A recovering Virtual World Junkie responds...

In this third and final blog post this week for EAC 539, I was asked to review another student's blog and react to their initial post.  After reading Megan Glancy's opinions on Second Life, I sprouted horns and decided to play ... Devil's Advocate for the tool Second Life. 

I should probably disclose my history with massively multiplayer online games.  Among the first major MMOs was a game called Everquest, which I played for several years.  I was an active raiding member of one of the best guilds in the game, Triton of the Povar server.  For those that need context, this is the equivalent of holding down a full time job.  A raider in my situation at the time would put in at a minimum, five hours of raiding a night, every night except Fridays.  Also of note is the need for non-raiding time to prepare one's avatar/character for raiding by way of gaining experience, completing quests for access to raid zones and gathering useful raid consumables. 

Patented Triton Victory Shot

Besides teaching me that victory should be celebrated, (see Froglock photo above) the game taught me many other lessons that have transcended the game and worked their way into my professional life.  Things like fostering relationships with management and co-workers, conflict resolution in diverse populations, working in teams, goal setting and even how hard work will pay off in rewards and recognition.  This is why when I read Ms. Glancy's opinion that she saw little value in Second Life for teaching sociology concepts I was perplexed for a number of reasons.  

First, Second Life and similar online environments deeply engross their users in the environment.  If this can be cultivated in a useful manner, then students will spend far more hours "studying" than they would otherwise, at least my thirty plus hours a week playing Everquest suggests this could happen.  

Secondly, virtual worlds at their very core embody sociology.  In some cases, they create societies of their own with complex social structures, not simple mirrors of our own real world social groups.  In other cases, virtual worlds allow for exploration more abstract concepts like the effect of society on its members. 

As an example of this type of exploration, Koles and Nagy explored the question, "Who is Portrayed in Second Life: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?" in the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research.  This piece addressed how identity is shaped in an online environment.  Is the avatar just an extension of the real life identity or something radically different.  Conclusions reached in the article included how social orientation was the most pronounced for the virtual identity.  Seems like this could spur a lively debate about the role of society in determining self?

Another approach to how virtual worlds might be applied to the study of sociology by leading students through how to conduct research of sociology concepts.  A virtual world seems like an excellent place to gather data.  You could have students canvas a virtual world to interview rather than have the expense of conducting real world interviews. 

Finally, today in politics a debate between the halves and the have-nots is raging.  Conservatives recently have been accused of not caring about 47% of the population because they do not pay income taxes.  A similar social concept was explored in second life by Hans Geser in his paper "A very real Virtual Society," where he talked about the distribution of wealth in Second Life following a U-shaped curve, with high amounts of non-owners and owners but few in between or "middle class" residents.  Exploration of similar themes might be great for class discussions or projects in Second Life.

In conclusion, I understand it might be hard to integrate virtual worlds into courses, but I do think there is some value in exploring these structures.  As you mentioned there is a learning curve to all virtual worlds, but the time it will take for most 18-22 year old users to get up to speed today will be minimal because many of them will have experience with gaming and those who do not are more willing than ever to collaborate by seeking aid from their peers.

Geser, Hans. A very real Virtual Society. (2007).  Some Macrosociological Reflections on             "Second Life".   Sociology in Switzerland: Towards Cybersociety and Vireal Social   Relations. Retrieved from http://socio.ch/intcom/t_hgeser18.htm

Koles, B., & Nagy, P. (2012). Who is Portrayed in Second Life: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? The        Extent of Congruence Between Real Life and Virtual Identity. Journal Of Virtual Worlds     Research, 5(1). Retrieved September 23, 2012,   fromhttp://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/view/2150/5975