When I created my avatar, I chose a female because I didn’t have any desire to explore what it would be like to play a man. Horsley says that gender-switching exacerbates traditional roles, which I agree with to an extent. However, though the avatar is female, I chose clothing and accessories that project a more capable, masculine inner self. When in a situation where you must choose a gender, it is almost impossible to avoid emulating stereotypical roles. My avatar’s body is very feminine; her body would be considered attractive, her hair is longer, etc. It would have been entirely possible for me to create a manly woman, with minimal female body characteristics (muscular, small breasts, short hair, no jewelry, etc.), but I didn’t. Though physically, she is very feminine, internally, she turned out kind of masculine in her projected attitude and manner. She seems tough and powerful, which are generally masculine characteristics but also are qualities that I aspire to have. I chose her accessories to be more gender-neutral/masculine with plain jeans, a T-shirt and combat boots.

I played Super Mario a lot as a child (it’s still my favorite video game), and I never thought to consider the Mario figure as an avatar. I always thought of an avatar as something more personalized, that has more to do specifically with the user. Anyone who plays Mario is using the same “avatar” as everyone else. For me, Mario’s character does not count as an avatar because the user has no input on his creation; you just use what is there. The SIMS figures I can more understand as avatar-like because the user creates them and there are a variety of possibilities for individuality and distinctions, but there is still no direct connection to the user.

WHAT IT IS PART 2: THE THREE WHITE GIRLS FROM YOUTUBE

I am not a big user of any Internet communication medium outside of e-mail, so the mention of Youtube identities sort of threw me for a loop. From what I understand about these kind of social sites, I think it definitely makes sense to consider these girls’ Internet personalities as avatars because they created them as their own creative outlets.

WHAT IT IS PART 3:  A Point of View

I thought it was really interesting that they started at the most simple point of view (Facebook, Flickr, etc.) I always thought of these as not at all like avatars because I considered avatars as representations that probably do not closely resemble the creator/user. I would have considered someone’s fictitious account to be an avatar, but that does not make any logical sense. This section made me rethink what constitutes an avatar.

WHAT IT IS PART 4: A SIMPLE CHARACTER

This section more closely resembles what I had always considered avatars to be: characters. I have no firsthand experience in games like WoW or Second Life, and minimal knowledge of SIMS or Facebook, but from what I have heard, the basic idea is to create a character and develop it. This has always made sense to me in a the sense of a user building something to serve as an alternate identity, but I never thought of an accurate self-representation as an avatar.

The V.R. version of Shakespeare could have several aspects. On one level, students could participate as real English citizens of the period. Role playing as traveling actors, nobles, etc. would give students new insight into British history. Limiting the world and accessories to those that would be historically accurate would help students experience full immersion into the day-to-day life that forms the foundation for many of Shakespeare’s plays.

After establishing the historical context of Shakespearean theater, students could engage in Second Lives directly based on individual plays. With each student responsible for acting out a different character, the understanding of the plays would be deepened in two ways.

First of all, the interactive experience of participating as a character would emphasize a more complete understanding of motivations, personal history, etc. Observing how the student emulates his/her assigned character would allow the professor to evaluate the overall comprehension on a level that approaches the familiar “safe” environment.

Secondly, a visual, interactive representation of each play would help the students more fully understand the intricate subplots and character developments behind the storyline. Shakespeare’s plays are often difficult to understand; observing and participating in the story would help clarify some of the finer points.

When dealing with a notoriously tedious subject such as Shakespeare, the interactive environment of Second Life could boost both interest and understanding. From elaborating on knowledge of the historical period to reenacting the scenes and characters, virtual reality would be a valuable tool in improving comprehension and appreciation of the work.

Wikinews and Digg are both Internet sources that rely on user input and feedback to further their goal of providing reliable, relevant information to users. Though both value the opinions of their readers, each encourages user participation on different levels.

Wikinews aims to be an avenue for neutral, unbiased news by examining view points from all relevant sides. The site’s creators and users aspire to maintain this reliability by encouraging contributors to cite their sources and maintain neutrality. The site has a simple interface that is easy to learn and use. Once you become a registered user, you can submit and edit articles in a similar process to that of Wikipedia.

Wikinews designates two types of articles: synthesis and original reporting. The synthesis articles draw on already published stories, while original stories are contributed by users with firsthand experience. The site actively discourages any opinionated commentaries, advising users “if you want to tell the world what you think, try blogging.” There is an “Opinion” section for those who wish to participate in discussions about news stories.

While Wikinews is created purely for the sake of compiling an impartial account of current events articles, Digg does not attempt to influence the contributions or feedback from its users. Digg’s main goal is to employ user opinion to determine the value of a given entry. It functions by allowing members to post pieces they find interesting.

Unlike Wikinews, Digg is not restricted to impartial news articles; users can post commentaries and Youtube videos as well. Members can rate these entries with a “Digg” or “Bury”. Digg” indicates a favorable opinion; the objects with the highest number of “Diggs” are put on the main page. “Bury” indicates something you find objectionable; pieces with significant “Bury” feedback alert the site’s managers who may decide to remove the entry.

Between Wikinews and Digg, Digg seems much more useful in a news search. Though its main page is not devoted to stories that are considered more traditionally news (politics, government, the economy, scientific advancements, etc.), these stories are easily accessible. There are category tabs for technology, business, and entertainment; you can also search all entries using the search bar. Wikinews is heavily edited in order to maintain a level of impartiality, which is admirable; however, the articles on Digg are all pre-published from presumably reliable sources. Though an individual article might fall short on impartiality, a variety of articles discussing the same subject will likely provide enough different view points for the reader to understand differing perspective.