Blog 5: Virtual Identity and Globalization

Members of online worlds, such as MUDs or RPGs, have a variety of reasons for joining and participating.  However, there is usually one common theme amongst all users, the desire for anonymity.  Online, no one knows who you are, what you actually look like, your flaws, or your past.  Essentially, it is a clean slate where one can choose to be whoever he or she wishes to be.  A shy, quiet, band geek in real life can suddenly transform himself into a suave, debonair Casanova-type.  This is not to say that all users adopt characteristics that are the opposite of themselves, but that exploration into other parts of one's identity are typical.  However, real world ideologies are present in virtual worlds.  For example, social cues, such as turn-taking in conversation and exchanging greetings, still occur online.  The goes a step further, though, because users discern gender through language use because they expect others to enact gender identities.  

These social cues do not just apply to America, though.  Online worlds attract users from all over the world and universal conversational rules are present in almost all interactions.  Gone are the days where one has to hand-write a letter or call long distance to interact with someone from a different country.  Today, globalization has caused our world to shrink in terms of connecting to various cultures.  This is not to say that players in World of Warcraft are chatting about cultural differences, but experiencing nuances from different cultures gives the user a glimpse into another world, even if it is through an online one.