Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

There is more than one way to interact with people than just meeting someone face-to-face or through social networking sites. The other way is through virtual worlds where people can create an avatar that represents them. Some ways that virtual worlds can be used are by communicating with other people in these worlds. You can also have fun like in Minecraft and make friends and build different structures in the world. You can also use it as a stress tool or a social tool for children with special needs as it states in the article Naughty Auties by Forbes “One benefit is that visitors can practice social interaction and find information about the condition.” When you see all that can be done with virtual worlds you can only think what are the pros and cons associated with them. The pros that can be seen are that they help those that have trouble with social interaction by giving them a platform to interact in the comfort of their own home. Another pro can be that in education these virtual worlds can be used to create projects and work together as a group. One of the best pro of the virtual world is that people can have a sense of belonging and be able to feel like they aren’t alone like they might feel in real life as stated in the article After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot by CNN “Virtual worlds can give us social connectivity, built-in support groups, and ways to avoid ever being alone again.” Some cons that can be seen here are that bullies can still find their way to these virtual worlds and hurt those individuals more by taking away something that might be an escape for them. Another con could be that the technology itself may not be perfected and may not be responsive or work which may affect the people using these worlds to help them interact more and to cope with stressful problems in their lives. The thing with virtual worlds is that they help foster creativity because people feel more open to express themselves here. People are more open in virtual worlds because no one would know who they are so they can truly be themselves without the judgment of the status quo. Also with the advancement of technology what they imagine can come to life no matter how crazy the idea it can be expressed without judgement and would attract others with the same thoughts and ideas resulting in possible friendships. The future of virtual worlds I believe will grow significantly especially since many companies are investing quite the amount of money into virtual reality.