Whither the Individual

Whither the Individual:

        In terms of increasing our identity or conforming to the profiles of sites such as Facebook and Myspace, I believe that users are definitely expanding their identities rather than restricting themselves. The usage of virtual websites serves the purpose for users to have the ability to be something they aren’t in a virtual world. In the documentary “Digital Nation”, David Rushkoff and Rachel Dreztin evaluate internet usage and how technology is changing the way we live every day.

        In this documentary, Rushkoff investigates programs such as Second Life and World of Warcraft in order to see if these programs help their users become more individual or force them to act in a certain “cookie – cutter” manner in order to fit a certain profile. I believe that people are in fact exploring more facets of their identities by using these programs. Users are able to explore various things that they would perhaps not be comfortable doing in the actual world of reality. For example, according to Digital Nation, 1/3 of female users end up in romantic relationships with men that they meet in the game.

                        

Likewise, Second Life was created with the intent of improving intimacy online. Creator Philip Rosedale’s intent in creating this site was to make his users more willing to interact online with others and to solve the issue of alienation that the use of technology has caused. This film also features an 83 year old eldery woman by the name of Bubbie, who has made a cooking show in her old age through use of technology. Although she is not someone who was raised on technology, she is able to use technology in order to spread her recipes and cooking techniques to the world around her.

                   

In terms of “personal space”, I feel as though it is changing through use of this technology, not necessarily diminishing. Users still have personal profiles as well as personal identities within these virtual worlds. The difference with the idea of personal space in terms of sites like facebook, twitter and myspace is that these sites allow users to comment and contribute to other profiles, not necessarily invade someone’s “personal space”. Likewise, these profiles almost always reflect the user’s actual identity, even though it may sometimes display them in a different way.

                    

        I believe that these groups and sites give the world a chance to be someone they are not or cannot physically be. I think that in moderation this exploration of self could be beneficial to many, but can in some cases be harmful in terms of people becoming obsessive or addicted to these sites. I also disagree with the opinion that people need to “surrender the ego” in order to use these sites and become part of an online community. In fact I feel that people can cultivate their identities through usage of these websites rather than “surrendering” them.

Users are able to participate in these sites and learn things that they may not have known prior to using these sites.  I also think that as a “hyper- people” an online community is able to learn how to cooperate with others in a different way other than in person. This is extremely important because as Rushkoff and Dreztin mention in the video, technology will take over everything we do in the future despite the way we feel about it. According to Digital Nation, companies such as IBM are already using programs such as Second Life in order to set up international business meetings as well as regular office hours in order to make meeting time more convenient. In the future, employees will have to know how to use these programs in order to be hired because of the rapid rate technology has been taking off in the past decade.

In conclusion, I do not believe that these websites and programs are “whithering” the individual per se, but are allowing individual people to shape themselves in a different way than they are normally used to. Personal space can now be displayed online, and individual profiles can be seen by other users of these programs. Likewise, people are able to take on different roles and do things that they may not be able to do in their real lives. I think that these programs can help cultivate an individual by showing them a different side of what they are used to in everyday life. The idea of a “hyper- people” actually requires people to be individual and unique in order to contribute to these virtual worlds.