Lab+5

//"What is the difference between advertising methods used in the real world and the virtual world. Please explain."//

The North American culture and its domination by ads is not an unfamiliar concept or reality. The advent of the Internet, however, has birthed a whole new realm of advertising, that which is achieved through targeting individuals rather than large groups. The nature of the virtual world allows users to create content and consciously construct their identity in this world. It is a choice people make by participating in the virtual world, and therefore a choice to participate with the advertisements that have become an integral part of this domain, just as they achieved the same status within the real world.

Advertisements in the real world have proven to be effective with the multiplicity of billboard, magazine television and newspaper ads that have seduced consumers into purchasing products. However, the concept of mass marketing and advertising has been pushed to its limits and consumers have become aware of the mass targeting advertisement strategies that now seem impersonal. The Internet, however, allows users to feel as though their individuality is respected and cherished, and therefore makes the whole experience of the advertisement (within these virtual worlds) one that is unique and special the user.

The nature of the virtual world is fundamentally social, as well as geographically boundless. Users are able to interact with each other instantly without any real notion of time or space (Goss). Advertisers therefore have found this to be a "medium that can exploit this when [designing a] marketing program effectively (Goss)". By allowing users to interact with ads in virtual worlds, the user feels personally connected to the content as he or she is able to somewhat customize or control certain aspects of the ad. The fundamental message of the ad, however, is the same for every person who interacts with it, regardless of whether or not the experience is the same.

Google is an excellent example of the way in which advertisements have become part of the content that we consume on the Internet. It merges the text that contains the core information (the hypotext) with the surrounding text from advertisements (paratext) to create a single plane from which users consume both texts. As a result, the information that we access on the Internet is framed in a commercialized context, thus removing a greater portion of meaning from the hypotext and replacing it with paratext. The paratext has an overwhelming power on "influencing our interpretation of the original source material. Understanding the force of the paratext pushes us to consider the consequences for our culture if everything online is surrounded in a frame of advertising" (White). The power of advertising has increased exponentially through the accessibility of the Internet and consequently, virtual worlds, and therefore a heightened awareness is needed to fully recognize the influence of advertisements and our contribution to their power.

http://www.micahmwhite.com/writer/google-infoparasite.php http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10797.asp