The Second Life Collaborationist Approach


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 collaborationist logic to create video games that weren’t just games, but a service, world, and community (Jenkins, 2006). Second Life’s founder, Philip Rosedale, created Linden Lab with the intent being for users to become immersed in a virtual world. Second Life offers the same attributes as the newly developed MMORPGs at the time. Of the collaborationist approach to video games, Jenkins (2006) summarizes, “Players…must feel a sense of ownership over the imaginary world if they are going to put in the time and effort needed to make it come alive for themselves and for other players” (p. 159). This sentiment is chief to Second Life’s appeal.

Although there have been times when consumers are forced to assert their right to participate in the culture on their own terms, Second Life’s collaborationist approach enables its users to collaborate on their own terms through collaborative enterprise.



All three screenshots taken from the Second Life homepage 


References

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

New York University Press.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Second Life's Multi-Platform Community

Image
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...
Read more

Collective Intelligence in Second Life

Image
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...
Read more

Participatory Culture in Second Life: Avatar Building

Image
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...
Read more