anonymity

[14:23] Tom Bukowski: one interesting aspect to that has to do with the question of anonymity in Second Life
[14:23] Tom Bukowski: that's what I call one of the "four confusions"
[14:23] Tom Bukowski: Second Life is built around anynomity
[14:23] Tom Bukowski: you have to choose an avatar name that is not the same as your rl name, with rare exceptions
[14:23] Tom Bukowski: but you could imagine a virtual world where rl and virtual world names are the same, like a Facebook kind of thing
[14:24] Tom Bukowski: so the anonymity thing of course makes it easier to do some "seamier" stuff
[14:24] Azul Draken: or explore that which you've been afraid to
[14:24] Tom Bukowski: but that is not an inevitable aspect of virtual worlds
[14:24] padlurowncanoe Dibou: not all communities in sl are built around anonymity -- real participation in the ed community often requires transparency:-)
[14:41] Tom Bukowski: yes, not all groups or activities in Second Life are built around being anonymous, that's precisely the point, and I imagine that what will continue into the future is people doing both. For some things I might want to be anonymous, for others not. Slaying dragons for fun or something along those lines in Second Life, versus teaching or a business meeting.
[14:25] Caliburn Susanto: Do you think anonymity is more of a problem for business here ? or security?
[14:26] Stargazer Blazer: Does anonymity have to be a negative?
[14:24] Forelle Broek: I find Goffman very helpful in thinking about those aspects of SL
[14:40] Tom Bukowski: yes, Goffman can be very interesting for thinking about sl