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WoW player as US Congresswoman? Wow! ;-)

Here's an interesting piece about one gamer's identification with his avatar in an online game. Suggestive of the sometimes complex relationship people have with their online selves.

Anita Sarkeesian reports about the insults, threats of death and rape she is getting for *planning* a series about the representation of women in video games. The video focuses on the women owned game studio Silicon Sisters and the blogger of the harassment collecting website Fat, Ugly or Slutty too.

Thanks for the link Luise. Yes, this is the case that came to mind for me when you mentioned sexism and harrassment amongst gamers. I was particularly shocked by the "game" that one lad created in which users could beat Sarkeesian's face bloody. When called on this he seemed unable to see the violence inherent in the act.

The upshot of this article seems to be that if there is a visible sign of people's good behaviour in an MMO they will make more of an effort to cultivate good behaviour and protect their reputation. This reminds me of a line from Dibbel's article, when he talks about online socialisation: people "move from anonymity to pseudonymity" when they begin to care about and protect their reputation with fellow gamers.