Virtual worlds absolve us from the cultural constraints which bind us to reality. Online, geographical and physical differences dissolve. For many, this reason alone is the appeal of virtual environments. Cooper explains how online, pure self expression is free from judgement (Cooper, 2007). Ones online identity, or Avatar, can replicate them exactly; allowing two lives to be led simultaneously. More commonly, people choose to become beings of vicarious fantasy. Virtual realities grant us the ability to change and control our world and more importantly, our place in it.
Strip away the cartoon facade and again, people exist online through constructed, virtual identities. Chen’s reading is a window to a world of manipulated perfection and the quest for recognition. The YouTube culture has allowed Impression Management to evolve to a whole new level. The obsession to create, maintain, and manage celebrity persona’s was documented through participants who manipulate their digital identity to acquire and communicate with fans. The internet is no longer a passive platform of entertainment, it now acts as both the agent and the arena for performers and their online audiences.
The dawn of any new medium brings with it a new age of marketing and business, as discussed by Kirby and Marsden. ‘Post-internet marketing’ (Lang, 2010) tactics allow those who adapt to a digital environment to dominate. Convention is disregarded by bands, journalists, artists and business who understand and utilize power of viral marketing. Behind the online anonymity, corporations research, monitor and predict our next move to exploit a constantly growing market. Ads are targeted to potential buyers by scanning emails as well as analysing and retaining search history. This is fully exposed in the tragic ‘I Love Alaska’ documentary. In no other instance do we so willingly give our every detail to invisible strangers.
As a kid, I dreamed by 2010 we would be living in virtual realities. This is not even close to what I had in mind.
References
Cooper, R. (2007). Alter Egos: Avatars and their Creators. 15 May.
Chen, L. C. P. (n.d.). Individual Online Impression Management: Self-Presentation on YouTube.
Kirby, J. & Marsden, P. (2005). Conclusion: the Future of Connected Marketing in Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann: 267-274.
Minimovies- I Love Alaska. 2009. Streaming video recording.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-SOCGdPyNU (accessed March 11, 2010).
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