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Brandon's Final Project

Page history last edited by BrandonLesko 15 years, 3 months ago

 

Second Life: Social Tool or Dangerous Drug? 

 

 

The word addiction is defined by The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders as “the compulsive need to use a habit forming substance, or an irresistible urge to engage in a behavior” (Gale Encyclopedia).  In most cases the term is used In conjunction with the compulsive use of legal and illegal substances including most commonly alcohol, varied forms of illegal and prescription drugs, cigarettes and in some cases food. However with the increased use of computers there is a new form of addiction: The Word Wide Web. First invented in 1980 by a professor at CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) and connected through the Internet that was invented a few years before the World Wide Web offered new possibilities and frontiers for the expansion of human knowledge. However with the new advantages came dangerous pitfalls with the potential for addiction. Sites like EBay, Amazon, and YouTube and not to mention the countless pornography sites are all possibilities for addiction. As the World Wide Web has progressed various virtual worlds were being invented, starting with PC based games such as The Sims, Age of Empires and other goal-based games were users would complete goals through avatars or virtual representations of themselves. This in turn lead to the creation of social networking sites including MySpace and Facebook, where subscribers would create a 2-Dimensional avatar of themselves for others to see. As the success of PC role-playing games increased, video game companies put their games online with the most notable being Second Life  (SL for short) created by Linden Labs and The World of Warcraft (WoW) produced by Blizzard Entertainment. Both worlds offer the user limitless possibilities in terms of goals and what can be done in the world. The World of Warcraft is more goal oriented in terms of set requirements such as leveling a character up via experience points or possessing different types of weapons, whereas Second Life is driven more by the goals of the user. Second Life offers a greater potential for addiction as the “resident” (as users of SL are called) controls everything about their avatar and there is no definite end goal for the user to achieve and thus continue playing which can lead to addiction with detrimental consequences on the real or first life of the resident.

 

 

            The use of the Internet has become so rampant and become such a phenomena that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders proposed there should be a new classification “as a cybernetic disorder diagnostic category, which would comprise, apart from the Internet all forms of misuse of modern technological achievements such as mobile phones, computers and videogames” (Hinic, Excessive Internet Use Addiction Disorder or Not?) But Second Life has a much greater possibility for addiction because of the limitless freedom that it offers. There are several symptoms or diagnostic criteria for Internet Addiction are “constant desire to be on the Internet, fatigue, sleeplessness, and a realistic loss of significant relations, professional and educational opportunities” (Hinic, 1). Studies show that more and more people are becoming involved in Internet related activities and the demographics are starting to change as well. Gone is the stereotype of the nerdy computer addicted teen that sits in his basement all day and night playing Dungeons and Dragons online. More and more adults are beginning to get involved in virtual worlds. In a poll conducted by Time (In conjunction ironically enough with America Online) on May 15th, 2005 in an article entitled “Who’s Playing Games Up and Why?” showed that “roughly half of Americans ages 12 to 55 are tapping away at some kind of electronic game--whether on a console, a PC, a cell phone or another handheld device--for an average of three hours every week.” (Chris Taylor, CNN.com)  It is also not surprising that there are gender divisions based on game type. Men typically play more sports related games, whereas women tend to engage in social gaming such as the Sims. The survey goes on to reveal very interesting and concerning statistics: “1 in 10 gamers claim to be addicted 1 in 4 admits to losing a night of sleep to play games; and another quarter has been engrossed enough to skip meals.” (Taylor, 1). Addicts can even go through withdrawal from the Internet if away from a computer for an extended period of time. Symptoms include “Attempts to stop playing can result in a withdrawal syndrome consisting of restlessness, depression, vivid dreams about the game, anger, and excessive sleep”. (Meenan, Internet Gaming A Hidden Addiction). The amount of time spent on the Internet and in virtual worlds is on the rise from in just the last decade alone. Statistics show that as of December 31st, 2000 there were 360,985,492 Internet users in the world. Compared to June 30th of 2008, that number has increased to a staggering 1,463,632,361 people. (InternetWorldStats.com). Linden Labs calculates the number of residents to be 16,317,359 through midnight of December 4th, 2008 ( LindenLabs, SecondLife.com).

  That is an increase of 300% in 8 years alone with more growth projected in coming years as technology becomes more affordable and Internet access becomes more readily available. The possibility for Internet addiction has become so prevalent that it has been chronicled on several segments of the  CBS News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fog8OihoBlY&feature=channel

   www.youtube.com/watch

 

 

            As more and more people engage in online activity the question arises as to why they begin to play and ultimately what keeps them playing once their goals have been reached. In some cases the Internet and Virtual Worlds act as a drug or as an escape due to either anxiety or other issues. “The Internet is used as an escape or a gateway from problems and feelings like hopelessness, anxiety and depression, the Internet takes the role as the main de-stressor, so that besides that, there is the time increase there is a broadening of situations/needs which present the “trigger” for the escape into the cyberspace.” ( Hinic, 65). Other theories include a behavior model where someone can become their avatar psychologically and wind up becoming more engaged in a world where they feel like they are someone compared to the real world. There are also instances of distorted mental images that lead to the use of the Internet for an escape. According to Hinic: “Cognitive distortions of the self include self doubt, low self efficacy, low self esteem and negative self appraisal such as “I am worthless offline, but I am someone online” (Hinic, 767). As can be seen, the psychological state of the user is a strong determinant to what type of behavioral patter will develop with regards to amount and type of usage of the internet, however it is more common in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games or MMORPG of which currently there are more than “12.5 million MMORPG subscribers world wide. “ (Meenan, 1). In terms of addiction MMORPG’s have the biggest potential for addiction compared to traditional console based games such as the X-Box and “which do not offer the social interaction of MMORPG’s and are designed to have a defined ending” (Meenan, 1).

             In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, a player creates an avatar based on several stock characters and can customize them with different types of clothing, armor and accessories that can be gained through either completing quests or trade. Currently there are over 8 million players in the World of Warcraft making it the most popular MMORPG of its time. It has become so popular that the Comedy Central series South Park made an entire episode about WoW entitled “Make Love Not Warcraft” Tt lampooned a character that had an impressive avatar but played to the stereotype that in real life the user was socially inept and relied on a virtual world in order to compensate. For an extended period of time I was a user of WoW and found myself very nearly becoming addicted. It started off small at first, with minor quests in return for experience points but as I gained each level, I desired to garner more and more experience points and it drove me to stay up late, and spend extended periods of time alone in my house on the computer when my actual life suffered immensely. I played for more than 9 hours a day during the summer and into the fall of my junior year in high school and I found that my grades declined and I did not engage in social activities with my friends as much I used to. Ultimately it came down to my parents giving me a talk about the responsibilities of my real life. Aside from the intervention my father wound up cancelling the credit card subscription and that ultimately led to the end of me playing World of Warcraft.   After I stopped playing I realized that I was addicted to the World of Warcraft and have since moved on with my life but being ever mindful of the potential danger that it poses. Numerous comparisons can be made between SL and WoW, primarily that they are MMORPG’s and that both are user driven, that is the user can control how much progress they make. However the defining characteristic between the two is that WoW has definite end goals, i.e. a maximum level that can be reached until they no longer gain any experience points and must fine another means of continuing the game, such as questing for gear or going on raids. SL on the other hand has no ultimate end goals, the resident controls how long they continue to be a member of SL or what they choose to do in it.

            During my time in world I met an avatar named Sailpgd Paulino who said he was a high school student and was a self proclaimed SL addict. We conversed for a period of time and I took some snapshots with him and he gave me his explicit permission to use said photographs. Our topics included the reasons for playing SL, and the impact that it had on his life. He told me that his academics suffered as well as his social life, but that SL allowed him to escape the monotony of high school life and be able to pursue things that he was not able to do in real life like run a business, and pursue romantic affairs and ultimately serve as a means of relieving stress and for pure entertainment.  He later went on to say that he wanted to start a business in SL in order to make some money. Sailpgd was the first proclaimed SL addict that I have met in world but I have spent enough time in world to possibly be called an addict but I do not let it interfere with my first life and my responsibilities. Here are a few pictures of myself conversing with Sailpgd Paulino about his addiction to Second Life 

 

 

             In his book I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having A Second Life Mark Stephen Meadows chronicles his foray into Second Life and how it slowly became an obsession in his life.  He describes how he slowly became attached to his avatar and that happens to every person once they cross a virtual boundary. “The first is when the avatar’s attributes feel like they are your own personal attributes. The second is when you have an emotional investment in the virtual world. The third is when you recognize that labor in a virtual world can be valued just like labor in the real world.” (Meadows, 69). He also details the way in which the real world is affected by avatars and more specifically the impact it has been having on families.  Addiction to SL and MMORPG’s has become a problem enough for counseling to be offered in various virtual worlds. Meadows provide an example in Kimberly Young, who acts as a counselor for avatars in need. “She handles more than 200 cases a year, and the majority of them involve fantasy role playing games.” According to Young “They start forming attachments to other players, and they start shutting out their primary relationships.” (Meadows, 70). This is one of the first stages of addiction where the resident voluntarily shuts out external factors that would impact their time in world. Conversely however, Second Life also offers a medium for therapy and patients in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. An article entitled “Avatars In Recovery” by Steve Mollman on CNN.com details how addicts in recovery are assisted by Second Life “n the latter, an avatar that the client controls meets with another that the therapist controls. The rehab center has been carefully replicated within Second Life, on a secure parcel of virtual real estate called Identity Island” (Mollman, 1). It later goes on to raise the question of identity; do the users ever identify with their avatars or develop an addiction to SL based upon their previous history with addiction? “Clients may possibly objectify or distance themselves from their avatar, which in some cases might attenuate the effects of the therapy” (Mollman, 1) according to John Suler, a professor who studies how Second Life helps former addicts recover. It seems seemingly counter intuitive to treat addictive behavior with a means of potential addiction but as for now the strategy appears to be working and the amount of users who engage in self help are on the rise. “This sort of thing is likely to happen more often. Research firm Gartner estimates that 80 percent of Net users worldwide will be in non-gaming virtual worlds like Second Life by the end of 2011.” (Mollman, 1). To examine this further, I travelled to areas in world that serve as rehabilitation centers for addicts of various drugs including Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous. Here are some pictures from the Second Life Treatment Center and the 12 Step Recovery Fellowship:

 

 

 

            Another potential area for addiction in Second Life is sex. There are countless clubs devoted to sexual experiences within SL, clubs such as Bordeaux and the Diamond Club offer limitless possibilities in the sexual realm. I visited one such club with a friend; just on a whim to see what it was and it was rather easy to see how someone could become addicted to having simulated sex. It offered a sort of freedom that could not be done in the real world, casual sex with multiple partners and the ability to act out fantasies with no repercussions what so ever, no worry about infectious diseases, pregnancy or emotional complications, just semi physical gratification plain and simple. Here is a picture of the Bordeaux Sex Club that I toured with a friend of mine, where virtually anything was possible.  That is not to say however that some residents don’t pursue relationships in world because there are many that do and are quite faithful to one another and there are others who are not. However the creation and maintenance of SL relationships usually come at the expense of real world relationships and in some extreme cases the two types of relationships are in contention with each other. CNN.com posted an article by Steve Mollman titled “For Online Addicts Relationships Float Between Real, Virtual Worlds”. It crossed between the real and the virtual world. “"We are seeing more and more adults and adolescents struggling with real world relationships because of virtual world relationships they have created,”" says Eric Zehr, vice president of addiction and behavioral services at the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery at Proctor Hospital. Members of his team have consulted therapists in South Korea, where "boot camps" have been set up to break online gaming addictions.” (Mollman, 1). The relationships can have serious consequences in the real world if taken too far. For example the article provides an example of a World of Warcraft addict, “who's dropped out of college, lost numerous jobs, lost his girlfriend, and is on the verge of homelessness.” (Mollman, 1). Although WoW is different than SL, the consequences and impact that it has on the real life are well, real. In some cases, the real and virtual worlds collide setting off a chain of events that ultimately ends with some sort of long term issue arising in the real world. Recently an English couple filed for divorce after “Amy Taylor, 28, said she had caught husband David Pollard, 40, having sex with an animated woman. The couple, who met in an Internet chatroom in 2003, are now separated” (CNN.com, Second Life Affair Ends in Divorce). This shows how pervasive the relationships formed online can be into the real world, that in some cases that it can be taken so seriously that it can end in actual divorce and in some cases even legal recourse as for the woman in Japan who was arrested for the murder of her boyfriends avatar and was prosecuted and taken to real life jail. 

            Conversely not all relationships formed online are detrimental. According to the journal CyberPyschology and Behavior in an article “Social Interactions in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games” published in the August 2007 issue concluded with some positive statistics, that from the 1000 subjects that were interviewed “three quarters made good friends online, half have met in real life situations, a third have found themselves attracted to another gamer and a tenth of the had developed physical relationships” ( Liebert, 1). In this instance it would appear that becoming involved in online worlds is just another means of broadening social skills and expanding the amount of people that an individual knows, even if it is through a medium of the virtual world.

            As the 21st century progresses, social interaction is adapting to the new forms of technology that have been invented starting with the internet and then from the evolution of the World Wide Web to PC based games and now to the era of Virtual Worlds. Virtual Words offer possibilities for socialization and the expansion of knowledge but at the same time they pose a threat as a double edged sword where addiction can start and if not treated correctly can lead to an increased addiction which can have detrimental affects on the real world. Second Life allows for the resident to do anything they want, at any time, for any reason and even without any reason needed. This limitless possibility also sets the stage for dangerous addiction to take place due to a variety of factors including primarily the psychological state of the user and if they have any past history of addictive behavior. As the transition continues into the Virtual World, ultimately like in any activity there will be members of the community who find themselves addicted to the activity that they are engaged in. The key will be to make sure that everything in life is done in moderation and that includes what is done in the Second Life as well. 

 

 

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Comments (5)

Joe Essid said

at 11:22 am on Dec 1, 2008

Brandon,

Glad to see the link working now! One important Q to address would be "is there some element of a virtual world that makes it more prone to addiction than a game?" I say that b/c I love WW II PC games, and I played "Great Naval Battles" (a DOS based (!) WWII surface/air game) compulsively until I beat the PC constantly. Then I put it away. SL, my definition, has resident-created goals, as Meadows shows us.

Meadows gives you some qualitative data, as does Au's Making of Second Life. Be sure to pick that up; it's on reserve at the library.

Bridget Kinealy said

at 5:26 pm on Dec 2, 2008

The major claim I see is that people can get addicted to SL. Three observations are not every person becomes addicated to SL for the same reason, people become addicted to games like SL at different times, and SL has addictive quailites. Three assumptions are even though a person may be successful in real life and he or she may still become addicted in SL, people who have met their goals in real life may be bored and that is why they turn to SL and can thus become addicted, and SL can ruin a person's real life.

Kate Reilly said

at 5:52 pm on Dec 2, 2008

I also agree with Bridget that your claim will be that people become addicted to Second Life. Three observations would be:

1. You yourself have been somewhat addicted to Second Life or some other form of online game?
2. There is a certain aspect of Second Life that draws people in.
3. Addiction is common with internet games.

I am also focusing on internet addiction and using Second Life as a prime example. I think I am going to argue whether it is actually addiction or just leading to obsessive use/unhealthy behaivor because addiction is hard to define. After we've both done more research we may be able to find more arguments for our final papers. So far it looks like you're headed in the right direction!

Kiara Lee said

at 5:34 pm on Dec 4, 2008

I agree that the definition of addiction could be controversial.
Something to think about:
- Are all people who are addicited to SL successful in the real world? Maybe there are some stats that reveal a little more about internet addicts.

Shabnaz said

at 5:46 pm on Dec 4, 2008

Your primary claim, as observed above, is that Second Life gets people addicted to it. As with all other addictions, it has certain negative connotations. How are the lives of the addicts being altered? What someone may call addictive, others may just wave off as a favorite pastime.

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