Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

It's kind of creepy what has emerged since the rise of the internet. There have been many different websites that have shown how weird we all are as humans. Between virtual reality, social media, and other websites that allow us to escape our reality, we can see how that the internet has birthed a new reality, a reality in which individuals are able to become someone they aren't in real life. This can be seen on Facebook where more times than not individuals show a different side of themselves. Just look at the numbers- , Facebook is not only the largest social networking website but also has the second largest population in the world to China. As of July 2014, Facebook has an estimated 1.3 billion active users, has over 600 million users active through their mobile devices, and is now translated into 70 languages. Of all statistics, the most daunting is that which shows that collectively; users spend approximately 640 million minutes a month on Facebook.

Now, one can effectively ask what bearing does this have on ones own personal identity.According to Kathryn Brown’s “The Risk of taking Facebook at Face Value: Why Psychology of Social Networking Should Influence the Evidentiary Relevance of Facebook Photographs,” studies have found that users present both “online and offline identities.” More so, Brown cites another study, which states that users display only certain pictures which “presents user as attractive… shows user in a humorous shot… and shows off user’s romantic relationship.” This study suggests that individuals tend to present themselves only at their best to make it as if their lives and experiences are better than their peers.

Additionally, In Yin Zhang, Leo Shing-Tuan Tang, and Louis Leung’s recent study they tried to answer this exact claim. After conducting studies, which measured one’s self-esteem levels as well as other parts of the psyche, results showed that “users adopted Facebook to seek social information, get recognition and support from others, maintain and extend social connections.” The studies also showed that these user’s lives were affected both behaviorally and psychologically. These users would also feel out of touch or lost if they had not spent their usual time on Facebook updating and getting updated, suggesting a reliance and addictiveness to the site. Additionally, one could look at another study conducted by Junghyum Kim and Jong Eun Roselyn Lee which shows how Facebook contributes to psychological well-being and how the amount of Facebook friends and self-presentation can affect one’s subjective well being. Not surprisingly, these studies found that the number of Facebook friends one has at a given point will indeed affect one’s self esteem, self perception, and change the way they act . The affect which Facebook seems to have on ones own life seems daunting. Everyday millions upon millions log onto the site and escape into an alternate reality where they can act and show themselves to others in a different light. 

However, it seems like Facebook isn't the only platform in which we see how utterly strange we have become. In a recent NY Times article by Dave Itzkoff, he speaks about a new website called VLES which is a virtual reality of the Lower East Side. The site offers a "smurf village reduction of the Lower East Side, and yet instantly recognizable to anyone." We are all familiar with the Sims collects of games and although it was strange that one would actually play God, it was deemed acceptable since it wasn't a clear replica of the Lower East Side, it was a fictional area which was never misconstrued with real life. The problem is, individuals are getting stuck in this new reality thanks to VLES and it has caused them to ignore real life. Itzkoff shows this by stating that "despite knowing that its real-life inspiration exists right outside my door, I have spent the last few months making such visits to the Virtual Lower East Side (vles.com), a three-dimensional, Internet-based social network." 

These examples above further demonstrate the fact that these social networking sites have created a new reality and has masked itself to seem to individuals as if its the real reality. 

"Facebook Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., 23 June 2013. Web. 1 November 2014.

<http://www.statisticbrain.com/facebook-statistics/>.