Botgirl's Bookshelf: The Second Self - Computers and the Human Spirit

Written over 20 years ago, The Second Self by Sherry Turkle is dead-on relevant for those of us interested in exploring the social and psychological dimensions of today's virtual worlds. It brings to life the intimate interbeing of person, society and technology. It exemplifies a research methodology that integrates immersion and inter-subjective analysis. To put it simply, Sherry Turkle rocks!

On a personal note, I was hooked at the start by an idea she brought up in the introduction to the new edition:

"...there are virtues in learning to see the commonplace as unfamiliar...to defamiliarize the mind itself and thus reveal what would otherwise be hidden in the light."

I couldn't have summed up the Botgirl Thought Experiment better myself.

Botgirl's Bookshelf: Digital Ego by Jacob van Kokswi jk

Digital Ego: Social and Legal Aspects of Virtual Identity by Jacob van Kokswi jk is a sprawling, quirky and encyclopedic exploration of identity.

Kokswi surfs in and out of an astounding variety of perspectives including ancient and modern history, philosophy, psychology, law and artificial intelligence. He makes good use of graphics to clarify concepts. I especially like his chart outlining the structure of online identity. It's the academic big brother to my more narrative images on the topic.

The footnotes alone are worth the purchase price. If you don't see me in-world much this week, it's because I'm busy running around the web gathering up all of the content he references.

I'm not going to compile the results from the avatar vs. human test results until the weekend, so there's still time to participate.

Book Alert! Virtual Identities: The Construction of Selves in Cyberspace

Be the first on your virtual block to read the forthcoming Virtual Identities: The Construction of Selves in Cyberspace edited by Caroline Maun & Laura Corrunker.

"Each essay in Virtual Identities explores a different facet of online identities: those personae adapted, imposed, or suggested by computer games, email, chat rooms, blogs, instant messaging software, or other online sites. With great clarity and originality they examine the opportunities, fluidity and problematics of the brave new world of virtual identity creation" —Anthony Flinn, Eastern Washington University

It's due to be released later this month and includes quite a few intriguing chapter titles:

• The Computer as Dollhouse, or, The Seriousness of Virtual Play by Tobey Crockett
• Virtual Worlds, Virtual Selves: Gender and Identity in World of Warcraft byErica Conley
• Actors or Avatars? The Theatrical Model for Virtual Reality by Charles Mitchell
• Retexting Experience: The Internet, Materiality, and the Self by Burt Kimmelman
• Just One Big Slumber Party on the Net: The Chickclick as E-Forum by Christine Tulley
• A Plea for Our Future: Language, Technology, and the Masculine Lens by Claudia Herbst
• Fantasies of Containment: Archiving Moments in Cyber- & Real Life by Katherine Harris
• Inflexible Identities? User Metaphors in On- and Offline Discourses by Maren Hartmann
• Agent of Civility: The Librarian in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash by Tim Blackmore
• The Waste Land in, Not of, the MOO: A Case Study by David Barndollar