Prompt's TechBlog

Amidst all the hubbub about how Web 2.0 is changing the media - and by extension, the nature of media relations - it's nice to see some journalists asking the bigger questions about what online social networking is doing to us as human beings.

BBC Newsnight's business correspondent Paul Mason wrote a fascinating article last week, in which he wonders if social networking and online gaming are becoming a replacement for religious spirituality in our increasingly materialistic, heathen lives.

He argues that the heightened sense of togetherness experienced by people who play games like World of Warcraft, visit virtual worlds like Second Life, or socialise on communities like MySpace is akin to a form of religious ecstasy, in which the 'soul' feels and experiences things that are entirely unconnected with the physical self.

The blurring of boundaries between what is real and what is 'not real' is one of the most interesting facets of Web 2.0. People who participate in online games and virtual communities have become used to representing themselves online as 'avatars', which can be anything from a beautiful woman to a warrior dwarf.

Similarly, many bloggers find themselves inventing a separate 'blog persona', which differs from what they are like in real life. Navigating between 'real' and 'virtual' identities is becoming part of what it means to be human in the age of the internet.

For his article, Mason asked 300 IBM employees who are active in Second Life if they preferred their online self to their physical self. While 90% of them said no, the very fact that the BBC is asking this kind of question suggests that Web 2.0 is doing something quite intriguing to the human psyche. And it's only going to get weirder from here.


tags: world of warcraft | second life | online identity