Thursday, November 27, 2008

The Down Side of Anonymity

If people are anonymous in Second Life, then how do you know who you are dealing with? How do you stop thirteen year old boys from coming on and harassing everyone at a Welcome Area? How do you stop sexual predators from seeking out vulnerable victims? How can you develop a friendship, perhaps even a romantic relationship with someone about whom you know nothing?
In the story of Cyrano de Bergerac a woman falls in love with a man through his letters without regard to his looks. It is a romantic reflection on what really matters in love. It is the character of the person not the person's looks.
Of course, Cyrano's flaw is that he has a big nose. But, what if his flaw was that he was a well spoken sexual predator or a serial killer? Would that matter? Of course it would. And while anonymity protects innocent people from recriminations regarding there personal expressions, it also protect maladjusted, sociopathic people from being discovered.
As hard as it is to believe, there are people who will engage in relationships solely for the purpose of upsetting the other person. It is hard to believe that somebody could be that badly bent. But anonymity protect the bent along with the normal. And often the normal suffer at the hands of the bent.

But, putting personal risks aside, there is a whole other cost to anonymity. And that is the business cost.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Anonymity in Virtual Worlds

Anonymity in a virtual world means that a person can appear as an avatar without any connection to the real person. Currently, in Second Life, users have a wide variety of options regarding the amount of anonymity they would like to have. Each avatar has a profile accessible to other avatars where they can provide information. In fact, there is a section in the profile titled 1st Life where they can provide information regarding who the are in real life. But, in fact, almost no one provides any information there. There is also a web page tab where you can provide a link to your web page. However, most people leave that blank or provide a link to a YouTube video of their favorite band. Clearly, most people like the anonymity the Second Life provides.

There are good reasons for enjoying this anonymity. If you don't like your height, weight, gender, looks, race, age or social class, you can try being some thing else in Second Life. If you wish to experiment with bisexuality or master/slave relationships, you can do so without fear of reprisals. And, as some friends have commented to me, if you screw up your relationships, you can create a new avatar and start over. Anonymity provides a great deal of personal, expressive and creative freedom. Second Life would simply not be the same without it. Any yet, as with everything there is also a down side to anonymity. And that will be the topic of the next post.

considers the trade off between a person's right to privacy as they conduct themselves in a virtual world and that person's responsibility to be who they claim to be.

Certainly anonymity allows a person to be things or to do things in a virtual world that they may not do in the real world. This freedom of self expression may be important but must be weighed against the impacts that these behaviors have on other people.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Ethical Issues in Virtual Worlds

Having pondered this a bit, it seems to me that ethical issues in virtual worlds fall into four categories: anonymity, attachment, regulation, and the moral basis for ethical decisions. There are almost certainly more. But these are the ones I came up with for now.

Anonymity considers the trade off between a person's right to privacy as they conduct themselves in a virtual world and that person's responsibility to be who they claim to be. Certainly anonymity allows a person to be things or to do things in a virtual world that they may not do in the real world. This freedom of self expression may be important but must be weighed against the impacts that these behaviors have on other people.

Attachment addresses the phenomenon that occurs when people begin to experience the virtual through the experiences of their avatar. If you insult their avatar or treat it badly, they may feel as through they have been insulted or treated badly in real life. If this is the case do we need to establish boundaries on acceptable behavior in the virtual world or do the people who are experiencing the world through their avatar just need to get a real life?

The third question is the extent to which the virtual world should be regulated. Since nobody can really get hurt in a virtual world the most harm somebody can achieve is to be annoying. But with attachment and real money things are not so simple. On the other hand, virtual worlds are great places for creativity and self expression. Unnecessary regulation can inhibit that.

Finally, what is the moral basis for ethical decision making in a virtual world? Do we make decisions as we would in the real world or does the fact that a virtual world is a simulation have any influence on the moral basis.

These questions will be examined in more detail in upcoming posts.

Monday, November 3, 2008

How Often Should You Blog?

Some people blog every day, some weekly, and some very sporadically. So, it occurred to me to ask the question – How often should you blog? I think the frequency of blogging should suit the purpose of the blog and this means that you have to know why you are blogging in order to determine how often it would be appropriate for you.

Let’s first consider the daily blog and the reasons why this might be appropriate. I can think of three reasons why daily blogging would be appropriate - the diary, writing practice, and news commentary.

In the diary blog, the author simply narrates his or her day for anyone who might be interested in following the days of their lives. If you have something unusual about you then this kind of blog can be very interesting. Unfortunately, many people who write this type of blog do not have anything interesting to say. But, for every humdrum diary blog there are always a few ardent follower. So, who am I to judge?

Writing practice seems to be a slightly more worthy calling. Most writers will say if you want to be a writer you have to write and write and write. They often recommend a daily journal in which you write everyday just for practice. I have done this and strongly endorse the practice. Some time around 2001, I started a daily journal. I made myself write 500 - 1000 words every day. I kept it up until just recently and I believe it was an invaluable experience. Of course, nobody has read my daily journals and I don't think I would want them to be read. But, I can see how writing everyday in a blog could serve the same purpose.

News cometary seems to be the best justification. If you are commenting on the financial markets, or the election process, daily comments are almost required. Things change daily and your daily observations become part of the conversation. This seem to me to represent the very heart of blogging. There are, unfortunately, a few drawbacks. First, it is a lot of work to write every day. Second, it is work for the readers to have to come back every day to keep up. And, third, writing every day does not give you a lot of time to organize your thoughts. So, I don't think daily blogging is for me.

I am going to skip over weekly blogging and go to sporadic blogging next, merely to dismiss it. I don't think a blog should be written sporadically. Suppose you are a world class thinker who waits for appropriate topics to come along, ponders them, refines your thoughts and then writes them in a blog. Isn't that an appropriate use? I don't think so. There is an informality to blogging that is defeated in that approach. It is like preparing a lecture and bringing it to a happy hour conversation.

I think weekly entries are the ideal, at least for me. With weekly entries you have time to come up with something to day and time to organize your thoughts so you can say it clearly. In my daily journal, there was much ink spilled describing the weather and why I do or don't feel like writing at the moment. If you cannot come up with something interesting over the course of a week, then you really don't have much to say and perhaps shouldn't be keeping a blog. Further, your readers will come to expect the regularity of the blog entries and if your writing is any good they will look forward to them. So, I am going to switch to weekly entries and see how that works.

Next week, I will return to the topic of virtual worlds and discuss some of the ethical issues.