Terrorism versus Participation
Link: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/02/more_second_thoughts_on_second.htmlIn a forthcoming book, Peter Ludlow, the editor of the Second Life Herald and the former editor of the Alphaville Herald (based in The Sims Online), has described what has happened as players move from one "virtual world" to another. Ludlow argues that there are a number of people who were "griefers" in The Sims Online who have begun to make meaningful contributions to the community on Second Life. His implications is that there is something in the mechanisms through which community life is conducted in Second Life which fosters a greater sense of civic engagement and personal responsibility -- in part perhaps because people are constructing their own reality and making their own rules there.
I've noticed an interesting facet of myself.
If I'm remarkably bored, frustrated, and/or distressed, I am much more inclined to cause destruction (or at least convince the people around me I can/am). I become far more condescending, mean-spirited, and begin to engage in flame wars earnestly, even knowing that I'll regret it in the morning. (I've actually left a few posts-in-progress that were really just vitriolic flames on my computer and woke up and decided to just kill the post because it was stupid. This is after about five minutes of justifying and rationalizing my intentions. Then I remind myself that I am not the greatest person on Earth and close the window.)
Naturally, considering the title of this post, I urge you to notice the vast majority of domestic acts of terrorism. Terrorism is spawned in part by, yes, religious fundamentalism, yes, intense poverty, etc. But I think it's also important to note that terrorists consider their violence to be acts of last resort. They are, in truth, military actions by a state of one or a state of few.
This is one of the most stellar benefits of a participatory democracy: you get to have a say. American terrorists are, as near as I can tell, people who precisely don't have a different avenue of expression.
And that's why I post on my journal far more when I'm bored, frustrated, and/or depressed.
I've noticed an interesting facet of myself.
If I'm remarkably bored, frustrated, and/or distressed, I am much more inclined to cause destruction (or at least convince the people around me I can/am). I become far more condescending, mean-spirited, and begin to engage in flame wars earnestly, even knowing that I'll regret it in the morning. (I've actually left a few posts-in-progress that were really just vitriolic flames on my computer and woke up and decided to just kill the post because it was stupid. This is after about five minutes of justifying and rationalizing my intentions. Then I remind myself that I am not the greatest person on Earth and close the window.)
Naturally, considering the title of this post, I urge you to notice the vast majority of domestic acts of terrorism. Terrorism is spawned in part by, yes, religious fundamentalism, yes, intense poverty, etc. But I think it's also important to note that terrorists consider their violence to be acts of last resort. They are, in truth, military actions by a state of one or a state of few.
This is one of the most stellar benefits of a participatory democracy: you get to have a say. American terrorists are, as near as I can tell, people who precisely don't have a different avenue of expression.
And that's why I post on my journal far more when I'm bored, frustrated, and/or depressed.