While I was commenting on one of the other posts from this section, I remembered an episode of MTV's "True Life" that is extremely relevant to the idea of online identity, RPGs, and cyberpunks. YouTube disabled embedding, so here is a link: view the video here.
This episode follows three women who have various problems interacting with others in the "real" world: social anxiety, stage fright, shyness, etc. They use the Internet and RPGs (role-playing games) to overcome these problems and lead fulfilling lives--all while being online. The full episode shows each of them trying to take their online confidence and personalities into the real world, but as the end of the clip shows, it doesn't go well for any of them.
What is so different about interacting with someone online? Why is it so much more comfortable for these people? While I understand being able to put up a front and simply sign offline if something becomes too intense, suffocating, or intolerable, but the same is true of "real" life--we have the personal freedom to walk away from any situation that we feel uncomfortable in, extenuating circumstances aside. We can walk away from relationships that we don't feel are thriving. We can walk offstage if the audience is staring too hard. We can put our clothes back on if we feel too much pressure.
If people are turning to RPGs and the Internet to act out their actual personalities, what does the computer hide? Any ideas, guys?
I think that interacting with people via the internet takes away a lot of the spontaneity. It may be easier for people to plan out what they want to say, which eases their nerves. I also think that some people find the alleged anonymity of the internet to be liberating. If you've read Erving Goffman, I think that the whole public and private spheres thing applies to the internet... the internet allows you more than any other public sphere to present yourself however you want.
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