Real Life vs. Virtual Life Essay Example
Real Life vs. Virtual Life Essay Example

Real Life vs. Virtual Life Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (553 words)
  • Published: October 18, 2016
  • Type: Essay
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For many, the first thing they do to start a day is logging into their Facebook account to check out news feeds. After catching up with all their friends’ updates, they go to the virtual farm or restaurant that they are running and begin the works. Meanwhile, they are preparing for their real-life exam or meeting. But things used to be a lot easier when there were no Facebook and Farm Ville. With the popularity of social networking sites and online games, virtual life gradually takes up people’s life.

The expansion of such phenomenon raises the issue of comparing the reality and the virtual life. Both real life and virtual life are created by men and they share some similarities. Take Facebook as an example. According to a research from NM Incite, 8% of the male users add friends d

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ue to sheer physical attractiveness. Appearance is vital in both reality and virtual life since it is the first impression people have on one another. It might sound cruel, but the “likes” a pretty girl gets for her news feeds or profile pictures usually outnumber others.

This is also true in the real world. Good-looking people can attract opposite sex easily and tend to have better social relationship. But of course, look is not everything on the web. If people write rude comments on the internet, they will be criticized or condemned consequently. The anonymity of the virtual world doesn’t mean people can get away with rudeness easily. While virtual life and real life resemble each other in the two aspects, they are fundamentally different. Think about this question.

If you

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are a fan of Greenday but also appreciate Tchaikovsky’s works, will you post it on your Facebook page and tell people you listen to classical music on a regular basis? Chances are you being regarded as an artsy guy. Consider another situation. Have you ever met someone who is really talkative on the internet but was indeed a quiet and shy person in reality? According to Turkle, a virtual environment offers chances of a social life for performing the self you wanted to be.

Perhaps sharing a link from Greenday will earn you more “likes” than a video of orchestra performance. The issue of a real self and virtual self has been under discussion for a very long time. The difference between the two selves is very obvious through the examples above. With the popularity of social networking sites and smartphones, people tend to send instant messages rather than phoning others or meeting them in person to have a proper conversation. Though it is much more convenient, the lack of facial expression and face-to-face contact makes the dialogues distant.

Just as playing Farm Ville doesn’t make you a farmer, instant messaging cannot substitute real-life relationships. In this sense, real world and virtual land greatly differ from each other. It is basically people’s own choice to lead a real or virtual life. The most vital issue of all is to maintain a balance between the two. You can choose to end your day by browsing through the Facebook page or going to your online farm and restaurant to see your total income. You can also choose to go over the presentation for the next

day. It all depends on you.

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