Well, here we are, at the beginning. A good place to start most things I suppose.
I actually got inspired to do this by one of my online friends last night. I call him a friend but we have never met, never seen photo's and really know next to nothing about each other. So why do I refer to him as "a friend"?
Online communities are much like any community in that we naturally associate with people that share a common interest, in my case particular online games, or people we feel an affinity for. Over my gaming career I've made numerous friends, some of which have become very close "real-life" friends. Some have come and gone, others have stayed with me but how much have I really known about any of them?
How much do we know about anyone we encounter online or in-game? Anyone that regularly plays an online game knows that there are "celebrities", the players people love to hate, who get under your skin by the way they behave and abuse other players. Why do they act like this? Is it an extension of their real life personality or maybe it follows the stereotype and is the lonely shy 20yr old creating a more desirable persona for himself?
I cant answer this from anything but a personal viewpoint. My ingame persona is similar to my real life persona (I hope) and I think thats reflected by the persona's of the friends I have both online and in real life. This theory is going to be tested though, as shortly I will be meeting (for the first time) several of my online/in-game friends. I wonder how that will pan out.............
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