In the world of virtual reality and/ or the realm of digital publishing, individuals are able to move about a city or work out a problem on their own, based on their own decisions, personal motives, etc. In doing so, the individual is able to gain a sense of self worth that they might not have otherwise had access to. By doing so, members of the community who might have otherwise felt empowered or might not have stood up and said something if certain situations were face-to-face, now feel the power and ability to come into their own skin and cross new boundaries.
In terms of digital publishing endeavors, we must think of not only building communities for people to become a part of and find their own “sense of place and being”, but also think of the what it means for people to finally feel they have the means to speak up. This can create many problems when it comes to hate groups or speaking up against social justices, but this can also be a way of bounding people together and making them realize they are not alone in the world of “the virtual self”. According to Bolter and Grusin “the freedom to be oneself is the freedom to become someone (or something) else” (pp. 247).
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