Who are these People? Habbo Hotel

Every time I log onto the Habbo Hotel, another aspect or question of sexuality, race, gender, and identity arises. Who are these people? Who are these characters? What do these various personalities represent in this virtual world? What do these personalities hope to accomplish? Each one of these question supply a myriad of answers. I myself am participating in this virtual world for a class assignment. Although I enter this online social realm with various motives and preconceptions about the world, other individuals have other goals as well. I find myself questioning other characters to get a better idea of what they are after. Some are on the virtual world for sex, some for recreation, so for gaming and mere entertainment, but one aspect of Habbo that is crucial to the very nature of the site is discretion. I have been approached and solicited for sex from three women and one man to date. I wonder if they would do the same in real life in such a flagrant and blunt manner. Each individual who approached my avatar had an African American appearance. While I was in the ‘Stadium of Concerts’ Room, I noticed that there was another African American woman in the room. We were the only two blacks present ( at least in avatar state). She walked over to me while I was sitting in at the bar and asked if I wanted a drink. I kindly declined, and she then asked if I wanted to have ‘dirty’ sex. I wonder how she assumed that I might possibly be interested in partaking in intercourse. In real life I can ask the same question. How do individuals know what buttons to push in in social situations? What key cues do individuals work off of when interested in making friends, forming relationships, and even attempting to have sex? Without a true identity in this virtual world, avatars have the freedom to do and say what ever they please without the social and in some cases legal ramifications that society enforces.