting to real life violence over this game. As the Guardian reports, 47 year old Thomas Montgomery is accused for killing a fellow colleague (Brian Barrett) due to a "love triangle" in the game Second Life between people who had never met, or planned to meet, the cyber woman they were each interested in. To further display the identity crisis many feel over these games-- Mongomery began a relationship with the woman claiming he was an 18 year old Marine about to head off to Iraq. The woman also said she was 18 and used pictures of her own daughter to try to prove this. The woman then came into contact via the game with Barrett and a romance began leading to grudges between both men. Barrett was soon shot and killed at work by Montgomery.

The Economy of Second Life
Users spend real life currency on the game Second Life. Rather than choosing to spend on food or clothes in the real world, users can buy 280 for every 1 US dollar and purchase items such as food, clothes, and more in the virtual world of Second Life. As The Guardian reports, Second Life has over two million users where over 140,000 of these users spend money in the game. The value of user-to-user transactions was reported to be around 7 million dollars. Additionally, the highest amount spent during the game in a single day was $575,000. Second Life also sells islands in the world to corporations such as GM, IBM, and so on for purposes such as meetings. Although the price is increasing, it costs $1,675 to purchase a 16 acre island, along with a monthly maintenance fee of almost $300. 2

Conclusion
Clearly, although Second Life is not the only culprit of the problems discussed above, it is a great example as to how user's lose themselves to this virtual world and many truly feel their avatar is who they are. This, coupled with a feeling of anonymity has caused users to believe they can do, say, or act however they want.

References:
1:  Neustaedter, C., & Fedorovskaya, E. (n.d.). Presenting Identity in a Virtual World  through Avatar Appearances. Retrieved March 15,2014,from

2:  Scruton,R.(2010). Hiding Behind the Screen. The New Atlantis. Retrieved March 15,2014, from