Freewrite #4 (due April 2)

In this freewrite, I want you to think about the psychological implications of computer use, both in online communities and video games. Since most of you don't play online video games, however, you can base your paper on your experience with sites like Facebook, MySpace, Nerve (or other online dating service), chat rooms, IM, etc.

I don't want this to be a general description of some online service. Be sure to use as the basis of your arguments quotes from the two articles we are reading this week, "The Lessons of Lucasfilms' Habitat" and "Video Games and Computer Holding Power." Some questions you can consider are:

• what are the implications of having "avatars" and being anonymous for your online persona?
• what are the "rules" of the community, what keeps everyone in order?
• is there a form of violence that is peculiar to this community or online communities in general?
• what are the moral issues involved in this online community?
• how does the community work as a literary object? is there a way people write on the community that is different than normal?
• how does the context of the community affect what you write?
• can this community operate as a "game"? (for instance, are there "events" that bring people in the community together in a not-normal way?) what do the maintainers of the site do to make sure people come back to the site?
• what are the limitations and benefits of this community compared to "real-world" interactions?
• how does the psychology of the video game player become exhibited in this community? is it a community that is geared toward people who find regular "life" too complicated?

Format style: All papers should be at least 2.5 pages, in 12 point type (in Times Roman or similar font with serifs) with 1.5 spacing and 1 inch margins. They will be marked down if not in this format. Research papers should have the proper biography and footnotes where applicable.