Play’s Republic

A brief video on Second Life was recently featured on blog for the NPR show “The Bryant Park Project”.  This video discussed the importance of social boundaries, even in the virtual world.  NPR producer Win Rosenfeld spent some time immersed in the Second Life culture researching the notion of personal space in the virtual environment.  As Rosenfeld found, the two primary boundaries of personal space - distance and eye contact - still applied in Second Life.  Individuals, when met with someone that stared for too long or stood too close, would either break eye contact or move away.  The individuals Win interacted with would not allow themselves to stay outside of their comfort zone for more than a few seconds at a time.

This seems like a reasonable observation.  I think that any one interacting through Second Life would notice a similar phenomenon within the first few minutes of playing.  I know that I felt like some sort of social contract had been broken the first time I had a stranger approach me in the class’s “annex” and interact with me on “too personal” a level.  Just like Win states, I had to move away from his avatar in order to feel comfortable continuing the conversation and even then I felt that he was a bit odd.

But, almost more interesting than the stories are the comments from the readers.  Some are pointless, as can be expected with any news article, but some are also valid and interesting to think about.

Full text and video available on the BPP site if you’re interested: http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2007/05/dont_stand_so_close_to_me.html