For my final project, I am going to talk about the addiction to the virtual world that some might attain from being members of Second Life. I would like to explore this area of Second Life because as a user of the virtual world, I am interested to see how many people become addicted and how this may or may not affect the user’s lives. I would like to focus on the question why people get addicted and if they do what are the consequences. Even though becoming addicted to Second Life might not necessarily be a bad thing, but addiction to any certain object or idea or world is not always healthy. I want to talk about how Carmen the avatar had an addiction to Second Life and eventually stopped taking her medication in the real world and ended up dying because of that. I feel as though people who become addicted to Second Life struggle to see the difference between the real world and the virtual world.
I want to try and avoid making claims such as: everyone who uses Second Life is addicted to the virtual world. Also, I want to stay away from claims such as getting addicted to Second Life is a bad aspect.
Sources that I'm going to use:
1. Bejerot, Nils. Addiction: an artificially induced drive. Foreward by S. S. B. Gilder. Narkoitka och narkomani. English. 1972.
I would like to use this source in order to explain what an addiction is and how one can become addicted to something and the affects of having the problem of addiction.
2. Landry, Mim J. Overview of addiction treatment and effectiveness/by Mim J. Landry. 1996.
I would like to use this source so I can talk about after one is addicted how long it would take to recover and how much of one's life could change because of addiction.
3. Castronova, Edward. Exodus to the virtual world : how online fun is changing reality. 2008, c2007.
The use of this source will be important because I want to talk about how online users of the virtual world are getting caught up between the real world and the virtual reality because of the addiction.
4. Psychology and the Internet: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal implications / edited by Jayne Gackenback. Publisher:San Diego : Academic Press, c1998.
- I want to make sure to use this source in order in incorporate information from the psychological perspective and in throughout this source there are several different perspectives from this point of view that I could probably fine useful.
Link Back Home http://fall103.pbworks.com/Meaghan-H's-wiki
Comments (3)
Joe Essid said
at 5:54 pm on Nov 14, 2009
You have a strong start and realize where your biases can mislead you.
One of the most troubling aspects of addiction, as we know it today, is that we link it to a tangible substance or experience such as alcohol, a drug, or sexual stimulation of some sort. Some gamblers are said to be "addicts," and they go bankrupt gaming.
What is it, say, about gambling that makes some people do this? Is it the act of wagering, the desire for wealth, or the adrenaline rush? I say all that because I fear we use the word "addict" too loosely. This is why the sources you choose are good starting places.
In your research, you'll find references to the number of hours spent weekly by SLers and others playing various games online. One hazard here: are sheer numbers of hours an indicator of addiction? What do the experts say marks the line between an addict and one who does something casually?
chelsea said
at 10:02 pm on Nov 16, 2009
I'm really curious as to how people get addicted to SL because I just don't see how that can happen. Do these people that are addicted have good jobs, or a family? Carmens story is also very interesting since she was so involved in Second Life and it became so much of her life. I like where you are going with this topic and you realized where you can be misled.
Sarah L. said
at 2:43 am on Nov 20, 2009
focus on the question "of why" - you left out of
in the following sentence you don't need the word "but" its awk
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