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The Tension Between the Virtual and the Real

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The body of binary digital information that comprises the “cold” landscape of the computer algorithm behind the virtual retains almost a rigid or fixed quality. It is rendered plainly as a series of ones and zeros, obscuring and downplaying the myriad virtual possibilities that can emerge. These virtual capabilities, however various, are nonetheless significantly limited in the absence of social input. In the presence of social investment, the real space in which the computer algorithm exists gives rise to a virtual or “simulated” space. This virtual space is the space between two points of interaction, a suspended zone, in which people are able to transform social relations. For example, the simulated space of virtual worlds such as Second Life is a space of sociality; it is the third point of sociality at which two user-players in completely different real spaces can interact at the same time.

Further, the virtual space represents a reproduction or distortion of the real within a digital space that never exhausts the potentialities of the virtual. The use of the word “distortion” is intentional, as the potentially negative connotations associated with it reflect the realization of the tension between the virtual and the real. This friction does not only exist in online or digital spaces, but can also take place in real-world physical spaces through simulation. In such cases, the lines thought to separate the virtual from the real become extremely blurred. Virtual embodiment can be understood as “more authentic than actual-world embodiment,” where the virtual possibilities that the virtual space offers are taken to be more real than the real (Boellstorff, 2008, 134). Indeed, the virtual and the real do not exist in discrete realms. Rather, they are inextricably intertwined in a dynamic, complex relationship able to transform social relations powerfully.


Citation:
Boellstorff, Tom. Coming of Age in Second Life (2008).

 

This page has paths:

  1. The Virtual and The Real Chloe Lewis

Contents of this path:

  1. Transformation of Social Relations

This page has tags:

  1. Transformation of Social Relations Esther Liu
  2. Transformation of Social Relations Through Virtual Play Esther Liu
  3. Transformation of Social Relations Through Military Incentives Esther Liu
  4. The Virtual and The Real Chloe Lewis
  5. Simulation Machine Zheqing Zhu
  6. Virtuality Chloe Lewis
  7. Fragmentation Kevin Mellin
  8. Transformation Esther Liu
  9. Simulation Zheqing Zhu
  10. Esther Liu, Author Esther Liu
  11. Tom Boellstorff Kayla McCoy
  12. Real World Kayla McCoy

Contents of this tag:

  1. Transformation of Social Relations
  2. Transformation of Social Relations Through the Fleshy Machine
  3. Transformation of Social Relations Through Virtual Play
  4. Transformation of Social Relations Through Military Incentives
  5. How the Real and Virtual Contribute to Self Identity
  6. Second Life
  7. Fragmentation