I apologize for not having this posted on time, I went home to post it last night and found out I had saved it as a *.docx file --the blame is entirely my own.
Thanks,
Anna
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COM370
Submitted for Group C by Anna H. & Anthony V.
April 22, 2008
Second Life and Instant Messaging
At first glance, Second Life appears to be just a simple computer game, boasting better graphics than most, but a computer game nonetheless. However, an increasing number of companies are using this virtual world technology as medium for professional communication. To gain a full understanding of this trend, we must first study its media's characteristics.
Second Life is a computer mediated virtual world technology which, when compared with a more accepted computer mediated form of communication like Instant Messenger, has a number of characteristics worth discussing. First of all, much like Instant Messenger, Second Life allows for global communication in a synchronous manner –though, unlike Instant Messaging, it does not allow for much multitasking as the program has some heavy system requirements and, in most cases, hogs all processing capabilities. That being said, it is a much richer media than Instant Messaging as it offers not only its own instant messaging, but hosts voice chat capabilities as well, enabling users to communicate vocally through headsets. This allows for all the voice inflections and verbal cues which are typically lost in Instant Messaging to be included in the communication, allowing the sarcastic ones among us to retain their place in civilized society. It goes beyond that, however, as each user possesses a customizable "avatar" which functions as him/herself in the Second Life world, and these figures allow some non-verbal communication to manifest its self in the form of gestures, expressions, and voice inflection. Compared to the limited substitute of emoticons found in instant messaging, Second Life’s non-verbal communication and visual emersion allow far more information to be transmitted to the receiver. Second life also benefits from the fact that the user is completely immersed in the virtual world, with its own monetary systems, laws, locations, stores, etc. –all of which allow for communication through advertising and promotion within the program itself. Instant messaging, on the other hand, is a much leaner communication medium, and "the lack of visual cues provides less information for the receiver to “regulate, modify, and control exchanges” (Keisler 1984). Because of Second Life’s ability to visually communicate, it also allows a person to have a stronger social presence that they would be able to have in instant messaging.
While Second Life is a much richer communication medium, there are some major draw backs within its workings. As mentioned before, the tremendous amount of resources it requires to run the software download often causes a personal computer or laptop to freeze up or not run at all. This drain on a computer's resources does not allow for background programs to run simultaneously, translating to no multitasking capabilities. This multitasking ability is one of the primary functions of Instant messaging (which requires very little processing power), and is often listed by users as one of the key benefits. Another drawback to second life is that it takes a large time investment to become familiar with the interface and various components. While having many different customizable options hold a vast amount of potential, they can lead to an inordinate wasting of time as a user can spend hours just trying to change his/her avatar's hair color. Second Life presents the user with almost everything available in the real world, and this can be quite a distraction if you are supposed to be paying attention to a speaker in a meeting. All these options and the tools can also be quite overwhelming, leading to what Miller referred to as the user “drowning in data.” (2006) While instant messaging is a much leaner medium, it is a simple straight forward use of communicating using text, making it efficient for unambiguous communication while performing other tasks. Second Life also shares with Instant Messaging the potential problem of flamers. Kiesler stated regarding computer mediated communication that "Messages are depersonalized, inviting stronger or more uninhibited text and more assertiveness in return." (1984). In Second Life, this flaming still occurs, but at the same time, users often become psychologically attached to their avatar, and may often become more offended by this virtual-world abuse than they would have if it had occurred through Instant Messaging.
In summary, Second Life holds much potential as a communication medium, but just because it is richer than Instant Messaging does not necessarily equate to being a better mediated communication in all cases. If efficiency is the goal, Second Life is not what you are looking for.
Works Cited
Miller, K. (2006). Organizational communication: Approached and process (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Kiesler, S., Siegel, J., & McGuire, T. W. (1984). Social psychological aspects of computer mediated communication. American Psychologist, 39, 330-347.
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