The Brief Existence of Rummy

When I received the instructions to create an alternate persona and interact anonymously with classmates on AIM I must admit i had my skepticisms.  However, the atypical concept of the project intrigued me as something interesting and fun.  I feel there is an innate sense of intrigue that comes with creating something completely in your own fashion, especially an imaginary person.  So I decided to create someone virtually opposite from myself yet with exaggerated traits/ interests i possess.  Thus, "Rummy McAnus" came to be.  I have an enormous and eclectic taste for music so naturally i wanted him to be a musician.  Rummy was originally going to be a famous rock star yet i felt it was more human for him to be a has-been musician instead.  I really thought i could play the part of an old, glam-band guitarist still trying to live the dream in this current day.  I envisioned all his indulgent hobbies, way of dress, the exotic pets he illegally owned, and his love for David Bowie.  Soon i was on AIM and ready to chat with my unknown partner.
This is where the first flaws in the project outline came into being.  The partner i received in class never logged onto AIM or messaged me.  Luckily,  PPChute1 messaged me soon after we began the assignment.  We had a good yet pretty brief conversation for the first day.  There was an immediate sense of conflict when his characters very "gangsta" persona (liking rap music, guns, typing in slang) insulted David Bowie, Rummy's basic model for life.  We continued arguing about music then signed off.  I was excited to continue having conversations between these completely divergent characters.  Yet soon after, I found that the conversations became more brief and even dull despite any efforts i had to engage him.  Then no one signed on again after Saturday even though I was checked into AIM on my phone constantly.   Rummy sadly fell into a coma never to be revived.
Although the AIM project didn't totally play out like it was intended, the concept and lesson and teachings behind it were great.  I feel reading Sherry Turkle's "Identity in the Age of Internet" related very well to this assignment and from the reading i realized my own motivations for creating Rummy.  Though Turkle is mainly addressing MUDs and online gaming platforms, her message about identity greatly applies.  She writes, "We are dwellers on the threshold of the real and the virtual, unsure of our footing, inventing ourselves as we go along... the self is constructed and the rules of social interaction are built, not received" (Turkle 10).  There were no rules for either partner so each was free to do and say whatever they liked.  It provided freedom and a separation from social restrictions.  And her point about the ability to create a new identity was realized when i created Rummy into a musician.  Even though i love music, i play no instruments.  Rummy provided a way to experience the thoughts of a musician and imagine a different way of life.