Second Life and Convergence Culture

The purpose of this blog is to examine the role that key concepts of convergence culture play in Second Life. Launched in 2003, Second Life is an online virtual world that is largely built by its users. Second Life users contribute to the platform through world building, avatar building, commerce, and entertainment. The Second Life community is multi-faceted. As a platform, Second Life can be used for education, recreation, and as a way for users to explore a number of interests, and community life in a virtual world.  Published in 2006, Henry Jenkins'  Convergence Culture  analyzes the process where old, and new media collide in the current media landscape, and the consumer’s role in not only being an active participant in new media landscapes, but realizing the influence of collective power. Collective power in new media landscapes can take the form of knowledge communities, and collective intelligence (Jenkins, 2006). At the time Convergence Culture was writ...

Knowledge communities in Second Life apply the skills they’ve learned in the real world to contribute to building Second Life’s virtual world. In true collaborationist fashion, Second Life makes building tools available for users of every skillset through the Second Life wiki, and the Second Life community page. Second Life users who are experienced in building contribute to, and are featured on pages that walk users through building basics like choosing the shape to begin world building, and the location in-world, to build. This draws on a point Jenkins (2006) makes in  Convergence Culture , in that, “knowledge communities form around mutual intellectual interests; their members work together to forge new knowledge often in realms where no traditional expertise exists” (p. 20). In Second Life, knowledge communities contribute their expertise, alongside the expertise of Second Life support staff to share step-by-step building information with those in the community. The v...

Collective intelligence results when members of a knowledge community work together, leveraging their knowledge, combining skills, and pooling resources to become active participants in acquiring additional knowledge (Jenkins, 2006). A key element of collective intelligence is participation. In Second Life, collective intelligence extends past world building to community building. One notable Second Life community is the Virtual Ability Island. Virtual Ability Island belongs to Virtual Ability, Inc. a non-profit whose vision is to be the leading provider of services and information for people with disabilities in online virtual worlds (virtualability.org). Virtual Ability Island offers an online, virtual community for those with disabilities, and chronic illnesses. Virtual Ability Island incorporates collective intelligence by bringing together a number of resources to help community members integrate into the online virtual world. Virtual Ability Island members are provided with new...

Participatory culture, “is more open-ended, less under the control of media producers, and more under the control of media consumers” (Jenkins, 2006, p. 133). Participatory culture in Second Life utilizes the collaborationist approach in Avatar building. Second Life users who want to custom build, and personalize Avatars can follow DIY tutorials from the Second Life community forum. Those with more knowledge of Avatar building point newer Avatar builders in the right direction by telling them what skills they need in order to create Avatars. This draws on another concept of participatory culture. Jenkins (2006) notes, “In a participatory culture, the entire community takes on some responsibility for helping newbies find their way” (p. 178). Where this takes on the role of being more under the control of media consumers (i.e. Second Life users) is in their ability to customize Avatars with no restrictions, with third party software available to create custom Avatar modelling, and text...

Second Life’s collaborationist approach is unique in that almost every aspect of its virtual world features contributions from its residents. The collaborationist approach views fans as important collaborators in the production of content, and as grassroots intermediaries helping to promote the franchise (Jenkins, 2006, p. 134). The Second Life homepage features user-made Avatars, and their accompanying virtual photography on its banner while inviting new users to join, become creators, and start new businesses in Second Life. At the time  Convergence Culture  was written, some of the first content creators to embrace the collaborationist approach were video game designers. Although Second Life’s creators have taken care to distinguish Second Life from comparisons to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), there are similarities in their approach to collaboration. The video game designers discussed in  Convergence Culture  utilized collabo...

Collaborative enterprise in Second Life revolves around its own economy, which is fueled by the Linden dollar. The Linden dollar enables users to buy, sell, and trade lands, goods, or services through Linden exchange (Investopedia). Second Life users buy and sell Avatars, animations for their Avatars, and accompanying accessories. Second Life’s collaborative enterprise isn’t limited to the Second Life virtual world, either. #FiftyLindenFriday is a weekly shopping event where Second Life Designers place items on sale that are marked down to fifty Linden dollars. #FiftyLindenFriday is as much a social event as it is a collaborative enterprise with Designers livestreaming their stores on YouTube, and providing commentary, similar to that of a Podcast. Followers of a Designer's YouTube channel comment, like, and join the Designer on the livestream as they give a tour of their store, and the items for sale. #FiftyLindenFriday encompasses Jenkins’ definition of collaborative en...

Second Life’s multi-platform community encourages collaboration and participation as users extend their community from Second Life’s online virtual world, to the social media platform that best supports their skillset as they share their creations with one another. As Second Life’s content flows across multiple media platforms, elements of transmedia storytelling become apparent in the way Second Life encourages users to take media into their own hands (Jenkins, 2006). Where transmedia storytelling tells one interconnected story on multiple platforms, Second Life enables users to tell multiple stories on multiple platforms, supporting the content they create for the Second Life virtual world. Second Life’s presence on Flickr, Instagram, and YouTube is an expansion of the Second Life community, where Second Life users connect with others through self-made artwork, photography, and storytelling. Second Life on YouTube has the most diverse content, from interviews with Second Life’s cre...

The Second Life model encourages convergence of multiple media platforms due to its collaborationist approach to user participation. Second Life not only allows, but encourages users to have an active role in its creation, and world expansion. This blog analyzed the major themes from Henry Jenkins’ Convergence Culture that are present in Second Life today, and how these themes expand on the concepts Jenkins wrote about in 2006. The first two themes analyzed were knowledge communities, and collective intelligence. Knowledge communities, and collective intelligence are central to media convergence. Members of Second Life's knowledge communities combine their expertise to contribute to avatar, and world building. The applied expertise of knowledge communities becomes collective intelligence, and contributes to community formation within Second Life. Second Life’s emphasis on user participation evokes an important element of the collaborationist approach-participatory culture. ...