I've played a online multiuser videogame "Link" for maybe 2 years. 6 people played together. Sometimes there are people leaving or coming after a game, and you have to wait until all the 6 people are ready to start the game, so there are short communications during this waiting time.
There are only two avatars I can choose when I first registered. A girl with a white tank and a white skirts, or a boy with a white shirt and a white pants. You can change the appearance of your avatar, only if you pay. I was a girl in the game. At first, I didn't change my costume, but maybe a year later, I got a free costume from a friend, and made "myself" a cute cute girl. I found after I changed my costume, more people tended to talk to me in the waiting time. They tended to send short sentences to me more often (There are a list of popular short sentences, so one can click and send, without typing every word). I found when my avatar is the common girl, I usually left the sentence alone without a reply. But when my avatar was made up as a cute little girl, I would like to send back a short sentence of an expression picture back although I received much more than before. I also found not only did I reply more, the words or the face pictures I sent back were what I thought a cute little would say or show.
According to Yee and Bailenson, the Proteus Effect is "an individual's behavior confirms to their self-representation independent of how others perceive them". They found participants in the virtual environment walked closer and exhibited more self-disclosure if they though themselves to be attractive.
I think I show changes comparing the two periods. At first, when I was a common girl, my focus was all on the game and the competition itself, and I was always quiet. Then I was a cute little girl, I tended to be more communicable because I thought I transferred some attention from the game to the character playing it, and did what a cute girl "should" do. I didn't pay much attention about the changes before, but after I had the class and the Yee and Bailenson point. I think the Proteus Effect works on me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hello Xiangning, I enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you that people try to confirm self-presentation, sometimes even without realizing it, since they believe this is the way they are perceived by others as well.I also liked you mentioning on how the experiment can be improved.
Hey,
You had the interesting ability to analyze a game which you have played for 2 years. Additionally, unlike most of us who only had an hour or so to mess around, you've had many hours to compare and contrast different experiences. The most interesting of which was the difference between your pre-made normal female avatar, and the “cute cute girl” avatar you received from a friend. The differences are, I believe, expected, and your results are similar to those results we discussed in class in regard to avatars as well as several other online spaces, like chat rooms. Finally, it looks like the Proteus Effect really played a role in your experiences. You became a “cutesy girl,” not only in your actions in the game, but in your responses and communication with other avatars.
Post a Comment