The first half an hour that I spent in Second Life after my avatar had been created was mainly dedicated to trying to figure out the program and how and where to go with my new identity. Once I had figure out Second Life I started to explore what I could do with my new identity and went around some of the worlds and talked with the other people there and took the chance to get to know their virtual selves.
My experience in Second Life was consistent with the results of Yee and Bailenson’s study (2007). Because I had an attractive avatar I found myself standing very closely to the people that I was talking with, and they in turn stood closely to me. Additionally, when I was talking with the other avatars throughout the worlds in second life I also disclosed a decent amount of information about “Drew”; again this can be attributed to the attractiveness of the avatar I created. Previous research has shown that attractive individuals tend to be evaluated better in interactions and this effect was expected to carry over into virtual reality environments and was supported by Yee and Bailenson.
Both Yee and Bailenson’s study and my experience in Second Life are consistent with the Proteus Effect which claims that the anonymity and reduced social cues of online spaces can lead to deindividuation. It is important to note that neither of these examples are consistent with SIDE theory because there is no group identity salient. The nature of the virtual reality game is that you are an individual; this causes you to focus on your individual avatar. There aren’t any cues within the virtual reality game that would cause a group identity (at least not initially until after you have developed your avatar and have the opportunity to join groups within Second Life). This is where the Proteus Effect steps in because you are focused on the individuality of your avatar. The physical attractiveness of the avatar causes you to act like an attractive individual would; in this case by standing closer to others and disclosing more information. You have a set of expectations about how an attractive individual should act and you then act in accord with those expectations.
However, the Proteus Effect is not simply behavioral confirmation because the Proteus Effect focuses on how the individual controlling the avatar perceives their avatar and then acts. Behavioral confirmation occurs when another individual makes an assessment about an individual and then that individual acts in a way to confirm the other person’s belief. With the Proteus Effect you are behaving in a way that confirms your assessment and belief of your avatar.
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http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-10-creating-myself.html
http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/11/10-bringing-fugly-to-another-level.html
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