Peoples Obsession With MUDs :: Technology Internet Chat Essays

Peoples Obsession With MUDsPatik licks Mary. Mary giggles and kicks him in the shin. Krista pirouettes and falls down laughing. Cislynx seduces Missworld. Ralphie shouts, who wants to tango? I am not having a nightmare, and I do not put out in a mental institution. I am simply witnessing the typical behavior of a Multi User Dungeon (MUD). MUDs charter become all the vehemence in the rapidly increasing world of computer technology. MUDs put you in a true(a)istic space where you hatful create an identity and chat with other people. In this virtual world, you are represented by a self-composed textual description if youre fat, you buns be thin if youre beautiful, you can be plain and if youre nerdy, you can be sophisticated. This anonymity allows you to express unexplored aspects of yourself, to play with your real world identity by trying out new ones (Turkle 12). In addition to creating an identity, your virtual character can converse with others, exchange gestures, express em otions and rise and fall in popularity. You can even die in a MUD (Turkle 183). Essentially, you can be who or whatever you want, and you can say anything because your character exists only in cyberspace, as does everyone else who you encounter. You might ask yourself why do people access to spend hours, days and weeks interacting with virtual beings? Why dont these people get out more and try living in the real world? The answer is simple. on-line communication in a MUD is a unique form of interaction because it is the only place in the world where you can leave your real life, assume the identity of your dreams and behave as you like without leaving any negative impact on your non-virtual existence. People are obsessed with MUDding because it is an effluence machine which allows you to ignore reality and live out fantasy. This desire to escape reality is an understandable response to an overemphasis on who you are or to the problems of your real-world identity. As a society, we have created an immense pressure upon ourselves to have a perfect self-image. This perfection can range from wanting flawless skin and pouty lips to desiring a successful career and a happy family. The demands of creating and sustaining this perfect modern identity are becoming increasingly burdensome, and as your life centers more on maintaining this certain image the desire to escape from the image grows greater (Baumeister 2).