Within the virtual world, there are many groups that interact with each other on a daily basis. These groups are called online communities. Taken from Wikipedia, “A virtual community is a social network with a common interest, idea, task or goal that interact in a virtual society across time, geographical and organizational boundaries and is able to develop personal relationships.’’ That being said, there are many examples of virtual communities such as message boards, email lists, chat rooms, blogs, and online games. An online community I am familiar with is an internet game called Hobowars.
Hobowars is a text based internet game (text based meaning there aren’t many graphics and most of the game is just written text, think of Sudoku as an example.) Without spending too much time describing what the game is, it’s pretty self explanatory based on the name. You have a character, which is a hobo, and you fight other hobos who are real people elsewhere in the world. In this game there are many gangs or clans. Individuals in a gang can fight other individuals, and gangs can fight other gangs.
To communicate to people in the game, there are message boards for everyone in the game to use, and there are ones that are specific to each gang. For a gang to succeed, the characters frequently need to work together, so communicating via the message board, or through private messages is necessary. It is through this that players form relationships and bonds with each other.
Because the method of communicating is more direct than a listserv for example, it is much easier to form relationships with people. I’ve been playing this game for over a year now and because a majority of the players in my gang have been there as long as I have, you really get a chance to get to know people.
In contrast to offline communities, such as hanging out with my friends, the relationships I have with other game players are polar opposites. In the game I only communicate on the message boards and private messages, and I only communicate with other players while I’m playing in the game. There is no face to face or personal contact. Offline, you obviously get to see your friends and talk to them face to face, or even on the phone. You can go out and grab a bite to eat, go drinking, or go to the mall. Because of these differences, the bonds you form in a vitual community could never be as strong as the bonds you have with people in real life. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t make friends in a virtual community, and it definitely doesn’t mean that you can’t form connections or create bonds with people on the other side of the world. I realize I will never actually meet them and I don’t plan to because I’m not sure we would have much to talk about outside of the game. I also realize that maybe they’ve even made up a fake identity for the game and I don’t really know them at all. But the game is fun, and that is partly because of the people who are in it regardless of who they are. I’m ok with that.
Hobowars description by GameOgre.com
Virtual community
MMORPG
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
com125: assignment 6 - online identity
In order to do just about anything on the internet, you’re required to have some sort of online identity. Varying from email, web forums, online games and many other types of online communities, your online identity lets other people know who you are. Generally we accept most people in online communities for who they say they are, there are certainly times when people can and do create false identities for varying reasons.
An online identity which I own is my online ‘’name,’’ soopa7fly. I use this name for most things I am active with on the internet. I use it in online multiplayer games, web forums, and instant messaging screen names. Of those three, the place where I most frequently use this identity is web forums.
There are two web forums that I frequent the most. www.offtopic.com and also www.nyspeed.com/forums/ I have described offtopic.com in a previous blog, but it is essentially a worldwide web forum of varying topics. Nyspeed.com is a local Western NY web forum devoted to cars and trucks which includes modifying them, as well as racing or off-roading. In addition, there is a part of the forum for general conversation, and an area to set up meetings with members just to hang out.
Establishing a reputation with my identity was different for each forum. With the local forum it was very easy because you have many opportunities to meet the other members in person, so their impressions of you in real life carry over to your online identity. That way, when you make a thread or a post in someone else’s thread, you are recognized by people you know, thus showing you have credibility. With the other forum it is much more difficult. Because there are so many total members, and so few that could be in your particular physical area, you will not likely ever have the ability to earn online credentials through meeting people in person. Even if there were some members locally, the forum is so large that you may never even see any of their posts. You have to earn credibility solely through your posts and how other members view them.
On offtopic, I feel as though I have a reputation for being funny yet also serious. Meaning, if a member is looking for serious advice, I am more than happy to reply with a serious answer even if other members do not (which is fairly frequent.) Often times the forum has many threads with jokes or non-serious topics. Because I know I typically have a lot of funny one-liners I try to reply in those topics as well. Because of this sort of balance, I feel like people accept and listen to what I have to say when I’m being serious, and they enjoy my humor when I’m joking around.
As far as identity theft, I’m not a major player on either of these forums so I don’t know why anyone would want to try and be me. However, it could always be a possibility. I don’t think it would work on a local forum only because most of us are familiar with each other and the way we interact and post. On offtopic it would probably be as easy as creating a similar screen name, maybe even only adding a space to the name or an insignificant character. Also, as previously mentioned, it would likely be very easy to impersonate someone because of the sheer number of members. Because most of the members have probably never even heard of me, or seen my posts, it would be very easy to assume my identity.
Having a reputable online identity is very rewarding. While it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things what most people think of you (especially those you’ll never meet,) it is nice to know that people respect what you say and take you seriously.
An online identity which I own is my online ‘’name,’’ soopa7fly. I use this name for most things I am active with on the internet. I use it in online multiplayer games, web forums, and instant messaging screen names. Of those three, the place where I most frequently use this identity is web forums.
There are two web forums that I frequent the most. www.offtopic.com and also www.nyspeed.com/forums/ I have described offtopic.com in a previous blog, but it is essentially a worldwide web forum of varying topics. Nyspeed.com is a local Western NY web forum devoted to cars and trucks which includes modifying them, as well as racing or off-roading. In addition, there is a part of the forum for general conversation, and an area to set up meetings with members just to hang out.
Establishing a reputation with my identity was different for each forum. With the local forum it was very easy because you have many opportunities to meet the other members in person, so their impressions of you in real life carry over to your online identity. That way, when you make a thread or a post in someone else’s thread, you are recognized by people you know, thus showing you have credibility. With the other forum it is much more difficult. Because there are so many total members, and so few that could be in your particular physical area, you will not likely ever have the ability to earn online credentials through meeting people in person. Even if there were some members locally, the forum is so large that you may never even see any of their posts. You have to earn credibility solely through your posts and how other members view them.
On offtopic, I feel as though I have a reputation for being funny yet also serious. Meaning, if a member is looking for serious advice, I am more than happy to reply with a serious answer even if other members do not (which is fairly frequent.) Often times the forum has many threads with jokes or non-serious topics. Because I know I typically have a lot of funny one-liners I try to reply in those topics as well. Because of this sort of balance, I feel like people accept and listen to what I have to say when I’m being serious, and they enjoy my humor when I’m joking around.
As far as identity theft, I’m not a major player on either of these forums so I don’t know why anyone would want to try and be me. However, it could always be a possibility. I don’t think it would work on a local forum only because most of us are familiar with each other and the way we interact and post. On offtopic it would probably be as easy as creating a similar screen name, maybe even only adding a space to the name or an insignificant character. Also, as previously mentioned, it would likely be very easy to impersonate someone because of the sheer number of members. Because most of the members have probably never even heard of me, or seen my posts, it would be very easy to assume my identity.
Having a reputable online identity is very rewarding. While it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things what most people think of you (especially those you’ll never meet,) it is nice to know that people respect what you say and take you seriously.
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