Virtual Protests

Culture

from the world's-colliding dept

Whether or not online games are really building the communities that their creators expected, the people who are involved with them seem to take the games very seriously – sometimes blurring their real and virtual lives. The latest example of this is that many people involved in online games are organizing virtual protests or vigils, similar to ones that happen in real-life. Of course, for people trying to protest actions of the government, I imagine it’s a pretty big waste of time to organize a protest on The Sims Online. I also wonder if this is just an extension of the trend of people to protest just for the sake of protesting, without necessarily understanding the real issues of what they’re protesting (or working towards a real solution instead of just sloganizing). Being involved in a protest within an online game certainly takes a lot less effort than going out and taking a real stand.