The Art of Second Living
A
communication-theory approach
to
the virtual world of Second Life
ABSTRACT
This is an ethnographic study of ‘Second Life’ and of the
interaction of ‘avatars’ within this 3D online environment from the perspective
of communication theory. Participant observation was conducted between 2007 and
2012, focusing on a particular online community and on a small number of its
members. It explores the affordances of the medium for online lives and
relationships. Research into virtual environments has been dominated by
experimental approaches, the goal of which has been to measure the ‘effects’ of
the medium. Such approaches have been organised around the concept of presence—the experience of being in a
place other than that in which one is physically situated. While researchers
have considered how people adapt their communication practices to accommodate
the affordances of the medium, the dominant assumption has been that the medium
has a shaping influence over those practices. However, such researchers do not
concern themselves with the actual experiences of people who spend time in
virtual worlds and insufficient emphasis has been placed on the role that
social codes and situational rules play in organising the social construction
of virtual existences. As a contribution to communication theory this study argues that the realism of such
online worlds is derived not from the adequacy with which the ‘delivery
mechanism’ is perceived to create a realistic computer-mediated environment but rather from the ongoing communicative
achievements of the participants.
Key words: communication
theory, ethnography, participant observation, virtual worlds, Second Life,
computer-mediated communication, communication practices, avatars, affordances,
social constructionism.
