This week we worked on construction, deconstruction and exploration. What I am finding when meeting up with others in the world is how I use my understanding of social interaction in the VW. I met up with a few classmates to explore and I found that I did not want to offend them by walking in front of them, teleporting without waiting, and typing while they were talking. When I got lost from the group (usually by falling off of Freud's couch) I was panicked to get back to the group. There were feelings of isolation when I was in a spot without the crew, and feelings of apprehension when I ran into uncertain situations. What is so interesting about these feelings is that I am sitting at my desk, in my home, and I know that this is not reality. The positive feeling that I am having are that I am getting to know my classmates and we are sharing some good laughs together. When we are exploring we have conversations about where we are in the course and can discuss difficulties, successes and sometimes we can even clarify confusion. I am surprised at the amount of connection I feel to this class. I am delighted at the difference a Virtual World can make. Could this be the Avatar Effect?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/virtual-worlds/second-lives/the-avatar-effect.html?play