Eye Candy of the Ego

Thoughts in relation to Quaranta, “Life and Its Double”:
"It is my on-screen alter ego. Often it has nothing to do with me, but is assigned by the game, and merely carries out the conventional actions possible in that particular setting (fighting, shooting, etc). But what happens if we are given the option of customizing that avatar, and my mission becomes that of constructing a second life in the virtual space I have access to?"

The alluring technology of enabling us to project our alter egos by customising our very avatar seduces us with instantaneous fulfillment to our inner ego. In Second Life, we could have our very own representation in the virtual world where we are not bounded by law and we are free to mould our avatars into whoever we want from appearances, careers and social life. That is why I would argue that participants are led to believe they have been given the powers of omnipotent where they can channel their inner desires through their avatars. I had come across several news where the actual person in the real world did not resenble their avatars in anyway some even opt for an avatar from the opposite sex. However, in my opinion, the avatars do symbolise the users as they represent their deepest and inner desires, hopes, virtues and definitely their vices. With anonimity, users are free to be a shape shifter in the virtual world and that environment captivates the users to immerse completely in the second life, spend plenty of time and money in the virtual space and tend to lose their own sense of identity in the real world. Extremely avid participants could lead themselves to severe mental disorders.


Saying that, I do not mean that users do not project their real self onto their avatars. In fact, as mentioned in the lecture last week this is the case of bad digital. For example in Facebook, we have the control over the content of our page and we intend to post the ideal side of ourselves. The ability to do so lure us to be so engaging with social networking sites as it provides a platform for us to stroke our ego and how we like others to see us.

"But it was with the advent of pop culture, a star system that set out to become the new Olympus, and a series of media (photography, film and video) capable of capturing its aura, that the avatar became so powerful that in a certain sense it began to live its own life, and to condition the subject it was the image of."

The media feeds us with what is ideal and what is not. The celebrity phenomenon and the once popular trend of skinny models are projected to us through a myriad of mediums. And we strive to be that someone who is in reality, a real person like each and everyone of us. With an established industry of beauty, people are attempting to mimic what is considered perfect and they would create a well constructed avatar of themselves. So why are we so subconciously self concious and why are we so afraid of what others think of us? And lastly, why is it difficult for us to resist the temptation of being the victim of our very own alter egos and narcissism?