Sunday, June 29, 2008--Reading up on the World History of Second Life
In my avoidance of working on a project for school (I'm very good at avoidance!) I picked up one of the library books I'd gotten on Second Life Friday afternoon and started reading.
The Making of Second Life by Wagner James Au has already gotten me thinking, and I've just finished the first chapter. The thing goes back to the mid-1970s! (Visions of War Games keep dancing through my head.) It really does remind me of reading a historical novel or some such--history through a personal lens (since Au was actually employed by Linden Labs for a while).
Here are a few of the notes I've tabbed in the book so far that have "pinged" on my interest meter--
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pp. xi-xii--The study by Henrik Ehrsson and Olaf Blanke that was reported in Science in August 2007. They found that volunteers who were looking at a scenario over an avatar's shoulder (as in the default view in Second Life) actually experienced physical sensations when the avatar was faced with danger (as if they, themselves, were facing danger).
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p.xiii--1 in 3 of the population of S. Korea belong to the CyWorld site (rather a cross between Facebook and Second Life). When looking at the under 30 crowd, the stats jump to 90% of S. Korean young people are on the site.
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p.xiv--In May 2007, technology analyst firm Gartner, Inc. stated that, by 2011, 80% of all internet users would have some sort of alternate persona online (though not necessarily through Second Life).
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p. 9--In a study conducted by Stanford online expert Nick Yee, 50% of respondents described themselves as "addicted" to an MMORPG--losing sleep, changing social habits, etc.
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pp. 9-10--In an extensive 2007 survey of several hundred SL users conducted by Global Market Insite, the following were found--16% said they spent less time with loved ones, 14% got less exercise, 13% did less shopping, 54% watched less television
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