Email The Lost Jacket Subcribe to the blog via RSS

Interactive Social Media

by cicero on December 15, 2008

Second Life

@BCicero

I won’t lie. I hate Twitter . I hate that I am sitting in front of my computer screen trying to have conversations with people I don’t know at only 140 characters per thought.

Yes, people can insert a picture of him/herself, and even go so far as making their screen name some variation of their real name, but at the end of the day, Twitter just seems so impersonal and distant to me, like typing random words into AIM, hoping it is someone’s screen name and attempting to start a conversation. Only with AIM it would probably be more fulfilling and efficient because you wouldn’t have to wait for the tweet to send out and send back, and could write more than one to three sentences at a time.

But with that being said, I love talking with random people in World of Warcraft, Runescape, and even when I am playing chess on Yahoo . And while it can be argued that these exchanges are much more impersonal than of those on Twitter, I find myself being able to relate much better to a virtual avatar while doing some sort of activity with the avatar I am relating to. I have found that I can make a much better connection to these people I am sharing activities with than I ever could with a standard social media device, and through these connections, have made friends in several different fields of business from all over the country.

The medium of activity facilitating conversation helps me break the ice, have a constant topic of conversation, and assists ensuring a future meeting. Not only that, but for those who are a bit more shy than others, and don’t want to throw themselves out to the mercy of the cruel and unforgiving web, the user can retain some semblance of anonymity through interactive activity-driven mediums. Said user creates relationships as a character, and can slowly reveal a true identity when necessary or desired. But this anonymous character can build close relationships through acts of service, and advice in the virtual world, a feat that is harder to achieve as an avatar and screen name in the vastness of the Internet.

So it is no wonder that Second Life is such a gigantic enterprise, or why Sony is dumping buckets of money into developing Home. Being the company that controls the virtual world is both lucrative and empowering. It has been proven time and time again that if a company can develop a quality virtual world for people to interact in, there will be no shortage of virtual users populating it.

So while you will rarely see me updating my status with a tweet, I would be happy to help you finish that quest, or see if you can challenge my wicked castling skills. I do want to promote myself, but only when I know that there is a direct reason for promoting myself. I don’t want to make myself a whore to the social media scene where any number of questionable people can find out who I am and what I am doing at any given time.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, showing us some social love or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Digg this article
  • Bookmark this post on Delicious
  • Stumble this post
  • Upvote this article on Reddit

tagged as , , , , ,

  • I was trying to explain Twitter to a non-user the other day, and my tries resulted in "it's like a forum, where you only pay attention to people you like, and without the threads". That, he understood.

    While I get the want to chat on AIM, on a message board, or playing Yahoo! chess with people (and do most of these on a regular basis), Twitter still brings something new to the mix for me. It's the openness of Twitter I like, the chaos of reading hundreds of tweets, some connected, some not, and conversing where I feel I can add value.

    I argue that Second Life/Home and Twitter serve different user bases and to each their own.

    For you, it may be an avatar doing a task and conversing with others in the space. For me, it's 140 characters at a time and a small photo of myself.
  • Agreed Katie, I love Twitter...my chronic addiction will speak to that in volumes :). However, it is not for everyone...and not everyone will be converted. A lot of people need that extra incentive to connect w/ people. For my friend Brian, that is the presence of an end goal (or gold in the case of WoW). It will be interesting to see how this dichotomy fleshes out as time goes on. Thanks for the comment. :)
  • It's all about networking with people. If you're looking to meet and interact with people within some sort of umbrella industry, than Twitter is a fantastic place to do it. I love hearing about what other people in my industry are up to. I absolutely would recommend Twitter to anybody looking to network and build relationships.

    Hey- come follow me! :) http://www.twitter.com/trevor_shipp
  • Totally Trevor (sorry about the alliteration) , Twitter is great for interacting w/ marketing and advertising professionals online. I can't tell you how many valuable contacts I have made just by talking and joking around on twitter. It's the ultimate cocktail party...and everyone is invited. *Also added ya on Twitter.
  • Done!
  • While WoW is booming I really don't think Second Life is doing that well, last I heard company's were bailing pretty fast as the site was floundering. As a Twitter N00b though I think its an interesting way to share expertise and more directly interact with groups you want to connect with. In comparison WoW and online multiplayer games are just for a bit of fun and aren't meant for any directed socialization, even when you're talking to someone who's obviously crazy its still meant just for a good laugh.
  • I think what Brian was trying to articulate was that he doesn't like to participate in something unless a clear goal is at the end. With Twitter, that goal is a bit more open ended then most of us are used to.
  • It all depends on what you're after and how much you put into it. It obviously doesn't work for you, just as it won't work for everyone that tries it. I think one of your quotes gives the perfect reason why Twitter (and perhaps social media in general) doesn't seem to be for you:

    "Said user creates relationships as a character, and can slowly reveal a true identity when necessary or desired."

    I'd say that transparency and honesty are the key factors in separating social media from other forms of online interaction - having one identity lead into another would therefore probably offer less in the way of true interaction. And without interaction, social media (and Twitter and all the other tools) would be infinitely less rewarding.

    If semi-anonymity is more someone's style, then yes, MMO's would be more preferable to social media and its raison d'etre.
  • I definitely agree that Transparency is one of the most important issues (and necessities) facing social media today. Some people are still uncomfortable with maintaining a consistent image and prefer to hide behind an avatar or character. However, as time goes on this attitude has changed more towards that of transparency and acceptance.
  • kathryn Jennex
    You miss the point silly - twitter is the START of the conversation, hit someone up on twitter and take it from there - email. im, phone calls ! It's the beginning :)
  • Could not have said it better. I will turn Brian into a Twitter convert if it's the last thing I do!
  • Why did it take you 2 months to follow me back then????? ;-)
  • PS - that comment was for Kathryn :)
  • Stuart,

    WOW? My son-in-law is addicted. In fact he traded a signup to my reader for my blog if I signed up for something on WOW. I was going to tell you if you gave twitter a chance you would grow to like it but with the size of your following, I would say it probably isn't going to happen any day soon. I have made a few friends on twitter and have an open tweet available all day long..btw - just started following you :)
  • Dee, I didn't write the blog article...Brian one of the co-authors on this blog did. I just wanted to show him through dialogue what he was missing. Followed ya back on Twitter (because I heart it)
  • Actually, I WAS totally confused?? I guess I should have read all the comments as well as the post, often, I have all I can do to read the post (time wise) never mind all the comments. The comments make this conversation more clear. I guess I won't make that mistake again!
  • Ha, no worries :)
  • I can see why you like the interactive games more than twitter, there's actually more interaxction. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a tweet every now and again, but it does seem to be so quick and informal that I don't really feel like I'm building a relationship or forging a connection. Really I'm just passing the time. That being said, I have met a follower or two that seem interested in engaging in actual conversation. At least it's enough to keep me coming back for more.
  • I'll keep these deep thoughts by @stuartcfoster in mind the next time he sends me a tweet.

    Hate Twitter? Hah! Blasphemy!
  • Haha...I didn't write the article Ari :)
  • It sounds like your biggest challenge is with the lack of context. It's just a box, as opposed to within a game, where you have a visual representation of the situation.

    Unfortunately, I think this is the way things are going. When cell phones came around, people had difficulty calling people because they worried they were being obtrusive, they "didn't know if it was a good time", etc. Society (or rather, each individual) eventually came up with their own rules for using the tool - some people turn their phones off when unavailable, others let it go to voicemail, yet others answer and tell you they're unavailable. Because of the overall benefits of the system, people managed to overcome that initial discomfort.

    I'm not saying that "Twitter" is the reincarnation of the cell phone. But I DO believe that we are moving forwards slimmer systems, away from the browser. Why do I need to be sitting in my office at my computer to respond to this? RSS, SMS and Twitter all return the focus to the content, and not the context of a message. It's more convenient for a user, and services have the potential to crop up and scale better, not needing a complicated GUI.

    Will games go away? Certainy not. But their core purposes is in entertainment, for which visual and audible stimulation are well-suited. I believe for communicative purposes, we will see a shift to more stripped-down, simple systems.
  • Hi there, I re-read the post and I guess I understand it differently now. You're not stating explicitly that it's the fact there's an avatar, but it's the shared experience that give rise to conversation.

    So it's still context-related, but not in the sense I meant initially. Whoops!

    :)
  • Well the biggest problem with all those kind of internet mediums is that you don't really build a real and strong relations with people while you don't even know your neighbor! For me, this is the biggest lack of social networkings. I would prefer social networking where you can send video messages or interact directly through your webcam. But I agree in one thing, there is a real benefits in getting good informations on diversified subjects.
blog comments powered by Disqus