Griefers

Julian Dibbels article talks of those people who pose as furries or goons that cause controversies in virtual communities such as Second Life. These avatars simply do it for the Lulz, which means just for laughs. Those that do get harrassed do not think it is funny at all, and they report the confrontations by "griefing." Some people that either harrass or have not played do not take it seriously. However, once they get griefed they understand how mentally traumatic it can be. People, like myself, who have never played see this harrassment as ridiculous and obnoxious. Many questions that were getting thrown out in class were: Why do people do this? Are they sick in the mind? and etc. For me, I do not understand the point of these furries and goons besides it initially comes off as being humerous. In the end, there are definitely more negatives than positives. Yes, it is all for laughs, but these people are hurting others. It is very disrespectful and immature. Where do people get the guts to be this sick? The reinacting of the twin towers was a huge discussion in our class that posed many arguments. What some people were saying was that, "It is not real, so it is not a big deal," but others were offended tremendously because it brings back traumatic memories. What I am wondering is why would these people want to hurt other people? I know it is just role-playing and false identities, but there has to be some truth in there. It is hard to understand that these people causing the griefing are perfectly respectful and nice individuals in real life. Even if they come off that way, maybe they still think negative and horrible thoughts about people. You just never know the truth or what is false anymore, and I think that is a frightening factor when dealing with these virtual communities. The example I found is from Youtube. I found many videos related to griefers. The one I chose was Patriotic Nigras vs. Youtube Poops: Concert's closed. This video was similar to the one we saw in class. It had posters of Bill Cosby along with african american individuals holding guns in order to provoke control and "black power." To me, it is hard to understand the videos. I get the gist of it, but it just seems obnoxious and stupid. Along with this, it is very racist and stereotypical which i thought our society was trying to get away from. I can see how these people get offended and hurt by these griefers whether it is real or not. The bottom line is that it is disrespectful, hurtful, and definitely not necessary. I think the people that participate in these activities have insecurities about themselves, therefore they hurt other people to make themselves feel better. In the end, they look stupid and immature in my eyes. It is hard to get these individuals that grief out of these virtual communities, so I think people need reconsider second life if they can not cope with the mentally traumatic experiences they may encounter!
http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-02/mf_goons?currentPage=all