Task 7: Societal Implications

Web 2.0 technological innovations are giving advantage to those implementing virtual worlds into their organizational functions. The beginning advancements and widespread growth of virtual worlds are proving to bring about the question of, what will a virtual world bring to “real” society?

Societal implications are not limited to factors such as knowledge and education, technological, economic, medical, environmental, cultural, ethical, legal, cultural, and risks. Although home computers and high speed Internet seem like an essential in society today, not every person has access to that technology. Virtual worlds limit the diversity of communication.

People that do not have the means to obtain the requirements to participate in a virtual world are left out of the environment which does not allow users to fully embrace meeting people of all walks of life. “The key reasons given by those households that have never connected to the Internet at home suggest problems of cost/value and availability, including: "Don't Need/Not Interested" (41.6 percent), "Too Expensive" (22.9 percent), and "No or Inadequate Computer Available" (22.5 percent). Affordability and computer availability are even more important for those who had Internet service but discontinued it. The major reasons for people discontinuing home Internet use include "No or Inadequate Computer Available" (27.5 percent), "Too Expensive" (27.2 percent), and "Don't Need/Not Interested" (18.4 percent)" (Cooper, 2004).

On another note, the social experience that the people who using the web 2.0 world to their advantage are very new and beneficial. Being able to have a meeting at a completely neutral site which makes the boss down to the janitor of a company relatively equal is a great thing. It also brings people together from all over the world to be able to again meet at a neutral site from the comfort of there own home or country. This bridges the gap from economic and professional classes. It can allow communication to run horizontally.

As the usability of these web 2.0 environments become easier and are more accessible to the masses, the societal implications will also become greater. “We need to consider an enormous array of possibilities including the effects of the use of colour, illusory effects, positioning of information, size and distance, light, contrast and image size - to name but a few! In order to instantiate a solid ground for developing a highly effective and 'pleasant' interface, these considerations must be paramount.” (Rajani Rosenburg, 1999) The graphical user interface of virtual worlds is continually improving and as hardware become faster and cheaper, the virtual world platforms will be so much more rich and capable of delivering new and innovative means of communication.

Virtual worlds are meant to represent reality, and the users of these CMC platforms are using them for the same types of things one could do in real life, however allowing them to accomplish these tasks networked with other individuals all over the world. Communities are an essential part of interactions and communication, whether it is businesses or personal circles. Virtual worlds and web 2.0 technologies have great potential to form communities of people with various shared interests. People belonging to specific communities will have the ability to meet with other users in any desired location created by users. It is these functions and practices of user created experiences, content, and communication that are bringing forth the most societal implications.

This type of experience has never been able to be done before and it has potential for great things. It can bring people together and test all sorts of ideas instantly all over the world. The capabilities that the Internet gives us are almost endless and it is really up to us the next generations to find the best uses for it.

Task 6: Second Life Implementation - What is it All About?

Virtual worlds – such as Second Life, allow for a wide array and multitudinous people to experience a technology that involves a variety of ages, sex and race. In this space, thoughts, ideas and opinions can be shared as a type of communication shared across a spectrum of people.

Today, many organizations are beginning to implement virtual worlds into their company. In doing this, helps create new and innovative ways, allowing companies to foster growth. Virtual worlds allow users the ability to connect with others who are involved in the same organization and share their personal beliefs, feelings, information, and more importantly, can effectively broaden each individual’s idea of the organization. The program may help an individual look at views from different perspectives, but can also help strengthen an organization’s communication. Virtual Worlds allow individuals of all status levels to communicate with each other, helping develop more angles a task can be viewed as.

However, in order for individuals and an organization to receive a meaningful and positive outcome, there needs to be a determined process. One example – an organization could inform individuals on the correct way to use the virtual world based on the determined process so that the virtual world is used properly. The organization should go through a step-by-step process that will increase the individual’s knowledge of correctly communicating, following the norms, and end with information that gives the user a full view and understanding of how the program works.

According to Geber (1995), “Companies that use virtual teams are finding that tending to the human factors of the arrangement is one of the savviest things they can do to ensure the success of the teams’ projects” (p.36). In order to achieve the utmost level of effective usage in a virtual world, certain characteristics need to be available so everyone is able to follow a standard.

The first step in implementing a virtual world into an organization relates to the media characteristic of the norms involved. Geber(1995) states, “…team members need to come up with a list of norms and agreements about how the team will operate and how it will handle the technological aspects of its interactions” (p.39). These norms should include the goals associated with the use of the virtual world, the responsibilities of the individuals, and when applicable, timelines of specific due dates.

Organizations implement the use of virtual worlds because often times the communication between individuals is faster, however, they should make sure the task matches the richness of the virtual world. Virtual worlds will work best in an organization if the task is low in ambiguity. “Ambiguity refers to the existence of conflicting and multiple interpretations of an issue” (Miller, et. al, 2006, 290). According to Miller, et. al (2006), “…managers will be more effective if they choose a communication medium that is a proper match for the ambiguity of the task at hand” (p.291). Additionally, a great reason for an organization and its member’s select virtual worlds is if the individuals are dispersed around the country. Virtual worlds allow individuals the ability to work without having to leave their current living area to work for the organization resulting in flexibility.

Implementing a virtual world into an organization should incorporate structural and individual considerations. Structural: “Select people who are comfortable sharing information and working with computers…but also make sure they’re people with strong personalities who can assert themselves in an electronic medium” (Geber, 1995, 39). It may be a challenge for those who find it difficult to communicate without nonverbal cues. In saying this, Newell recommends that virtual teams have both a team leader (formally called a manager) and a team facilitator” (Geber, 1995, 39). This will enable “…each team establish a mission for what it intends to accomplish” (Geber, 1995, 39). With a leader and a facilitator, tasks can be delegated and the virtual world can ensure that members are following the appropriate guidelines. Organizations like UWM have a virtual world that is continuing to advance and develop, and as users become more acclimated with the program – a trust factor will eventually form. As stated in the reading “Trust comes from performance” (Geber, 1995, 38). With performance, inevitably will come conflict. “Teams sometimes enforce a rule that if one team member has a conflict with another, it can’t be dealt with electronically: one person has to telephone the other, or the two must meet in person” (Geber, 1995, 39).

In order for an organization to properly form an effective virtual world, it is necessary for them to create the same regulations that they would create in “real-life” setting. The whole purpose behind a virtual world is to enhance communication by using innovative technology, comparable to an interpersonal communication setting.

Task Five

Coca-Cola, Adidas, Cisco Systems, and IBM. Well-known companies – a few of the well-known companies present within the virtual world of Second Life. These large companies are finding ways to interact with their customers.

Cisco systems adapted Second Life, early on. They initially created a virtual space similar to their corporate website, complete with 3-D buildings and web content. This quickly became an unpopulated place and wasn’t receiving positive results. Based on unfavorable results, Cisco realized it was time to make a change. Cisco’s intiatial set-up was proving unappealing to interactive users. “It turned out people wanted to log on to Second Life to hang out with friends and play casual games, not visit a 3-D version of a corporate Web site.” (Hillis, 2007) Cisco retuned its space on Second Life with one main focus - meetings between customers and employees. Personal meetings and relationships within Second Life are the new and innovative type of communicative technology.

An article posted on CNN.com, shows how some companies are using Second Life as a tool to recruit new employees. Companies are going as far as finding potential new employees and beginning initial interviews within the Second Life program. In addition, SL is allowing recruiting companies to hire employees and alleviating the face-to-face interview process. Recruiters are saying SL gives good insight to how people communicate and represent themselves in real life. Experts are saying that as Second Life becomes more realistic there will be a rapid change in who is participating and what information they are sharing. Another aspect of this virtual world that businesses are finding positive is the way that the head of a company can communicate with anyone in the organization on an equal level. This is found to be beneficial for both parties and the organization as a hole for a few reasons. The boss who can talk to his entire company on an equal basis can learn more then one who is lacking this virtual world that second life gives. They can make the best decisions possible with the knowledge they get from talking to people on every level. For the people on the other side of the spectrum they are getting the ability to be heard. This is something that most big corporations lack and is obviously more beneficial to the ones that do. People getting heard and feedback on there ideas and even personal needs or whatever might come up are going to be better workers for whatever they are doing

A second company with much invested in Second Life is IBM. They are using the platform in many unique ways that seems to transcend basic public relation. “IBM has embraced Second Life to an extent unmatched by any other major company — it has more than 230 employees spending time in-world, and it owns some half-dozen islands.” (Reuters, 2006) A large contributing factor for companies such as IBM getting involved with Second Life is the lucrative video game industry which grosses about $7 billion annually and the ever increasing popularity of morphs and virtual worlds. It would be hard for any technology based company to ignore the presence of these mediums of communication and entertainment. One very unique way that IBM used Second Life was to recreate an actual live tennis tournament within the platform by tracking data on the ball’s movement and sending that to a place in Second Life within seconds of the actual play happening. IBM also uses Second Life for conventions, meetings, keynotes, etc… They are basically trying to transport most aspects of their real world business into the virtual world. IBM is currently considering developing its own virtual world platform for use within the company.

“New technologies augment existing technologies rather than replace them.” (Miller, K 2006) This statement applies to Second Life quite well. The activities that take place within Second Life, including those done in the corporate world, could be done easily with another form of computer mediated communication. A third company that uses Second Life is Dominos Pizza. People can order real life pizza in Second Life. That basically explains the strategy behind the presence of Dominos within Second Life. This service could easily be done with other forms of communication. There is, however, no reason not to open your business up to as many channels of communication as possible to reach the most consumers possible.

Another aspect of this virtual world that businesses are finding positive is the way that the head of a company can communicate with anyone in the organization on an equal level. This is found to be beneficial for both parties and the organization as a hole for a few reasons. The boss who can talk to his entire company on an equal basis can learn more then one who is lacking this virtual world that second life gives. They can make the best decisions possible with the knowledge they get from talking to people on every level. For the people on the other side of the spectrum they are getting the ability to be heard. This is something that most big corporations lack and is obviously more beneficial to the ones that do. People getting heard and feedback on there ideas and even personal needs or whatever might come up are going to be better workers for whatever they are doing.

A second company with much invested in Second Life is IBM. They are using the platform in many unique ways that seems to transcend basic public relation. “IBM has embraced Second Life to an extent unmatched by any other major company — it has more than 230 employees spending time in-world, and it owns some half-dozen islands.” (Reuters, 2006)

A large factor contributing to companies such as the successful and well-known IBM, getting involved with Second Life is the lucrative video game industry – grossing approximately $7 billion annually, and the ever increasing popularity of mmorpgs and virtual worlds. The communication and entertainment value of these additions leaves companies with an even more positive view of SL.

One very unique way that IBM used Second Life was to recreate an actual live tennis tournament within the platform by tracking data on the ball’s movement and sending that to a place in Second Life within seconds of the actual play happening.

IBM also uses Second Life for conventions, meetings, keynotes, etc. IBM is focusing on transporting most aspects of their real world business into the virtual world. IBM is currently considering developing its own virtual world platform for use within the company.

“New technologies augment existing technologies rather than replace them.” (Miller, K 2006) This statement applies to Second Life quite well. The activities that take place within Second Life, including those done in the corporate world, could be done easily with another form of computer mediated communication.

Dominos Pizza – another successful company getting involved in Second Life. People can order a real pizza from Second Life. This service could easily be accomplished through a standard order online or phone call. There is, however, no reason not to open your business up to as many channels of communication to reach as many consumers as possible.

Businesses are finding another positive aspect of SL. The head of the company can communicate with anyone in the organization on an equal level. Both parties find this to be beneficial for a few reasons: the boss who can talk to his entire company on an equal basis can learn more, as compared to another who is lacking the virtual world opportunity. They can make the best decisions possible with the knowledge they get from talking to people on every level. For the people on the other side of the spectrum they are getting the ability to be heard. This is something that most big corporations lack and is obviously more beneficial to the ones that do. People getting heard and feedback on there ideas and even personal needs or whatever might come up are going to be better workers for whatever they are doing.

Benner, Katie. “I got my job through Second Life.” CNNMONEY. 23 Jan 2007.25.Apr. 2008 http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/22/magazines/fortune/secondlife_recruit.fortune/

Reuters, Adam. “IBM eyes move into Second Life ‘v-business’. Reuters. 25 Oct 2007.

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/10/24/ibm-eyes-move-into-second-life-v-business/

Hillis, Scott. “Companies Shifting Virtual World Strategies” Reuters 11 Oct 2007.

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/10/11/companies-shifting-virtual-world-strategies/

Task Four

As stated by Wikipedia, Second Life is an internet-based virtual world. Launched in 2003, users, also known as “Residents”, interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service. In support of Wikipedia’s statement; the various media characteristics contribute to making Second Life a highly interactive program for users.

The first media characteristic of Second Life is based on research conducted by Kiesler, Siegel, and McGuire (1984). Numerous amounts of people, with different backgrounds come together to interact through Second Life. Diversified users allow for a variety of ways of communication using the program. Kiesler, et al. (1984), stated, “The lack of social feedback and unpredictable style of messages might make it difficult to coordinate and comprehend messages” (1126). As the “residents” begin to communicate with each other, the chance of miscommunication is greater, due to these differences.

Approaching the second media characteristic of Second Life applies to Fulk, Steinfield, Schmitz, & Powers’ (1987) statement, defined as the social information processing theory. The social information processing theory expresses that users’ perceptions of communication is based on attitudes, statements, and behaviors of others involved (Fulk, et al., 1987, 537). When an individual enters this virtual world, they have the ability to walk around and be a part of conversations around them, without having to get involved in the conversation. This allows the individuals who are new to Second Life to observe the communication techniques of others’. Additionally, this allows for gaining knowledge of the “social norms” involved.

Second life can be directly compared with another Web 2.0 communication technology - Facebook. Facebook and Second Life require its users to create a username, password and valid e-mail address – to participate. These programs truly expand the ability to communicate with a variety of people, but hold major differences in comparing.

Second Life allows users to remain anonymous. Your personal avatar can be modeled to resemble you, but does not require an actual photo for others to view.

Facebook allow users to post personal pictures for others to view – whereas Second Life does not. This is the largest difference in comparing the two programs.

Second Life allows you to have an altered life with discretion, where as Facebook allows you to display personal information and photos. Experienced users will say this can be an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. Using Facebook is a fun experience. It allows you to get to know others by viewing photos and personal information. This alleviates some of the “unknown”. Although fun, a major disadvantage Facebook carries is the ability to post personal information which strikes security concerns. Users abusing Facebook and using personal information as a way to interact with others in a negative way can be dangerous.

Second Life is a place to interact without having to give out too much information. It allows users to communicate within a fictionalized character. As with any internet-based program, Second Life carries its advantages and disadvantages. On a positive note, Second Life allows its members to communicate. A disadvantage – being the characters are fictionalized; the avatar may or may not represent a real person which can be compared to other internet-based programs like AOL Instant Messenger. Users can fabricate their appearance and personal information. One way to alleviate the fictionalized nature of Second Life could be to share personal information to a certain extent. Like many internet-based programs, Facebook and Second Life can be deceiving. The information being exchanged is not always valid. Interacters using these technologies must be aware of the information being exchanged, and the realness of it.

AJ

This guys name is youngsweet Birman. Youngsweet because I am the youngest person in my family and well my last name is Sweet. I went with the crazy green shirt because green is just a great color and the brightness because it makes him standout. I got very confused with how to work this program from the start but after figuring out how and what to do it was not that hard at that point. I still have a lot to learn about this second life and it seems like there are very many things to do and explore.

My avatar

My avatar's name is Veronica Henig. I chose that name since it sounds similar to a superhero name. I changed the hair cut and added a coat to my avatar appearance, to make her look opposite from what I look like in real life. I did make some features similar to mine so basically my avatar is an extreme alteration of me as far as hair goes. I have had a lot trouble with this second life concept. I am a little confused on have this all works. I guess, I mainly question the purpose for it. I think that it will be great for me to learn something new and be exposed to a new program. To be honest, I have never even posted on a blog. So this whole activity is eye opening.

1st Post- Second Life

My avatar from Second Life is named Stess Sussermann. I chose Stess, because when I attended UW-Stevens Point the first two years of my college experience, my name in my email address was Stess. It actually became a nickname that everyone started calling me the whole time I attended UWSP.

The different avatars that one is given to choose from to begin with did not look anything like me. This scared me a bit, because I did not know if I would be able to change the appearance. After I noticed I could, I honestly changed every aspect of her, to make her more like me. I changed my clothing to an outfit that I might wear during the summer, because I am truly looking forward to warm weather. I also changed the shape of my face; smaller lips, higher cheek bones, and smaller nose. My hair color is now closer to what it truly is, which is blonde with a hint of red, and my eyes are now hazel/green. My hair is long and straight, and my finishing touches included light makeup with a greenish tint around my eyes.
Getting oriented with Second Life was very difficult and time consuming for me. Considering my computer is six years old, it is not as fast as I would like it. Also, I guess I do not meet the minimum memory requirements, which makes it lag a considerable amount. However, since I first logged into Second Life, I did go into the add or remove hardware icon on my computer and removed programs I did not use. Since then, Second Life has been running a little bit easier, but still freezes from time to time. I really enjoyed the tutorial part, because it made it that much easier to understand how to work effectively in the program.
I thought very highly of Second Life for my first impression. Second Life is like a computer game (which I never am able to play because I am so busy), but in this program I have the ability to communicate with others, and hopefully talk to others that are intelligent. I believe this will be very fun and new way to meet others.