Conclusion


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. Participatory culture in Second Life is most evident in Avatar building, as there are little to no restrictions on how a user can customize an Avatar, including accessing third party software. The collaborationist approach is further realized as Second Life users are given the agency to make Second Life their own, contributing to the game’s culture through collaboration on their own terms.
Second Life has also shown how valuable collaboration can be as an enterprise. Second Life’s collaborative enterprise is demonstrated in the fact that Second Life has its own self-sustaining economy where users buy, sell, and trade goods and services using Linden dollars. There is also a weekly shopping event that takes place in Second Life’s virtual world, and on social media. As the Second Life community has spilled over from its virtual world to social media platforms, it is important to recognize that not only do users gravitate toward the social media platform that supports their Second Life related interests, and skillset, Second Life users are forming, and reinforcing communities outside of Second Life’s virtual walls. Each of these themes are central to Second Life as a form of convergence culture because they allow everyone to be a participant (Jenkins, 2006). Second Life brings the key concepts from Convergence Culture to life today. 


References
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York, NY:
New York University Press.







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