This is my attempt to live log the BlogHer07 conference from Second Life.
Session #2: Privacy, Exposure, Risk: Can you maintain safer spaces online?
When there are other people involved, blogging and second life can be just like sex. You can never guarantee it's 100% safe, but you can make it safer. And oh, by the way, safety can be in the eye of the beholder. Discuss where you draw the line to protect yourself, those close to you and your entire online/virtual community both around your individual blog, your avatar, or in larger more structured online communities, from family friendly sites to sex sites.
Moderated by Meghan Laslocky (avatar Miranda Tibbett) a freelance journalist who has reported on sex, identity, and technology issues for the San Francisco Chronicle and Salon.com. Regina Lynn, the sex-tech expert Sex Drive Columnist, Wired.com, author of The Sexual Revolution 2.0, and blogger joins us along with Lillie Yifu of Second Sex.
Audio fed into SL live from Chicago. After the initial panel discussion, the SL conference continues in text which means hopefully my notes will be better.
Tara Hunt
People ask me, aren't you worried about putting your whole life on line? But I have a trust in human nature ... in fact, I get more business out of being on line.
Ann Crady
Blogs about her children. Thinks about her posts in terms of how her children will feel about what she wrote when they are older. Benefits far outweigh the risks.
Susie Bright
(Some audio issues - missed intro) Picking up the talk right at "commie" and "pinko"... Early in life, she did not care what people thought, was completely 'out' in her conversations. She was advised that being out there was one of the best protections, because people will defend you if they know who you are. She is a disciplinarian when it comes to comments so readers don't worry that someone might say "Jane, you ignorant slut". If you say something controversial, you are going to get threats, which means you made an impact.
There is a lot of good conversation among the panelists, but the audio is a bit rough, making it hard for me to capture the thoughts clearly. The consensus seems to be that you can expect at some point to be the recipient of a negative comment, to the point of cyberbullying, but that beyond the obvious downsides of that experience, the upsides are rich.
In world, the conversations is a bit choppy, I'll have to go back and try to see if I missed anything fantastically important. The overwhelming theme: practice safe relationships!
*-*-*
Session #3 Using technology as a distribution channel for the greater good. Galvanize personal action or bring awareness. Rochelle Robinson moderates the presentation and discussion of two case studies, including Green L.A. Girl (aka Siel)'s amazing Starbucks Challenge project. Walk away with a fistful of practical ideas. Then, with Cooper Munroe and Emily McKhann facilitating, we pick next year's case study! Learn about how you can help choose the issue we rally around. Introducing a new BlogHer community activism initiative: BlogHers Act!
The conversation continues in Second Life to discuss Second Life's role as a platform to do good. Second Life Panelists include Susan Tenby (Glitteractica Cookie) of TechSoup with the help of her volunteers, she recently launched a community of over 300 nonprofit staff members and volunteers in Second Life - and Ruby Sinreich (Ruby Glitter) founder and editor of OrangePolitics.org, and In Kenzo- the creative director of AMO Studio in Second Life and in Los Angeles producing award-winning short movies, machinima, videos, interactive design, arts experiences, television, web and print media.
Audio problems out of Chicago so we are going straight to the SL panel.
Glitteractica Cookie with Tech Soup is leading a nonprofit commons project to assist nonprofits to explore the virtual space, providing easy access, free space and assitance by volunteers. Anshe Chung corporation donated a sim to support the project, the launch is August 14th. Meetings are open to everyone on Friday mornings, join the Tech Soup group to be notified. NPSL is the tag that is used across blogs and social networks, and there is a Google group - just search Tech Soup in Google groups.
Ruby Glitter organized RootsCampSL, built on the BarCamp model. Ruby provided an outline of her talk (thanks Ruby!) that described the process by which RootsCampSL came to pass.
In Kenzo did a documentary based on Better World island, and is focused on taking media from Second Life back to the web and outside world.
All nonprofits should have a blog, and use one of the many free blogging hosts such as Vox, Ning, Blogger, Wordpress, etc. The fact that SL is a free and open platform, it makes a great way for small organizations and nonprofits to explore new ways to reach out and communicate.
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Friday, July 27, 2007
BlogHer07 Live Notes Friday AM
Well, unfortunately the video didn't work out but I'm going to try to give you a few snippets as we go. I'm a horrific "live blogger" but it's worth a shot.
OPENING REMARKS
The BlogHer co-founders are describing BlogHer ACT! The initiative will harness the power of the blogging community to focus on health care as a burning issue. There is also a new spin off in Canada - BlogHer ACT will focus on the environment.
Notable sponsors include Google who is on site at Chicago with a staff of Google experts. AOL has provided video blogging kiosks. Yahoo is doing something I missed because the stream hiccuped.
The rules overview. SL conference organizers, please take note:
*-*-*
Woo! Second Lifers get a shout out!
We're getting ready to start "Avatar Hunt" led by Mygdala March. Back after the hunt.
Avatar Huntress Vint Falken takes the prize, despite some "guessing".
*-*-*
Session #1: Combining blogging and Second Life
More and more bloggers are entering this virtual world to connect with community, chronicle their second life, and gain more readers. Residents are leaping out of their comments and into avatars to have full blown discussions on their blog topics in real time. How does blogging and second life interact and what's next? Discussion moderated by BlogHer in Second Life hostess Erin Kotecki Vest (aka Queen Tureaud) who has used Second Life as an extension of Queen of Spain Blog, with panelists Vint Falken - who blogs about Second Life, Second Life podcaster and blogger TheDiva Rockin and Koz Farina,the creator of the second life blogHUD, which allows you to blog FROM Second Life.
SCLN broadcasting this session LIVE.
The session is off to a great start, with the requisite newb streaker. That's why we love SL, I'm sure it will help fuel the negative press.
Q: Do you combine RL and SL in your blogs?
Vint : Focuses on SL on vintfalken.com since there is plenty to write about in SL.
TheDiva: Combines RL and SL since, SL is integral to RL activities.
Koz: Hasn't had time to do much RL blogging these days. Reuters is partnering with blogHUD to get the SL news combines with their news.
Q: How are you combining podcasting and blogging:
TheDiva: Was a podcaster first, then started blogging in January for personal blog, then in February for the Second Life Fashion Police
Koz: Starting blogging first, and was introduced to podcasting via the blogging community. BlogHUD upgrades will include tagging and Twitter integration. There is a twitterHUD available now.
Q: How are you getting traffic?
Vint: 50% of traffic comes from Google.
TheDive: Traffic mostly from Twitter
Koz: Traffic from Twitter, but increasing traffic from Google. Pro version of blogHUD will look more like a real blog.
Q: How do you recommend starting a blog about SL?
Vint: Note that SL is not the easiest program to learn. So ask questions to get started.
Q: Are there blogs in native language or English?
Vint: There are native language blogs about SL, but Vint has written the blog in English since several people speak English as a second language.
Q: How do you integrate RL and SL posts? Do you split your blog? Does SL allow you to be more creative?
TheDiva: Tags her posts so that readers can distinguish between SL and RL. Not sure that SL lets her be more creative, she blogs emotionally so when the emotion hits her, she blogs.
Koz: I just mash them all together.
Vint: Yes, the virtual world provides a place to create your own story.
(Temporary black out as I got distracted...)
Q: Will blogging become obsolete as people spend more time in world?
Vint: No. There is no in world browser, so there is not an easy way to communicate with large number of people.
Koz: We could aggregate RSS feeds in world, or create our own Google in world. Finds the in world newspapers and magazines interesting, and thinks that eventually the note cards will become much richer in the future with the addition of Mono. Mentions that you can't save snapshots in your inventory ( I don't think this is entirely true - save texture as allows you to take textures and photos from inventory to your hard drive)
Q: How do newbs get real-world readers? Is this a niche audience?
TheDiva: It's hard to pull in people because SL is so obscure and it's difficult for people to get it. There aren't any blogs (that I know of) that are newbie focused.
Koz: Sites like Flickr help dispell the myth that SL is a game, and can generate interest. Use blogHUD to generate interest around events such as live music.
Queen: Has friends now in SL that have found that the real time and synchronous nature of SL has helped build her blogging community versus just commenting on each other's blog.
Vint: Uses the SL Blogger group to meet other bloggers and share ideas and help each other.
Q: Some people say that blogging an excuse to stay home and not meet people. How do you respond?
Koz: The relationships are very real, and offers new ways of meeting people. Met his fiance on Twitter! Television is actually the killer.
TheDiva: Media has actually helped to grow her social network; met more people that way than she would have in RL. Now forums like SLCC are more comfortable because you already have a bond with someone from meeting and interacting in world and via networks.
Q: What are your favorite places in SL?
Vint: Paradise Lost will always be a favorite. Left SL initially for 3 months, but came back and found Paradise Lost. Svarga is a beautiful sim, and also the Greenies sim is a new favorite.
TheDiva: The Ben and Jerry's sim is the happiest place in SL. Podcaster island is a good place to meet newbies.
Koz: Live music venues are most interesting. Used to fly around but it was much less laggy then.
*-*-*
More in the next post, and after the rolling restarts.
*-*-*
Share Some Grace:
OPENING REMARKS
The BlogHer co-founders are describing BlogHer ACT! The initiative will harness the power of the blogging community to focus on health care as a burning issue. There is also a new spin off in Canada - BlogHer ACT will focus on the environment.
Notable sponsors include Google who is on site at Chicago with a staff of Google experts. AOL has provided video blogging kiosks. Yahoo is doing something I missed because the stream hiccuped.
The rules overview. SL conference organizers, please take note:
"Everyone here is press."How novel, a recognition of new media standards and the rules that apply.
*-*-*
Woo! Second Lifers get a shout out!
We're getting ready to start "Avatar Hunt" led by Mygdala March. Back after the hunt.
Avatar Huntress Vint Falken takes the prize, despite some "guessing".
*-*-*
Session #1: Combining blogging and Second Life
More and more bloggers are entering this virtual world to connect with community, chronicle their second life, and gain more readers. Residents are leaping out of their comments and into avatars to have full blown discussions on their blog topics in real time. How does blogging and second life interact and what's next? Discussion moderated by BlogHer in Second Life hostess Erin Kotecki Vest (aka Queen Tureaud) who has used Second Life as an extension of Queen of Spain Blog, with panelists Vint Falken - who blogs about Second Life, Second Life podcaster and blogger TheDiva Rockin and Koz Farina,the creator of the second life blogHUD, which allows you to blog FROM Second Life.
SCLN broadcasting this session LIVE.
The session is off to a great start, with the requisite newb streaker. That's why we love SL, I'm sure it will help fuel the negative press.
Q: Do you combine RL and SL in your blogs?
Vint : Focuses on SL on vintfalken.com since there is plenty to write about in SL.
TheDiva: Combines RL and SL since, SL is integral to RL activities.
Koz: Hasn't had time to do much RL blogging these days. Reuters is partnering with blogHUD to get the SL news combines with their news.
Q: How are you combining podcasting and blogging:
TheDiva: Was a podcaster first, then started blogging in January for personal blog, then in February for the Second Life Fashion Police
Koz: Starting blogging first, and was introduced to podcasting via the blogging community. BlogHUD upgrades will include tagging and Twitter integration. There is a twitterHUD available now.
Q: How are you getting traffic?
Vint: 50% of traffic comes from Google.
TheDive: Traffic mostly from Twitter
Koz: Traffic from Twitter, but increasing traffic from Google. Pro version of blogHUD will look more like a real blog.
Q: How do you recommend starting a blog about SL?
Vint: Note that SL is not the easiest program to learn. So ask questions to get started.
Q: Are there blogs in native language or English?
Vint: There are native language blogs about SL, but Vint has written the blog in English since several people speak English as a second language.
Q: How do you integrate RL and SL posts? Do you split your blog? Does SL allow you to be more creative?
TheDiva: Tags her posts so that readers can distinguish between SL and RL. Not sure that SL lets her be more creative, she blogs emotionally so when the emotion hits her, she blogs.
Koz: I just mash them all together.
Vint: Yes, the virtual world provides a place to create your own story.
(Temporary black out as I got distracted...)
Q: Will blogging become obsolete as people spend more time in world?
Vint: No. There is no in world browser, so there is not an easy way to communicate with large number of people.
Koz: We could aggregate RSS feeds in world, or create our own Google in world. Finds the in world newspapers and magazines interesting, and thinks that eventually the note cards will become much richer in the future with the addition of Mono. Mentions that you can't save snapshots in your inventory ( I don't think this is entirely true - save texture as allows you to take textures and photos from inventory to your hard drive)
Q: How do newbs get real-world readers? Is this a niche audience?
TheDiva: It's hard to pull in people because SL is so obscure and it's difficult for people to get it. There aren't any blogs (that I know of) that are newbie focused.
Koz: Sites like Flickr help dispell the myth that SL is a game, and can generate interest. Use blogHUD to generate interest around events such as live music.
Queen: Has friends now in SL that have found that the real time and synchronous nature of SL has helped build her blogging community versus just commenting on each other's blog.
Vint: Uses the SL Blogger group to meet other bloggers and share ideas and help each other.
Q: Some people say that blogging an excuse to stay home and not meet people. How do you respond?
Koz: The relationships are very real, and offers new ways of meeting people. Met his fiance on Twitter! Television is actually the killer.
TheDiva: Media has actually helped to grow her social network; met more people that way than she would have in RL. Now forums like SLCC are more comfortable because you already have a bond with someone from meeting and interacting in world and via networks.
Q: What are your favorite places in SL?
Vint: Paradise Lost will always be a favorite. Left SL initially for 3 months, but came back and found Paradise Lost. Svarga is a beautiful sim, and also the Greenies sim is a new favorite.
TheDiva: The Ben and Jerry's sim is the happiest place in SL. Podcaster island is a good place to meet newbies.
Koz: Live music venues are most interesting. Used to fly around but it was much less laggy then.
*-*-*
More in the next post, and after the rolling restarts.
*-*-*
Share Some Grace:
BlogHer Underway
Houston, we have life off! The BlogHer conference is getting underway, and some brilliant participant is capturing it live on ustream. When I find out who it is I'll be sure to tell you. For now, enjoy!
Share Some Grace:
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Cas-i-no-more In Second Life
What started initially as a ban on classified ads, place listings, and event listings that appear to relate to simulated casino activity has now blossomed to as full fledged policy change that prohibits wagering of any kind in Second Life.
From the Knowledge Base article "Policy Regarding Wagering in Second Life":
It surprises me that gambling was ever allowed in world, but I suspect like many things I've seen emerge with this platform, it could have been a blind direction or simply a "let's push the envelope". Either way, if you are in the mood to read a subject matter expert's perspective on this topic, read Anita Ramasastry's post.
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From the Knowledge Base article "Policy Regarding Wagering in Second Life":
This has stimulated blog buzz about the viability of the economy minus the lucrative casino industry that arguably drives other elements including land sales, "synergistic" business models, and even the Linden exchange itself.It is a violation of this policy to wager in games in the Second Life (R) environment operated on Linden Lab servers if such games:
(1) (a) rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner, OR (b) rely on the outcome of real-life organized sporting events,
AND
(2) provide a payout in
(a) Linden Dollars, OR
(b) any real-world currency or thing of value.This includes (but is not limited to), for example, Casino Games such as:
o Baccarat
o Blackjack
o Craps
o Faro
o Keno
o Pachinko
o Pai Gow
o Poker
o Roulette
o Sic Bo
o Slot machinesIt also includes Sports Books or Sports Betting, including the placing of bets on actual sporting events against a book-maker or through a betting exchange.
Linden Lab will actively enforce this policy. If we discover gambling activities that violate the policy, we will remove all related objects from the inworld environment, may suspend or terminate the accounts of residents involved without refund or payment, and may report any relevant details, including user information, to authorities and financial institutions.
It surprises me that gambling was ever allowed in world, but I suspect like many things I've seen emerge with this platform, it could have been a blind direction or simply a "let's push the envelope". Either way, if you are in the mood to read a subject matter expert's perspective on this topic, read Anita Ramasastry's post.
Share Some Grace:
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
BlogHer '07 in Second Life Starts Today
Queen has done a heroic job pulling together the in world portion of the conference, you can find the schedule here. (Note that the times listed are local Chicago time CST. The SL times are 2 hours earlier). The festivities kick off tonight at 4PM SL with a mixer and a chance to meet people in world and listen to some live music from Dalien Talbot, Montian Gilruth and me - Grace McDunnough. There are over 120 SL Residents in the BlogHer group and I hope to get the chance to meet everyone over the next 2 days.
The conference starts on Friday AM on Hyperstring Islands and is packed with great speakers, exhibitors and live music from Takamura Keiko (aka "Keiko" ) and Slim Warrior.
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Sunday, July 22, 2007
Welfare in Second Life?
Following the "green dot" syndrome I found myself at Welfare Island, a place consisting of a largely empty brick building, two trailers, a few "Uncle Sam" statues, 52 dance pads, 100 avatars some proudly wearing a "I'm on welfare" tag, and a confederate flag. What's the draw? I know what you're thinking: "It's Second Life, it must be sex!".
Wrong guess Shirky, here lies a welfare program with an island that shouts out you constantly:
Camping as a research approach proved to be less than fulfilling as most people there were equally clueless, and many merely "mining" their way to wealth. Camping is almost a right of passage albeit an ugly, unfortunate passage and I was mildly amused at the innovative approach Uncle Sands has taken to exploit the ill informed newbie populus. By the way, if you go there take a fresh alt, as most people were seemingly suspicious of my avatar's "age".
Wrong guess Shirky, here lies a welfare program with an island that shouts out you constantly:
Welfare Island shouts: Click on an Uncle Sam Statue and fill out surveys to earn L$500 or More! Our surveys are SPAM FREE and take only minutes to complete!OK, I'll admit it. When I first discovered Second Life I camped a bit. I camped to meet people and see if I could, through the course of conversation, figure it out. I camped at a regular spot often next to Dolly Heart, part of the largely successful Heart Garden Centre who at that time had "I"m here helping a friend" in her profile.
Welfare Island shouts: Make more money here than anywhere else in Second Life! Click on an Uncle Sam Statue, then click "Go to page". Fill out some SPAM FREE quick offers!
Welfare Island shouts: Become a Welfare Island Affiliate! Click on the box located behind the mobile homes to get your own Affiliate Machine. Make 50% on top of what the surveyee (sic) makes by placing these statues on your land.
Welfare Island shouts: STOP CAMPING!!!! You'll make more money filling out surveys!
Camping as a research approach proved to be less than fulfilling as most people there were equally clueless, and many merely "mining" their way to wealth. Camping is almost a right of passage albeit an ugly, unfortunate passage and I was mildly amused at the innovative approach Uncle Sands has taken to exploit the ill informed newbie populus. By the way, if you go there take a fresh alt, as most people were seemingly suspicious of my avatar's "age".
Share Some Grace:
Sunday, July 15, 2007
SL .. in perfect form
This sim is beyond my simple words .. just come check it out yourself.
posted by Grace McDunnough on Greenies Home Rezzable using a blogHUD : [permalink]
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Saturday, July 14, 2007
Almost Snail
Doc thinks she looks like a giant snail .. wondering if I should break the news to her ...
posted by Grace McDunnough on Superior using a blogHUD : [permalink]
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Virtual Trust in Your Second Life
In my early discussions about the power of the Second Life platform, I discussed what I called "unmediated conversation". Unmediated, in this case, by the real life factors that influence our face to face human interactions. I argued that in a medium where you could be anything, the infamous three second "first impression" rule had to be violated in some way, allowing for a richer, more meaningful initial engagement that transcended appearance and therefore led to deeper relationships.
After all, in a place where one could be any shape, thing, sex, species, etc. why would we allow ourselves to draw conclusions about the person behind the pixels in a mere three seconds simply based on their virtual manifestation? Did I mention that I *assumed* all of this?
This week my good friend DrFran Babcock started to dispel some of the myths I'd formed in my own mind in her Mental Health Missives podcast. DrFran highlights a study by Kristine L. Nowak and Christian Rauh published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication entitled "Choose your ‘buddy icon’ carefully: The influence of avatar androgyny, anthropomorphism and credibility in online interactions". The study hypothesis calls my "unmediated conversation" assertion to task:
The researchers conducted a survey and an experiment. The survey was used to determine how people perceive a group of 30 avatars in static context created from 3D models using Poser 5 for human and 3D Studio Max for the non-human avatars; those results were used to base the selection of a stimulus for the experiment. The participants evaluated the avatars in terms of their androgyny, anthropomorphism, credibility, homophily, attraction, and the likelihood they would choose them during an interaction. Here are the avatar mug shots.
As you can see there is a variety of human male and female as well as non-human avatars. It's not quite as diverse as that which we encounter in Second Life, but it representative set.
The results from the report Conclusion:
I strongly maintain that the three second first impression is largely influenced by the context of the interaction. For example, suppose you are wandering around Second Life and out of the blue you get an instant message from someone you don't know. "Hi Grace". (Yes, I know you aren't Grace, please play along.) What do you do? Do you respond quickly and openly? Do you check the avatar's profile, quickly scanning for hints? Do you just ignore it?
Now consider the next scenario. You teleport into a crowded live music venue where you know no one. Out of the morass, someone says "Hi Grace". Now what do you do? Do you react differently?
Finally, consider the following; you are wandering through the SL Botanical Gardens and you stumble upon an infinitely peaceful setting that is empty, minus a brightly colored dwarf dangling his feet in the water and whispering to the fish. He looks up and says "Hi Grace". Well?
This goes to the argument of whether virtual worlds have to be 3D. The answer is of course no, unless you want to capitalize on the immersive and contextual experience.
What do you think?
Share Some Grace:
After all, in a place where one could be any shape, thing, sex, species, etc. why would we allow ourselves to draw conclusions about the person behind the pixels in a mere three seconds simply based on their virtual manifestation? Did I mention that I *assumed* all of this?
This week my good friend DrFran Babcock started to dispel some of the myths I'd formed in my own mind in her Mental Health Missives podcast. DrFran highlights a study by Kristine L. Nowak and Christian Rauh published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication entitled "Choose your ‘buddy icon’ carefully: The influence of avatar androgyny, anthropomorphism and credibility in online interactions". The study hypothesis calls my "unmediated conversation" assertion to task:
The fact that we can separate the avatar from the behavior allows an exploration of the extent to which this reliance on visible information in the perception process is due to the lack of conscious control and the relative stability of the body. Perceivers know that the avatar is consciously chosen, easy to change, and not stable. Therefore, if people rely more on a person’s behavior than on the visual information (avatar) when online, it is likely that people rely on characteristics of the offline body due to its stability and the fact that it is beyond conscious control. However, if the characteristics of the avatar have a stronger effect on the online person perception process than behavior, this implies that people rely on visual characteristics for some other reason.I know, read it again .. it will make sense. Where do academics learn to write? We digress.
The researchers conducted a survey and an experiment. The survey was used to determine how people perceive a group of 30 avatars in static context created from 3D models using Poser 5 for human and 3D Studio Max for the non-human avatars; those results were used to base the selection of a stimulus for the experiment. The participants evaluated the avatars in terms of their androgyny, anthropomorphism, credibility, homophily, attraction, and the likelihood they would choose them during an interaction. Here are the avatar mug shots.
As you can see there is a variety of human male and female as well as non-human avatars. It's not quite as diverse as that which we encounter in Second Life, but it representative set.
The results from the report Conclusion:
Avatars that were more anthropomorphic were perceived to be more attractive and credible, and people were more likely to choose to be represented by them. The strongest predictor of these variables, however, was the degree of masculinity or femininity (lack of androgyny) of an avatar. Further, those images with strong gender indications (either more masculine or more feminine) were perceived as more anthropomorphic than images (whether human or not) without strong indications of gender. These results also support the claim that people anthropomorphize anything they encounter (Reeves & Nass, 1996), even bottles and hammers, to some degree.I know what you are thinking "So much for your unmediated conversation, Grace." Not so fast, notice that this study was conducted statically. In other words, there was little context nor was there interaction.
Further, while all images have some level of anthropomorphism, not all images are either feminine or masculine. Some images are both masculine and feminine and others are neither. All things being equal, more anthropomorphic or less androgynous avatars are more attractive, credible, and homophilous, perhaps because androgyny and low anthropomorphism increase uncertainty. These results are consistent with the suggestion that people have higher expectations of anthropomorphic avatars and that there will be consequences for violating these expectations (Garau et al., 2003; Slater & Steed, 2002). The results suggest that less androgynous (more masculine or feminine) avatars may also carry higher expectations.
Finally, it seems that the characteristics of an avatar may at times provide useful, and relatively accurate, information about the person it represents. Although a small percentage of subjects reported a preference for androgynous avatars, a majority reported a preference for avatars that were 'like' them, at least in terms of gender. This suggests that users may also want to match other characteristics such as hair color and race, perhaps sexual orientation, or even hobbies. This means that designers should continue to provide a wide variety of choices. This would not only increase user satisfaction, but could also provide useful information about people in online interactions. Finally, providing minorities, such as Hispanic and African Americans, choices of avatars that match their ethnicity or race may make them feel more comfortable and may also help to prevent marginalizing minorities and other traditionally disenfranchized groups in online environments by making them obvious, visible participants.
I strongly maintain that the three second first impression is largely influenced by the context of the interaction. For example, suppose you are wandering around Second Life and out of the blue you get an instant message from someone you don't know. "Hi Grace". (Yes, I know you aren't Grace, please play along.) What do you do? Do you respond quickly and openly? Do you check the avatar's profile, quickly scanning for hints? Do you just ignore it?
Now consider the next scenario. You teleport into a crowded live music venue where you know no one. Out of the morass, someone says "Hi Grace". Now what do you do? Do you react differently?
Finally, consider the following; you are wandering through the SL Botanical Gardens and you stumble upon an infinitely peaceful setting that is empty, minus a brightly colored dwarf dangling his feet in the water and whispering to the fish. He looks up and says "Hi Grace". Well?
This goes to the argument of whether virtual worlds have to be 3D. The answer is of course no, unless you want to capitalize on the immersive and contextual experience.
What do you think?
Share Some Grace:
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Transparent Barriers of Privacy
This amazing build, with its rich textures and intriguing ambience, is off limits as a private residence. But oh, the wonderment to behold even from afar.
posted by Grace McDunnough on Caerlon using a blogHUD : [permalink]
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