Posts Tagged: virtual

Virtual societies are still a confusing topic for most people.  In a sense, these online worlds could encourage a further decline in real life social interactions among our already digitally crazed communities.  But virtual societies are an interesting phenomenon if studied closely.

We’ve all heard the stories of online world players being sucked into their games and devoting all of their free time (and even work time!) to progressing through the digital scenario.  This obsession has become so extreme in some cases that it disrupts not only the natural flow of the person’s day-to-day routines but also the people around them.  These virtual players are more a part of their online communities than the real world.  Food and sleep are the only elements of actual life that these gamers continue to resort back to in our actual human environment.  Otherwise, they have no use for reality.

It is interesting to note that virtual worlds compress human behavior by stripping away offline interactions and focusing on the core elements deemed important to its participants.  Virtual societies are not concerned with the day-to-day stresses of actual life.  Some may see these digital places as an escape from reality.  While online communities used to be seen as purely recreational, they are now being considered normal.  They are becoming ingrained into social situations outside of simple games by entering the corporate and educational realms.  Virtual classrooms and office meetings can now be found in virtual environments, allowing participants in any time zone and from any location.

We used to have the mindset of “I’m going to sit down and go on the Internet” during the 90s.  Today, the Internet is connected and always changing even when we may not be sitting in front of a screen.  This is now the case with virtual societies.  These are worlds that continue to progress no matter which players are online or not.  Nothing stops the progression just like in the real world.

By studying people’s habits, actions, and reactions to virtual societies, we can learn about basic human behavior.  It allows us to take away the burdens of our actual lives and see what truly motivates individuals.  Maybe we can learn a thing or two about ourselves from digital communities?  Or maybe virtual societies will become the only reality of the future.  Only time will tell.

1. Will virtual worlds become even more advanced in the future? Will they incorporate social networking and will we be able to create our own avatars that look like us and have all of our information?

2. Could virtual worlds be a new way of advertising for companies with product placement? (i.e. Second Life)

3. Could there be privacy concerns, along with ethical concerns, with virtual worlds?

Week 12: Virtual Societies

Why Virtual Worlds Can Matter
– Thomas and Brown

1.  Thomas and Brown explain while all games provide players with a context for experiential learning, only a few create a context for learning that is primarily social in nature.  Of those that do create this social context, only a handful have the special property to allowing the players who engage in the space to actually create and change and evolve the world they inhabit.  Therefore, since higher learning is a result of the games that allow for player impact on the world, shouldn’t more games of this nature be encouraged rather than deemed as a time-waster?

2.  The article states the visual component of virtual worlds has redefined the landscape of online interaction away from text and toward a more complex visual medium that provides a sense of place.  Should the internet as a whole take on more of this “virtual place” component through avatars to promote social interaction as though in the real world?  In other words, should all sites (search engines, news pages, e-commerce) require a users presence through an avatar.

3.  The function of games has always been to separate play from “ordinary life.”  However, in recent years we have seen many people feel more comfortable in virtual “game” worlds than our real world.  Games today have many qualities of the physical world such as economies, social institutions, reputation, governance, etc.  Should the notion of “separate play from ordinary life” be scrapped as our digital world evolves into a blend of reality and virtual?  Is it possible that our way of life may not support separate platforms in the future?

Ethical Issues in Second Life
– Botterbusch and Talab

1.  There is been endless debate concerning copyright in relation to our digital world.  Have we reached a point in human existence that requires a change in laws thanks to the digital technology now surrounding our lives?  The past 100 years has seen more growth than any other time in history and our way of life today is vastly different than centuries before.  Therefore, a change in traditional laws may be in order to fit our time.

2.  As stated by Botterbusch and Talab, more than one author has noted that ethical issues in Second Life seem to be detached from the fear of consequences in the “real world” (such as illegal file sharing, spamming, multiple identities, illicit materials, etc).  Is this behavior being carried over to the real world by younger generations that seem to carry a disregard for online regulations?  Are games such as Second Life a bad influence and teaching disregard for regulations?

3.  Are the actions of avatars an indication of how that person will react in reality?  Or have people learned to distinguish between real world and virtual world behaviors or personalities?

Staging the new retail drama: At a metaverse near you!
– Papagiannidis and Bourlakis

1.  We all find advertising distracting and annoying, unless it happens to be one of the few ads relating to our likes.  Is it ethically wrong for advertisers to have information about your personal shopping habits in order to better filter ads that are more suited to your likes?  Would the more focused ads be positive (showing the consumer all the choices they have for products they would truly consider) or would it become negative (by overwhelming the consumer and not providing variety to items they may have never considered before)?

2.  There are many cases where avatars do not represent the actual person in real life.  Therefore, would the shopping habits of consumers in virtual worlds be a reflection of what those same consumers would purchase in the actual world?  Can marketers enter virtual worlds with the same focus as real life?

3.  Would shopping in virtual shopping world deem more profitable than simple e-commerce sites we see today?  Virtual worlds bring forth the social elements that people people enjoy about a shopping experience.