After a few visits in Habbo Hotel I have learned that in a virtual world people are not afraid to say anything. I am learning that everything we have talked about in class applies directly to virtual worlds. Gender, race, identity and sexuality are all issues that effect how people interact while in virtual worlds. I still believe that people are using virtual worlds as a place to hide behind a different identity and try things they would not normally do.
According to Dictonary.com sexuality can be defined as, “sexual character; possession of the structural and functional traits of sex. Recognition of or emphasis upon sexual matters. Involvement in sexual activity. An organism’s preparedness for engaging in sexual activity.” Habbo Hotel provides a place were people can express their sexuality in a different way.
Sexuality in Habbo Hotel is very different from sexuality in the real world. In the real world when meeting someone you normally know if you’re physically attracted to them or not. On a virtual world people can lie about their sexuality making it hard to determine if you would be attracted to them. Plus my avatar looks like a Lego character that never blinks.
I also believe that physical body contact plays a major role in sexuality. While exploring Habbo Hotel it seems that everyone is interested in cyber sex, asking question like do you have a camera or msn (an updated instant messenger). Call me crazy but the thing I love the most about being in a relationship in the real world is the physical contact. The real issue about sexuality in virtual worlds provides users the chance to express as sexual beings without the limitations of physical appearance. Like I mentions earlier, people can use virtual worlds to hide behind a computer screen and create a new identity where biological, physical and emotional aspects do not apply.
I am completely open to the idea of virtual worlds but I always seem to ask myself, “Why don’t these people spend more time becoming successful in the real world? It might be hard to meet people in the real world but how do you trust the people you met online? Nonverbal communication like gestures, pitch, tone, eye contact, body language and facial expressions will never exist in a virtual world.” Playing devils advocate, I guess you could say virtual worlds are a “safe” place to explore your sexuality but I still wonder the effects on people in social real life interactions.
Question:
Can having a sexual relationship in a virtual world effect how people act in real world relationships?
Or
Are people in virtual worlds who form sexual relationship deprived of sexual relationships in the real world?
I have trouble grasping the idea that people can form meaningful sexual relationships online, because it's not real. Maybe they have a very active imagination, and it can seem real, but it's not. It is possible they don't get that attention in real life, or maybe they do have the real thing, but are curious about other things, or wanting to learn about things they wouldn't normally learn about in real life. I have no idea, I'm just speculating.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend, who.. a lot of people might find to be attractive. But for some reason.. (i have theories) He doesn't get any real female attention. Occasionally at the bars it will start going well with some girl, but then he gets to drunk and.. well.. it never works out.
I guess you could say he is deprived of sexual relationships in the real world, he likes to call it a dry spell. This has not driven him to join any virtual worlds in search of pixel "sex".
I think it depends on a persons hobbies probably, and how much social interaction they get. My friend has people over all the time, and hes always up to something, or if not doing much, hes playing COD. Maybe people that don't have much of a social life will go search for virtual ones to fill some desire.
Can having a sexual relationship in a virtual world effect how people act in real world relationships?
ReplyDeleteI believe that having sexual relationships online, especially at the age of most Habbo users completely effects their real world relationships. I think that the internet has created a culture that needs instant gratification. This is the same for these tweens on Habbo. I have seen many girls “dump a guy” in chat than immediately latch onto another guy, and claim him as her boyfriend. In the real world there is normally a grieving process, you have to take time to find someone who interests you, and develop a relationship. In some cases this could take weeks, or months. Habbo allows tweens to instantly find new partners and gets rid of all physical attachment. I think that this is the same for sex as well. Online, these tweens are able to cyber ( internet version of sex ) without consequences. In real life there are consequences to those actions. Tweens now have the ability to explore sex without consequence, this is something that is worrying. If they develop the belief that sex has no consequence, they will be in for problems.