Jasmine Medina

Virtual worlds are an amazing way to explore an alternative life through the use of a computer. Previously, you would have to read a fantasy novel or watch a movie to experience a fantasy world. But now, with video games such as Runescape or World of Warcraft, one can create a character in a virtual world and explore it through a different persona. The pros of this is that you can meet new people and make friends through these online games. You are technically anonymous by using a persona and pseudonym, which could make it easier to talk to others. But this anonymity can also be used negatively, and some players may choose to act rude or bully other players. In the article "I’ve Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life" by Dave Itzkoff, he states, "It took me several weeks before I was bold enough to dress my avatar in anything more daring than the white T-shirt and blue jeans he was issued; only recently I added a magenta sport coat, hip eyeglasses and an angular ...

A Twitter discussion is similar to a live chat and you are restricted by a word limit unlike a BlackBoard Discussion. On BlackBoard, it feels akin to talking on a forum thread, where users will write longer posts and sometimes take longer to respond. Both are similar in that people can have "threads", which are where everyone will reply to one another about a specific topic, yet different due to the style of communication (the word limit and response time) that the websites have. When comparing a Twitter discussion with an in-class discussion, a Twitter discussion can sometimes, but not always, have instant replies just as an in-class discussion does. On Twitter, you have more time to consider what you are about to say rather than having to answer immediately like you would in an in-class discussion. As stated above, you are bound by a character limit on Twitter, but in an in-class discussion you are free to say much more at once.

Discord is branded as a "free voice and text chat for gamers". The website works like Slack, in that you create a "server" that is centered around a main topic (such as a video game or hobby). Inside of a server, there are channels which can be for subtopics or off-topic chatting. I plan to research and discuss my own experiences with using Discord, focusing on how these servers are like joining a school club--but online. Some topics I want to touch on are the types of servers found on the platform (other than gaming), the jargon that is used on different servers, and the demographic makeup of the platform as a whole. I also want to focus on anonymity and how it affects users--whether they choose to remain anonymous or forgo it.