My So-Called Life
For this assignment I'm asking you to write an essay of approximately 500 words on the topic "My So-Called Life." It may be longer, but should not be shorter, than this length.
Prompt: There's a lot of discussion these days about "virtual" existence -- the kind of existence all of us have who have been users of the Internet, whether via e-mail, web sites, or social media. The time and energy we invest in this other life may, in fact, be considerable; there's even an MMORPG known as "Second Life," which offers its users a complete online existence, including a place to "live," pnline currency, the possibility of building and operating an online "shop,"and collaborating with other users to build entire "neighborhoods."
But is this online "life" really life? In the South Park episode, "Make Love, Not WarCraft," Eric, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny are harassed within the WoW universe by a rogue player who has been playing and building his strength nearly 24 hours a day, every day since the game launched -- such that he has "absolutely no life." The WoW admins even try to delete his account, but are faced with an enigma: "how do you kill that which has no life?"
Nevertheless, one doesn't have to be a MMORPG addict to have the sensation that, though at times the Internet augments life and makes it more enjoyable, at other times it just drains it away.
So your assignment here is this: Write a brief (auto)biography of your online self, as though that self were in fact the only one you had. When did he/she first emerge into the online world? How did he/she grow, either by participation in online sites or games, or adding various new apps and platforms to his/her online realm? Do you think that she/he grew or evolved? Were the breaks, creative or otherwise, in your online persona's career? Or was there a kind of plateau?
