This chapter discuesses the way people deal with the concept of self in virtual worlds through MUDs (Multiuser Dimensions). These MUDs are in part creations of their users, who may design their characters (name, gender, species, physical attributes) as well as the "rooms" of the dungeons themselves.  They are free to experiment with identity and often choose to do so.  Interactions between players parallel and sometimes overlap with or substitute for real life. One example looks at a Yale dropout who used a role playing game as a form of therapy. Her mother disowned her after she had an abortion, and through role playing, the daughter was able to understand and come to terms with what happened. Another example describes a physics grad student whose physical health was so fragile that he could not go out normally without putting his life in danger.  He spends hours on MUDs socializing with people from across the world.  In doing this, he fulfills a need for social interaction that he might otherwise miss out on entirely.  In these virtual spaces, players often project their ideal self through their virtual identities.  MUDs offer an environment similar to real life and often equally useful for simulating and processing personal issues. In some situtations, they may even serve as something better than reality. Because of the difference between real-life and online social interaction, certain issues, such as sexism and gender roles can be more visible in a MUD, allowing for discussion of such topics. The addition of non-fatal guns to one MUD was another cause for debate. Changing the dynamics of the world (some players wanted to kill for fun) led to debate, virtual laws, and even the election of a virtual sheriff.  MUDs demonstrate a certain tension between the real and artificial through which we can reconstruct and examine aspects of our own culture.

 

The author seems particularly biased toward MUDs, probably due to his research methods: joining and participating in various MUDs.  The examples she uses focus a little heavy on the fringe of society rather than the average person who happens to participate in a MUD. This suggests that the correlation between MUD culture and real-life culture is limited.

 

If being a part of a community, such as a MUD gives people another means of expressing who they are or defining themselves, then so too might their preferences in memes be a means of expression. 

 

Culture of the Internet / edited by Sara Kiesler. [0805816356 (alk. paper) ] Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HE7631 .S613 1997