Estranged Real Life Couple Argue Through the Facebook Avatar of Their Unborn Child

This is one of the stranger examples of avatar identity intersecting with real life social strife (and possibly not worksafe reading), but one which we're likely to see more of in coming years: an expectant Mom creates a Facebook page for her unborn child and updates the page through the persona of the child, which is all cute and adorable until the fetus' estranged father shows up. And an ugly argument ensues... through the Facebook fetus avatar. And they say Second Life users are weird.

Found via Reddit, through Unfriended, which has much more such sadness.

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Comments

[Lyrical Popstar]

I would hardly call the unborn baby an avatar.

It's weird, but not at all a form of avatar identity. An avatar is a graphical representation of the user. This woman is clearly speaking "on behalf" of the unborn child, not pretending the unborn child is a representation of herself. She's not presenting the baby at all as her own alter ego, but as its own personality. She's just speaking for it, much like people do for their babies or pets before they can talk. (Although typically, sane people don't do it on Facebook) :P

It's still just as creepy, but it's not at all avatar identity.

[Hiro Pendragon]

Why is the term "real life" needed in the headline? What does it add? Doesn't it imply that normally, things on Facebook are not real?

[Pussycat Catnap]

My mother has done something like this - if people in the family lack a Facebook page, she makes one and starts posting to it as them...

Something I've argued with her about and I think managed to get her to stop doing... she was genuinely puzzled at why people would object to this... O.o

As for speaking for the baby in that manner - just drop me a dime in 18 years to that kid. I'd love to help them in a civil suit against mom when they get denied to college admissions or a job for 'being a freak' because of things mother posted that Facebook is still spreading around...

...or whoever buys it databases once it goes under...

[Urcheon]

Wait... What if the fetus is possessing or mind controlling the mother in real life and actually typing all that. Then would the mother's body be an avatar of the fetus? And then what would that make the facebook avatar?

[Skylar Smythe]

Laughing... still laughing.

[Pussycat Catnap]

"Why is the term "real life" needed in the headline? What does it add?"

- Its a Nelson Muntz callout from us SLers to those Facebookers.

[Chance Abattoir]

@Lyrical I think this pedantic argument is too caught up in the denotation most commonly attributed to the word "avatar" in computing, but ignores the less popular, but still common connotation that an online persona and identity can also be considered an avatar of sorts. Since it's clearly not a "sockpuppet" because no one believes it is actually the baby, and since it could be argued that her first post is roleplaying, then "avatar" is the closest definition that the account fits (her second post is just OOC). It is not an entirely adequate label, but it is acceptable because it communicates an idea whose meaning will be readily understood by readers of this blog.

Sometimes I go outside, but the sunlight burns my Morlock skin.

[eric]

It's an avatar according to the general, pre-digital uses of the term 'avatar.' E.g., in the sense that The Old Wanderer is an avatar of Odin. Fixating on the common use in-community stunts the growth and development of the concept.

that said, I'm sure there are hundreds if not thousands of examples of this every day on American facebook accounts alone.

[Emerald Wynn]

*falls on the ground and dies laughing*

[shockwave yareach]

Someone needs to report this page. Facebook needs to demand that the fetus prove that it's really a fetus.

[Kim Anubis]

Imagine growing up to read that your mom essentially shoved her arm up your fetal rear and used you as a sock puppet in an embarassing flamewar with your old man. After the kid is born she can continue to use it as a weapon, maybe fire it at Dad from a little cannon or, you know, drop it out the window on him like a bomb.

Hiro, I think the point of the headline may be that this idiot who's setting up a mental health time bomb for her child probably doesn't think of FB as "real life" -- obviously she isn't being stopped by the offline ramifications of her online escapades.

Btw, shockwave, the fetus doesn't yet have a birth certificate so therefore cannot prove it is posting with its real identity, either!

[shockwave yareach]

Kim: That's kinda my point, with Facebook's policy of only allowing real names for real people...

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

She could have a talking tummy IRL, and could not figure out the SL UI, so off to Facebook for mom.

Mama best watch out...that fetus is already cussing!

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Could *NOT* have a talking tummy IRL, darn it!

I gotta stop laughing sometimes before I reply.

[Lissa Pinion]

I have no idea what to say about this....good lord. I do see the connection but these people. Seriously, do people not get it? Are we surrounded by morons and idiots? Good lord.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Smells like satire.

I could be wrong. Some people really are that dumb. But they tend to have issues with punctuation and sentences.

[Kim Anubis]

shockwave, I was agreeing with you. :)