Virtual Public Space

In “Windows of Vulnerability”, Thomas Keenan writes, “the subject’s variable status as public or private individual is defined by its position relative to this window” (p.132). The window separates the public and private spheres but also represents a gaping hole between them. Kennan later points to television as a special type of window which brings the outside public world into to the private home. His discussion of this intrusion, made me think about online gaming as a more recent analogue.

Online gaming problematizes the distinction between public and private in a unique way. Each person playing the game is in a private space (i.e. the home) and is physically separated from the other people playing the game. These gamers could be on opposite sides of the world. However, they are also interacting (through their computer 'windows') with each other in a public virtual space. This kind of social interaction between gamers is most apparent in large virtual worlds like Second Life. Interestingly, Second Life and other virtual worlds even attempt to mimic physical public spaces like cities, town centers, and plazas in order to encourage players to gather together.

Yet, it is important to note that this interaction between players is mediated through the game environment ---it is not face-to-face, but instead avatar-to-avatar. Avatars themselves are an interesting meld of public and private. Although they are the representation of the person behind the computer (and thus the bridge between the real and the virtual), they can provide an enormous level of anonymity, allowing a gamer to change his name, gender, and even species. While many online gamers maintain their real world personalities, others fabricate new identities for themselves with which to interact with others. Thus the virtual public sphere is not a mirror image of the physical public sphere.

Further complicating the division between public and private, these virtual spaces are often owned by companies (you must buy the game to enter their world), while the physical public sphere is theoretically not owned by anyone. However, certain virtual worlds like Second Life are free to enter and thus maintain some of this characteristic. Even so, many of these virtual worlds and online games are themselves divided into private and public spheres with certain players controlling who may enter a certain region. Players can also organize together into groups (clans, guilds) that are both public (the group interacts with other groups) and private (the group is exclusive to certain players).

It is interesting to see how game developers translated notions of public and private into virtual space.