Natalie’s Blog

In the first chapter of “Coming of Age in Secondlife,” the author Tom Boellstroff introduces the ways in which anthropological studies are used to understand issues about selfhood and society within the context of the virtual world of Secondlife. Boellstroff says that for many it’s easy to equate “virtual” with “not real” but he explains that that’s simply not true. In fact, Boellstroff says that “virtual must be defined as part of the real object” (p.21). The virtual world of Secondlife has many similarities to the physical world in which we all exist; it is bound by social constructions and norms. Understanding the contexts of these norms as they function in Secondlife is at the heart of Boellstroff’s work. I felt the most interesting and fundamental thought that Boellstroff shared in Chapter 1 was that “it is in being virtual that we are human” (p.29) and that our self and social interactions are reconfigured in the virtual world that is Secondlife.

I read Chapter one before I initially entered the world of Secondlife. After having been in Secondlife and experience how I could essentially reconstruct myself as an avatar, I have a better understanding of many of the things Boellstroff discussed. Although my understanding of my digital self as well as my under standing of Secondlife grows with each interaction I still feel as though much of my digital self is still undetermined. Therefore, I find it difficult to comment on Boellstroff’s work from the perspective of my digital self. I find Boellstroff’s goal of studying anthropology in a digital setting intriguing and insightful. The focus of my passion for IPC is rooted in the study of social constructions and how people create and maintain norms. It would have never occurred (perhaps because this technology is so new) to study ethnography in a digital world and I am eager to see what conclusions or observations his study found.