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IDENTITY and COMMUNICATION in CYBERSPACE Muds: GENDER and VIRTUAL CULTURE

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IDENTITY AND COMMUNICATION IN CYBERSPACE MUDs: GENDER AND VIRTUAL CULTURE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY İDİL S. SOYSEÇK İN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES AUGUST 2006 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer AYATA Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Ra şit KAYA Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assist. Prof. Dr. Mutlu F. Binark Prof. Dr. Ra şit KAYA Co-Supervisor Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Ra şit KAYA (METU, MCS) Assist. Prof. Dr. Mutlu F. B İNARK (BU, İF) Dr. Baris Cakmur (METU, MCS) Assist. Prof. Dr. Mine Gencel BEK (AU, ILEF) Assist. Prof. Dr. Funda Ba şaran (AU, ILEF) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Signature: iii ABSTRACT IDENTITY AND COMMUNICATION IN CYBERSPACE MUDs: GENDER AND VIRTUAL CULTURE SOYSEÇK İN İdil, S. M. Sc., Department of Media and Cultural Studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ra şit KAYA Co-supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Mutlu F. B İNARK August 2006, 161 pages This thesis investigates if it is possible to speak about a virtual culture. If so, it seeks to answers to the following questions: Is it possible to mention a culture peculiar to cyberspace or virtual culture is just a mirror of real life culture? Where does the body position? How have been identities experienced? What does fluid and fragmented identity mean? Does it offer a space of opportunities? How has been gender formed on cyberspace? Is removal of gender barriers possible? Answers to all these questions have been explored through text-based virtual reality environments on the Internet called MUDs in which creating alternative identities is possible. A survey and interviews as well as direct and participant observations for the exploration of MUD environments have been conducted. Mostly, MUDs called, LambdaMOO and Aardwolf, and then Cabülka Cabülsa have become central sites of observations and interviews. The findings show that cyberspace has its rules and limitations which are not independent from the real world. Since gender is a key component indicating the society interacts, culture of cyberspace cannot stay aside. Despite possibility of gender switching, stereotypical gender performances continue to exist. However cyberspace iv is a new and rich communication environment in respect of facilities it offers and its future structure and form largely depend on the users. Keywords: Cyberspace, Internet, MUD, virtual culture, gender. v ÖZ SİBERUZAMDA K İML İK VE İLET İŞİ M MUDs: TOPLUMSAL C İNS İYET VE SANAL KÜLTÜR SOYSEÇK İN İdil S. Yüksek Lisans, Medya ve Kültürel Çalı şmalar Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ra şit KAYA Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Mutlu F. B İNARK Ağustos 2006, 161 sayfa Bu tez sanal bir kültürden bahsetmenin mümkün olup olmadı ğını incelemektedir. E ğer öyleyse, çalı şmanın cevap bulmaya çalı ştı ğı sorular şunlar olmu ştur: Bu kültür, çevrimdı şı ya şadı ğımız kültüründen ne ölçüde farklıdır, ona bir alternatif midir yoksa onun sadece bir yansıması mıdır? Özellikleri nelerdir? Kimlik, özellikle toplumsal cinsiyet siberuzamda nasıl in şa edilmektedir? Bu medyum “kendi” kimli ğinin olu şumunda nasıl bir sorgulamayı mümkün kılmaktadır? Toplumsal cinsiyetin yarattı ğı bariyerlerin ortadan kalkması mı söz konusudur? Bütün bu sorular İnternet üzerinde MUD olarak adlandırılan, alternatif kimlikler yaratma olana ğı tanıyan metin tabanlı sanal gerçeklik ortamları vasıtasıyla ara ştırılmı ştır. MUD ortamlarının incelenmesinde anket ve mülakatlardan oldu ğu kadar do ğrudan ve katılımcı gözlemlerden de yararlanılmı ştır. Gözlemlerin ve mülakatlar ço ğunlukla LambdaMOO ve Aardwolf ve takiben Cabülka Cabülsa diye adlandırılan MUDlarda gerçekle ştirilmi ştir. Sonuçlar, siberuzamın gerçek dünyadan ba ğlantısını kopar(a)mamı ş ve kendi kuralları ve sınırlılıkları oldu ğunu göstermektedir. Toplumsal cinsiyet toplumun nasıl vi etkile şimde bulundu ğuna ili şkin anahtar bir unsur te şkil etti ğinden, siberuzam kültürü de bundan ba ğımsız kalamamaktadır. Bir cinsiyetten di ğerine geçme olana ğı verse de, stereotiple şmi ş toplumsal cinsiyet edimleri varolmaya devam etmektedir. Yine de sundu ğu olanaklar temelinde de ğerlendirildi ğinde siberuzam yeni ve zengin bir ileti şim ortamı oldu ğundan, gelece ğinin hangi yönde şekillenece ği büyük oranda kullanıcılarına ba ğlı olacaktır. Anahtar Sözcükler: Siberuzam, İnternet, MUD, sanal kültür, toplumsal cinsiyet. vii to my mother, brother, all women and to the memory of my father viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to first of all to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to Associate Professor Mutlu Binark who contributed to this thesis by her criticisms, insights and suggestions. She accepted to be my advisor when I lost all my hope of finding a person would be interested in a subject which is not so “popular” in Turkey. Therefore without her, this thesis wouldn’t come about. I am thankful to Prof. Dr. Ra şit Kaya for his suggestions made me much more attentive throughout this study. I also would like to thank my other examining committee members for their constructive dialogue. I am grateful to Mustafa Bodur, Şevket Kürkçüo ğlu and Yasin Ülkebay for their significant contribution to this thesis. If I hadn’t known them, I wouldn’t find my way on world of MUDs. I should also mention “Sint”, “Andoni” and other habitants of various MUDs for sparing their time to my interviews. I have had invaluable help from Özgür Yılmaz in reaching informants for my case study. Furthermore, I owe so much to his productive opinions, his patience with my endless questions and to our talks and discussions. I am really grateful to him. Without the support and patience of my family, this study would not be completed. Very sincere thanks go to Gonca Önder, Hatice Özlem Sarıyıldız and Can Ersen Fırat for their moral support through these hard times. Last but not least, I would like to thank to beautiful women of Kadın Tiyatrosu who made me feel stronger with their existence. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM .......................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................. vi DEDICATION........................................................................................................ viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................1 2. HISTORY OF COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC) ....................................................................................13 2.1. History of the Internet.........................................................................................13 2.2. Brief Looks ..................................……………………………………………...15 2.2.1. Electronic Mail and Discussion Lists ..............................................................15 2.2.2. The Bulletin Board System (BBS)...................................................................16 2.2.3. Internet Relay Chat (IRC).................................................…………………...18 2.2.4. Electronic Communication in Turkey.......... ………………………………...19 2.2.5. MUD History ..................................................................................................23 2.2.6. MUD in Turkey .............................................................................................25 3. EXPLORING MUD ENVIRONMENT………………………………………… 27 3.1.Adventure MUDs................................................................................................ 29 3.1.1.Characters......................................................................................................... 29 3.1.2. Objects ............................................................................................................ 37 x 3.1.3.Places................................................................................................................ 41 3.2. Social MUDs.......................................................................................................45 3.2.1. Characters.........................................................................................................46 3.2.2. Objects..............................................................................................................49 3.2.3. Places................................................................................................................52 3.3. Summary………………………………………………………………………..54 4. BACKGROUND: VIRTUAL CULTURE
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