I Live Another Life on the Web

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THM16t5Cm_4
MTV's documentary show series titled, "True Life..." goes over different aspects of peoples lives.  They discuss addiction, mental disorders, birth defects, relationships, careers, and so on. This documentary series is one of my personal favorite shows because it portrays people in a realistic way.  Normally, MTV loves to script their reality shows to make ratings go up and keep there young audience entertained.  They also use only attractive and young actors to attract audiences of all ages and genders.  This television series does not always use attractive people to gain ratings, they just tell these individuals stories and hope to reach out to others that have similar life experiences.

One of there episodes highlighted on participants that lead a different life online.  This particular episode had three young women who were all insecure about themselves and escaped that insecurity by being online.  Two out of the three girls have insecurities with men so they use their sex appeal to attract attention from them via internet.  The other young woman is an aspiring singer who is scared to perform on stage,so she only feels like she can be a star on Second Life.

In the Dines text there is a chapter on Second Life.  It looks the sexual release people may get from using Second Life but they also address the massive appeal to this online community. "Second Life is about personal expression and your avatar is the most personal expression of all. After all, an avatar is your persona in the virtual world...Despite offering almost infinite possibilities, the tool to personalize your avatar is very simple to use and allows you to change anything you like, from the tip of your nose to the tint of your skin." (Linden Research, 2006) This quote explains the main drive to these young woman's need to be a different person online. They want to create a persona that is not themselves. Though the Dines chapter indulges more on the sexual component to Second Life, I was more intrigued by persona of being someone else.

To relate back to the "True Life..." episode the young woman that suffered from stage fright used Second Life as a way to express herself. She never used to expose her sexuality or hurt other members within this online community.  She just wanted to be the singer/songwriter she has always dreamed of.  Second Life acted as a crutch for her she still was able to gain the confidence she needed to perform on a real stage.  I think her story give a positive light on the what Second Life community can be like.  In the Dines text, the authors discussed more so the negative effects of self expression with the harsh emphasis on sex and violence. 

I guess online communities like Second Life can be used in many ways and people may use it to socialize and built on relationships, or make it a negative experience by taking advantage of the members within the community.

Reference:
Dines, G. (2011). Gender, Race, and Class in Media (3rd ed., p. 574). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE publication.