Cultures of Virtual Worlds

Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, 2009

As a reader of this issue of JVWR, you should have an interest in virtual worlds as well as some experience with a few, even if an exact definition of what constitutes a virtual world or how to differentiate various types of virtual worlds still proves elusive to you. Popular media outlets as well as academics from multiple disciplinary homes have been rumbling about thetopic for some time now, but virtual world spaces that contain millions of people globally are just now becoming a sustained subject of the studious eye of academic research.

Qualitative Sociology Review, 2009

©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 2 2 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 3 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w Abstract Virtual-worlds research is a dynamic and growing interdisciplinary area in the social sciences and humanities. Sociological theory can play an important role in how virtual worlds are conceptualized and studied. Drawing on data from ethnographic projects on two distinct types of virtual worlds, an asynchronous text-based internet forum and a massively-multiplayer online game, I consider what social and cultural similarities these two types of virtual worlds have with one another, despite their radically different forms and functions. My comparative analysis is framed in terms of three questions. First, are virtual worlds temporary and/or intentional communities? Second, what are the frames of reference through which virtual-world communities are built? Third, how do boundaries function in virtual worlds? My discussion suggests some of the common social and cultural features of virtual worlds.

2009

Thomas and Brown / Why virtual Worlds Can Matter 37 Virtual worlds are persistent, avatar-based social spaces that provide players or participants with the ability to engage in long-term, coordinated conjoined action. In these spaces, cultures and meanings emerge from a complex set of interactions among the participants, rather than as part of a predefined story or narrative arc. At least in part, it is the players themselves who shape and to a large extent create the world they inhabit. While many virtual worlds provide the opportunity for that kind of world to emerge, game-based environments such as World of Warcraft or Eve Online illustrate it best because of the intense degree of coordinated action and co-presence among players. This sense of “being with others” and being able to share space, see physical representations of each other, and communicat e and act in that shared space provides a very specific set of affordances for players. This article is an effort to trace out and...

2013

1. Introduction: Approaching the study of virtual worlds Ursula Plesner and Louise Phillips 2. Virtual Worlds as emerging cyber-hybrids: Accounting for the travel between research sites with Actor-Network-Theory Ursula Plesner 3. Presence in Virtual Worlds: Mediating a Distributed, Assembled and Emergent Object of Study Dixi Louise Strand 4. Understanding Cyborgism: Using Photo-Diary Interviews to Study Performative Identity in Second Life Ulrike Schultze 5. Designing Childhoods: Ethnographic Engagements in and Around of Virtual Worlds Minna Ruckenstein 6. A Situated Video Interview Method: Understanding the Interplay between Human Engagement and the Power of Scripted Animations of a Virtual World Sisse Siggaard Jensen 7. Comparing Novice Users' Sense-Making Processes in Virtual Worlds: An Application of Dervin's Sense-Making Methodology CarrieLynn D. Reinhard and Brenda Dervin 8. Exploring Stakeholders of Open Source Virtual Worlds through a Multi-method Approach Zeynep Yet...

Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Virtual worlds constitute a growing space for collaborative play, learning, work, and e-commerce. To promote study of this emerging realm of activity, we suggest a typology adapted from C. Porter’s (2004) typology of virtual communities. The five elements of the proposed typology include (1) purpose (content of interaction), (2) place (location of interaction), (3) platform (design of interaction), (4) population (participants in the interaction), and (5) profit model (return on interaction). We argue that this five-element typology facilitates identification of (a) the historic antecedents of virtual worlds in gaming and social networking, (b) future applications of virtual worlds for society, education, and business; and (c) topics for future research.

Most of my previous research participants were Westerners, and those research findings showed that Third Culture residents must learn to be more accepting and tolerant. However, the few non-Westerners I interviewed did not agree with this statement. Therefore, I wonder, what if the majority of the research participants were not Westerner, would the research result be similar? I wonder, in virtual worlds, who is benefited from the cultural creations? Who are the creators? What messages are they delivering? And who are the audiences? What they might think about the culture that is appropriated? Maybe cultural exchanges and mutual respect are the solutions to cultural appropriation in virtual worlds?

Journal For Virtual Worlds Research

This is a brief essay, we call "think-pieces", designed to stimulate a discussion on a particular topic. For this series of essays we propose the following question: "Consumer behavior in virtual worlds, is it really any different to the real world, or is it simply a case of 'old wine in a new bottle'?"

International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking, 2012

Virtual worlds have emerged as important socio-technical artifacts in contemporary society. They have enabled unique business models in the digital economy. This paper presents a rich account on how virtual worlds have transformed modern society and how they have been presented as having outstanding benefits and promise, with examples of successes and failures. The goal is to synthesize the research and demonstrate an accurate understanding of this novel artifact and its multi-facet consequences. In addition, and more importantly, this review proposes a research agenda for the information systems discipline and assists in identifying critical issues on virtual world technologies and strategic management practices. The objective of this study is to establish a foundation for research on virtual worlds.

2012

Even as virtual worlds recover from their ride on the ‘hype cycle’, they have become more accessible to the average computer user than ever before. Developments in technologies that support these worlds have enhanced their value for supporting communication, collaboration and experiential learning. However, the educational promise of these worlds continues to be balanced by their limitations. Creating an identity and learning the physical and cultural rules of a virtual world requires an investment of time, money and a certain amount of trust that participation is worth the effort. Most critically, the more open the world, the more likely it is to expose participants to inappropriate content and interactions. On the other hand, virtual worlds are a precursor of the more immersive online environments forecast for the near future; engaging with them now will give educators a head start on supporting the next generation of learners.