http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/loyola_university_professor_be.html
"Myers, who in 1984 became one of the first university-level professors to study video games. He believes it proved that, even in a 21st century digital fantasyland, an ugly side of real-world human nature pervades, a side that oppresses strangers whose behavior strays from that of the mainstream."
Sadly, my own experiences lead me to conclude that the increased fragmentation of society caused by virtual worlds and virtual communities, actually increases the tendency towards exclusion of others.
When there is one main group, the excluded ones band together even when they don't have much in common. Because there are so few around with similar tastes/interests, they can't exclude people different from them and still have a group.
Online, where communities are easily entered and left, once a community reaches sufficient size, it starts developing it's own set of traits/behaviors that become required for acceptance. Stray, and they will condemn you.
No comments:
Post a Comment