Facebook 'avatars' - you can now become a Sim!

[Grumpy Owl]

Yeah, I know Facebook is bad and all that but bear with me...

[Grumpy Owl]

But this ‘new’ thing that seems to be being rolled out in the last few days is how Facebook users now seem to have the ‘ability’ to create a new ‘avatar’ for themselves, a sort of computer-generated version of themselves.

I note with interest that I have not seen this new feature offered to me, nor can I find where I can do so.

I mean like, what the fuck is this? It’s sort of like an advancement of the ‘Bitstrips’ thing that became popular a few years ago, but then disappeared into nothing.

Many years ago, I did enjoy playing the computer game “The Sims”, and I recall now that even before reading any of David Icke’s stuff, years ago I was having some discussion with some friends, and brought up the possibility of our own ‘real lives’ in this world just being part of some ‘Sims’ like computer simulation.

Of course, many Facebook users will just see this as all “a bit of fun”. But what if there is more to this? What if more than just being a real human being interacting with others on ‘social media’, we are being prepared and indeed conditioned into the idea of just becoming a ‘virtual avatar’ in the new reality of cyberspace?

I’m also at this point reminded of an advert for the actual “The Sims 4” game that popped up recently on a phone box in Sparkbrook. The slogan read as:

“I didn’t like my own family, so I made a new one”

More social engineering at work?

Of course, on my personal Facebook profile, I’ve chosen to have a picture which does not show me for the last couple of years, so I’d consider myself to be hypocritical to criticise others for adopting their new ‘avatar’ image.

So in a bit of ‘reverse psychology’ I was tempted – but then stopped myself – from putting up a picture of myself ‘in protest’.

I think I can see whats going on here, the ‘sheep’ are blindly following the latest ‘social-media’ trend, in order to create their own ‘virtual persona’, while perhaps the idea is that those in opposition to this ‘facial-profiling’ exercise will provide the social network with an ‘up-to-date’ image of themselves, ready for facial-profiling?

And yeah, “Facebook is bad” and all that.

Anyone else here who happens to be on Facebook who’s seen their ‘friends’ lapping this up?

 

[KillBill]

[Grumpy Owl]

1 minute ago, KillBill said:

 

Is that serious?

[KillBill]

17 minutes ago, Grumpy Owl said:

 

Is that serious?

 

No, I just made it in Photoshop

See if they introduce it though ..

[EnigmaticWorld]

On a slightly related note:

Pentagon's Project 'Avatar': Same as the Movie, but With Robots Instead of Aliens

https://www.wired.com/2012/02/darpa-sci-fi/

[EnigmaticWorld]

[rooey]

its got something to do with cartoon program conditioning in my opinion 


plus dissociation and people seeing themselves as cartoon characters 

Edited May 24, 2020 by rooey

[Grumpy Owl]

13 hours ago, rooey said:

its got something to do with cartoon program conditioning in my opinion 


plus dissociation and people seeing themselves as cartoon characters 

 

Yeah, I find it a bit 'dehumanising'.

 

"But its fun! You should get one too!"

 

You stop being yourself, but a cartoon persona instead. I don't know how these 'avatars' get generated, or how much user input is involved, but there's the possibility you could create an avatar that is less like who you actually are, but more like what you wished you were.

[rooey]

6 hours ago, Grumpy Owl said:

 

Yeah, I find it a bit 'dehumanising'.

 

"But its fun! You should get one too!"

 

You stop being yourself, but a cartoon persona instead. I don't know how these 'avatars' get generated, or how much user input is involved, but there's the possibility you could create an avatar that is less like who you actually are, but more like what you wished you were.

yes and cartoon characters don't age, the simpsons are all still the same age, mickey mouse has never aged a day. Cartoon characters are immortal 

Edited May 25, 2020 by rooey

[motleyhoo]

On 5/23/2020 at 10:58 AM, Grumpy Owl said:

Yeah, I know Facebook is bad and all that but bear with me...

 

I posted on the old forum about 5 years now my prediction that the next version of facebook would be be based on VR and avatars, and that instead of being glued to their phones, the next generation of addicts would be spending their days all alone in their rooms with their VR goggles on facebooking in 3D, and that facebook was putting a lot of work into designing this new version of itself to be even more psychologically addictive.

 

Take my prediction and connect it to our new reality of a "deadly pathogen", fear, social distancing, and the elimination of many millions of jobs in order to "save the world".   The dots just fall right into place.

 

[EnigmaticWorld]

4 hours ago, motleyhoo said:

 

I posted on the old forum about 5 years now my prediction that the next version of facebook would be be based on VR and avatars, and that instead of being glued to their phones, the next generation of addicts would be spending their days all alone in their rooms with their VR goggles on facebooking in 3D, and that facebook was putting a lot of work into designing this new version of itself to be even more psychologically addictive.

 

Take my prediction and connect it to our new reality of a "deadly pathogen", fear, social distancing, and the elimination of many millions of jobs in order to "save the world".   The dots just fall right into place.

 

 

Sounds about right. FB did buy Oculus VR for $2 billion too. It might not have sold much to people that don't care about tech, but a couple of "killer apps" and adoption rates might skyrocket. Price is also a barrier to entry as it takes quite a bit of horsepower to render high fidelity visuals twice for 3d, but hardware is another thing that will eventually come down in price.

[motleyhoo]

On 5/24/2020 at 12:58 AM, rooey said:

its got something to do with cartoon program conditioning in my opinion 


plus dissociation and people seeing themselves as cartoon characters 

 

It has a lot to do with making life so dehumanizing and stifling that living in a VR life will become preferable to living in a real one.

 

[rooey]

9 hours ago, motleyhoo said:

 

It has a lot to do with making life so dehumanizing and stifling that living in a VR life will become preferable to living in a real one.

 

they are already trying to escape nature, is that just one step further? 

[itsnotallrightjack]

On 7/25/2020 at 7:11 AM, motleyhoo said:

 

I posted on the old forum about 5 years now my prediction that the next version of facebook would be be based on VR and avatars, and that instead of being glued to their phones, the next generation of addicts would be spending their days all alone in their rooms with their VR goggles on facebooking in 3D, and that facebook was putting a lot of work into designing this new version of itself to be even more psychologically addictive.

 

Take my prediction and connect it to our new reality of a "deadly pathogen", fear, social distancing, and the elimination of many millions of jobs in order to "save the world".   The dots just fall right into place.

 

 

I can see it happening in about 20 years. I bet they'll all be "dating" in VR too!

 

I've had a go at VR- a Star Wars one with the robots. It was fun! But I wouldn't spend all day doing it like these youngsters would.

 

I wouldn't mind a holodeck like in Star Trek though- it'd be great to have programmes like Victorian streets.