Cyber Worlds

Okay, as per this week's task have just spent the last hour on a website called Habbo Hotel which is basically a chat room which has been spruced up to be a 3d version with little people walking around as the people chatting. Like cartoons kind of thing. So...Sims but with actual people.

I have to say I do like the game Sims but the whole online chatting thing...not my cup of tea...there just isn't any attraction to me. Maybe it was just the two I tried (ActiveWorlds and Habbo) but people did not seem very interesting. Nothing to say, nothing to do, felt kind of lost and overwhelmed.

The main differences between the 3Ds and the normal chat rooms is of course the graphics and the fact that you appear as a character on the screen rather than just a group of text. I guess this is more exciting in a lot of ways but for me it just seemed to make things more confusing. It is impossible to tell who is talking to who and what is going on! Maybe it is because I am so new to this and have never been on a site like this before or even a normal chat room experience but the whole thing just made me remember why I avoid the internet. Bad spelling and a lot of wasted time. No offense to anyone who likes it, I can see how it could be good, socialising in the comfort of your house (or in my case classroom), that I like. And also the whole being able to chat to people on the other side of the world, experience different cultures without travelling, that kind of thing. It's just I feel like losing that face to face contact means the conversation is very stilted. There are no emotions and no facial expressions, even with these new 3D worlds so things are still entirely based on the text. Yes you can snowboard or dance or walk around or whatever but...why not just step outside, get some sun and socialise the normal way? The best thing about this task is that I have now decided this will be my topic for my essay. I was going to do texting and the impact on communication but there is a lot more information out there on chat rooms and the internet so I think I will go that way instead.

Generally though I feel like the whole chat room thing is overrated, I'd rather hang out in person!

Bye for this week