Henry Jenkins Speaks at a Harry Potter Meeting in Teen SL
Henry Jenkins dressed as Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series speaks about Harry Potter and fan culture at a meeting in teen Second Life. Sometimes teens will complain on the SL blog that the teen grid doesn't get the same attention or love at the main grid, but Henry Jenkins is a pretty exciting guest. Nice to find this video of the meeting. There is also a linked clipped on this page of Henry's avatar dancing at the party. (Via nwn.blogs.com.)
Deryck Hodge
May 05, 2008 at 08:55 AM
Out to Pasture -- Blog Archive -- What is a virtual world?
I've been following the things Giff is writing at the ESC blogs the last few days, mostly because I'm fascinated by the turn from Second Life to a focus on lighter, Web-based virtual world experiences. I get where he's coming from now, at least in terms of wanting to do what's possible with technology now, wanting simpler user experiences, etc. Nothing wrong with that. I am, however, still skeptical that virtual worlds via the web browser will take hold in any interesting way without something like Second Life driving it. His question on this post gets to the heart of why I feel this. He asks "what is a virtual world?" Or when he rephrases it "what does 'Metaverse' mean to you?" To me the metaverse is not just a style of interaction with information -- information is secondary to persona. The metaverse is about my digital self. On the Web we only describe ourselves -- Genesis fan, avid reader, lover of comic books -- in the metaverse we can actually *be* this, actually show off who we are, real or imagined. I'm sure my love of comics plays into my avatar's winged look. And beyond my persona, the metaverse means location to me, i.e. my persona doing something, moving through some where. That's the "world" part of virtual worlds to me, a person in context, a person interacting, living, and working with innumerable other personas. So for me, a virtual world is not about communication or interaction at all (though these can happen there). I think the Web gets communication and interaction really well, but I don't think the Web can do persona and place very well. At least not in the way a fully realized, 3D virtual world can. I do think one can exist quite happily with the other, one enhancing the other. But they really are two very different things, IMHO.
Deryck Hodge
Mar 28, 2008 at 10:49 PM
A community thriving outside itself
Torley has a nice and thoughtful post on the strength of Second Life community outside SL. This gets me thinking a bit about the identification of oneself with one's avatar. I wonder as SL continues to grow in popularity -- if the notion of millions and millions of active SL users becomes a reality -- will the immersionist tendencies of the average SL user continue to prevail, or will augmentationism rule with new residents? In other words will the unwashed Internet masses flock to SL because of these vibrant micronation communities, or will SL itself just become another destination like Facebook, MySpace, etc.? My gut says there will be a blending of the two -- that having a digital self will become more common, the avatar will still be allowed to be a separate self in some ways, but the boundaries which give the impression that SL is another country will shrink a bit.
Deryck Hodge
Mar 25, 2008 at 07:50 AM
SL Forums (login required) -- (Tutorial) Photo-sourcing a face skin: Start to finish
A Second Life resident shows how to create an avatar skin from your own photo. A well-done tutorial, so if you're looking to do an avatar that looks like your RL self, this would work well. (Via Shiny-Life.com)
Deryck Hodge
Mar 13, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Immersionism and Augmentationism Revisited
Gwyneth Llewelyn writes about the two approaches to living your Second Life -- totally immersed (hiding anything about your true identity) or as an augmentation to your real life. What's fascinating about this piece is how she compares the two camps to the "old" hacker-culture Internet and the new Facebook-social culture. She makes some excellent points about why the trend lately seems to be toward Augmentationism in Second Life, rather than the original vision of the world. Her point is that those coming to the Net these days have different expectations -- i.e. social expectations among real friends, coworkers, etc. -- than those of the early Internet or Second Life.
Deryck Hodge
Mar 10, 2008 at 01:36 PM