Paper short abstract:

Multiply assumed identities are a normal facet of life via role-playing, and I therefore challenge the commonly heard claim that varying identities on the web are not as genuine, valuable, or "real" as those in traditional physical spaces. I will present overviews for today and the future.

Paper long abstract:

As a 20 year specialist in new technologies for being and learning, I have myself experienced [and observed others experiencing] the positive benefits of virtual identities, either in text or new media such as Youtube or Second Life. The talk will explore different affordances of identity in newly available media, also taking note of the unbelievable growth in computing power matched by decrease in price.

The purpose of the workshop is to explore in some detail the drivers behind the fact that there were in November 2009 around 250 million people spending time every week inside some kind of virtual world. Perhaps World of Warcraft: a social dynamic around joining tribes and fighting campaigns. Or IMVU: about 40 million chatting teenagers listening to music and buying things. Or Second Life where millions are recreating real world spaces to realise their fantasies, visualise scientific datasets, or simply to run normal distance education. What have these new identities in common? Why are they important and different from the familiar text based identities?

The "virtual" worlds are real. Neurologists and others agree that we are all constantly building mental models of the universe. Many of our forms of communication and art are attempts to communicate these so as to share them with others. The 3D metaverse we can see on the screen today seems to represent an incremental step in that process. Identity is far from unitary. Participants are encouraged to come prepared with their own stories of identity on the web.