Natalie’s Blog

I’ve had the chapter four notes in my notebook but for some reason I’ve been lax on actually blogging about the chapter. I suppose that it’s because even though parts of chapter four were interesting I didn’t really feel as though the chapter was as vital as it was hyped up to be. One major criticism that I have of the book is that it really gives very little help to amateur anthropologist trying to get by in Secondlife. Instead the author caters to professional anthropologists or simply those who are familiar with the world of Secondlife while “noobs” are left behind wondering how much of what is discussed is possible.

For example, chapter four interestingly lays the scene for applicable analysis when it discusses the way in which participants feel a sense of belonging in Secondlife and become “residents” which suggests a sense of place. I found the way in which these residents were described was particularly interesting and recognized the way in which a resident of the physical world may experience similar reactions when faced with similar situations. I also found it interesting the way that designated spots called “sandboxes” allowed people to build but that the structure or object would be deleted within a short period of time.

Despite all of the interesting material covered in the chapter, however, I was disappointed to see once again that even though the author discussed parts of the game he didn’t explain them. As a new member of Secondlife, I find the concept of sandboxes to be very interesting and useful especially in the group projects for the class. However, after reading the chapter I am still unaware of where to find a sandbox or how to build upon one. I suppose that as a reader I would like to see a little bit more help with the discovery of information. All of the convoluted theory in the world won’t help if the collection of information for the experiment is inaccurate. I wish the author had taken this into account, particularly in chapter four.