Too many topics, too little time

Virtual Friends in Virtual SpacesThe Orkut communi …. Virtual Friends in Virtual Spaces
The Orkut community continues to grow with many academics and researchers that I am familiar with. I tend to look at other people's friends to see who is on Orkut, and I came across a “person” called Gollum, complete with a LOTR picture. I was amused – but truly fascinated by the number of friends this virtual person had.

Lisbeth makes some interesting comments about Gollum and how he even wrote a testimonial about her. Fictional characters are not allowed on Orkut – though I would argue that some of the profiles that people post can be deemed as fiction. I mean, we are presenting our physical selves in a certain way in the virtual world – aren't we all ficticious to a point? What is real and what is imaginary? Which self are we presenting?

Torill notes that Gollum has been removed from Orkut: “He was active, had a sense of humour and a lot of friends, what more does a person need to be real?” Very true. If we are presenting ourselves with a pseudonym – isn't that fake/pretend as well ? There is a real/physical person behind Gollum – where is that person? Will the real Gollum please stand up?
[Netwoman]