Assignment 10: Get A (second) Life

The Second Life game space was a little hard to get used to. I think there is a big learning curve. While there is so much to do, and so many options, because of the limitlessness of the playing style, it’s hard to grow familiar with the game. There were so many options for what I could do, where I could go, what I could look like, etc. that I didn’t know where to start and thus I was bored. I completed the orientation tutorials to learn the game. Other than that, I talked to a few people and I walked (sometimes flew) around. It got old fast. Additionally, my movement was very slow and choppy. Whether this was my computer, the program, or a mix, I don’t know. But it diminished my enjoyment of Second Life.

The appearance of my avatar did not have much influence on how I behaved. My findings differ from those discussed in the Yee and Bailenson reading for two reasons. First of all, it was hard to judge where my avatar fell in terms of attractiveness, height, or other factors, relative to other avatars in the virtual space. Not only did I not see my avatars face much, due to the default view of the game, but even when I was able to see my avatar I couldn’t know how other users perceived my avatar. Thus, the attractiveness of my avatar did not affect me.

Likewise, I did not come across enough other users to get a sense of how tall or short my avatar was. I was not in a real, physical space, and so I couldn’t tell how tall I was compared to the environment. Therefore, it was difficult to judge if I was tall or short.

The second major reason that my observations deviated from Yee and Bailenson’s is that I was not using Second Life for recreation or as the participant in an experiment. I was testing it out for this assignment. Thus, I quickly accepted whatever avatar I was given, made a few quick changes to see how that feature worked, and that was it. I didn’t really identify with my avatar. People who spend time with Second Life or other virtual games usually feel more in touch with their avatar and take it more seriously. I felt detached from my avatar. I regarded my avatar as an analysis tool for the assignment, not an extension or virtual form of myself. This, I think, is the main reason why my experience did no yield the same results as Yee and Bailenson.

While Yee and Bailenson found that height and attractiveness of avatars influenced how people behaved, I did not. This was because I couldn’t tell how attractive or tall my avatar was, and because I did not feel attached to my avatar.


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