Invisible audiences: While we can visually detect most people who can overhear our speech in unmediated spaces, it is virtually impossible to ascertain all those who might run across our expressions in networked publics. This is further complicated by the other three properties, since our expression may be heard at a different time and place from when and where we originally spoke.

boyd, danah. (in press) “Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life.” MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning, Identity Volume (ed. David Buckingham).

I've been wondering what it would be like to play Second Life as a male character. I think I'm going to create one, spend a week as a female and then spend the following week as a male and see if I'm treated differently.

List of Terms

an ongoing list of terms and hopefully their definitions as they evolve

• Harassment
• Sexual Harassment
• Gender Harassment
  
• Misogyny
• Virtual Communities
• Second Life
  
• Social Networking Sites
• Facebook
• MySpace
  
• Blogs (Weblogs)

In Linda Berdayes' New Media class, we read the article "Gaming Pink: Gender and Structure in The Sims Online" by Jennifer Stromer-Galley and Rosa Leslie Mikeal from the book Digital Media (ed: Paul Messaris and Lee Humphreys). The Sims Online is a virtual community similar to Second Life. I believe the difference between the two is TSO does not allow the gamer to control exactly what the avatar does and says in the way SL does. Maybe I will have to create a TSO account and play around.

This article discusses the perpetuation of gender stereotypes in this community and attempts to explain why they exist. It also explores the tension between online and offline identities and how the offline identity can become a target for online harassment. Interestingly, though, the authors conclude that TSO is an empowering game for women.

This article, in regards to my comp, begs the question- do traditional gender roles and stereotypes create a conducive environment for gendered harassment?



Note to self: begin list of terms that need to be defined and start creating definitions

Some links I've been saving

Sexual Threats Stifle Some Female Bloggers (Washington Post)

Misogyny Bears Its Teeth on Internet (Sydney Morning Herald)

Misogyny in our midst (TPM Cafe) - includes lots of links to other stories