Academic Second Life Studies
- Virtual Worlds for Business Communication and Collaboration, by Eka Tirtadji, May 2008
This masters thesis, done as an intern at LogicaCMG in the Netherlands. The focus of this thesis is based on the connection of technology characteristics of virtual worlds and the task characteristics of employees working in an IT services organization. This twofold approach is derived from the central premise of media richness theory: a certain task must fit with a certain technology in order to be effective. This study takes a qualitative research approach, containing two case studies: Second Life as a prominent virtual world technology and LogicaCMG as a typical organization that is required to deal with the identified organizational developments. The Second Life case study was firstly conducted to identify the characteristics of this particular technology. Then, the LogicaCMG user interviews were conducted to identify task characteristics of a group of particular knowledge workers, using the identified categories of the first case study in order to enable and assure that the context of both case studies lie within the same scope of research. After these case studies, a task-technology comparison of the various characteristics took place.
- To Play or Not to Play, by Slava Kozlov and Nicole Reinhold, October 2007
- Slide presentation
A look at corporate use of Virtual Worlds. This article aims to present playfulness as a distinct quality of virtual worlds, with a culture that is open and collaborative, creative and role-playing, ‘light’ and ‘joyful’. Using the case of Second Life, we explore the multiple difficulties faced by companies when they enter virtual worlds. The causes are linked to the significant differences in business culture and emerging digital cultures. We use the framework of ‘digital neuroses’ to both understand the difficulties and to propose possible coping strategies for businesses in order to discover the full potential of these emerging cultures. We argue that companies can truly benefit from virtual environments if they are open to their cultural codes, eager to understand the behavior of their inhabitants, and are willing to modify their own activities accordingly.
- SL Survey: Resident profile, gambling & engagement by Angelica Ortiz and Pierre-Etienne Noble, August 2007
This survey of about 600 Second Life users in the spring of 2007 looks at demographics of Second Life users, usage of Second Life, investment and return from Second Life, attitudes and use of Gambling in Second Life, engagement (behaviors) associated with Second Life, and perception of SL. Several of the questions ask about the impact of Second Life on real-life behaviors. The results are summarized in the Full Paper. James Au's summaryReuters summary
- User Acceptance of Virtual Worlds by Marc Fetscherin and C. Lattemann, June 2007
An Explorative Study about Second Life
Our report assesses the user acceptance of Virtual Worlds, specifically Second Life. By means of a survey with almost 250 respondents this report provides first empirical results of the user acceptance of Second Life. The data has been gathered during spring 2007. Our results show that 90% of respondents have less than a year experience, 70% access Second Life from home and 54% with a desktop. There are 67% of respondents who are not afraid of giving personal information. Almost 60% are very likely to buy virtual goods from Second Life, and 42% are willing to use their credit card to purchase on Second Life. About 70% perceive Second Life improves collaboration and communication, and more than 60% perceive that it improves cooperation between people. 56% of respondents perceive Second life as easy to use. Finally, our results indicate that people are using Second Life not to change their identity, but rather to explore and visit new places and meet people.
- The Unbearable Likeness of Being Digital: The Persistence of Nonverbal Social Norms in Online Virtual Environments, Nick Yee, Jeremy N. Bailenson, Mark Urbanek (Department of Communication, Stanford University), Francis Chung (Department of Computer Science, Portland State University) and Dan Merget (Department of Computer Science, Stanford University) Summer 2006
This study basically says that avatars display the same interpersonal distance characteristics as real people, and similar eye contact. It implies that people treat their avatars as an extension of themselves, not as a puppet or external object.
This report provides a snapshot of the Second Life (SL) entertainment market* as of the second quarter of 2007. It discusses the amount of time respondents spend on entertainment — including SL as well as other forms of computer-based entertainment and non computer-based entertainment — and the types of entertainment respondents engage in within SL and in real life (RL). It also discusses preferences between RL and SL participation in the same activity, barriers to RL participation, and interest in participating in new forms of entertainment in SL. Suggestions are offered for adding to the entertainment options available within SL. While the title is "Entertainment", the categories of Entertainment cover much of how Residents spend their time in Second Life, and thus are a good guide for those devising ways to interact with Residents.
- Excluding gambling and adult entertainment.
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