Coming of Age in Secondlife: Chap. 4
This chapter from the book focuses on, first of, where one avitar would or could place themselves in Secondlife. Boellestorff says that is is very important for each person to find their place in Secondlife. This means that people could go to different places that they choose such as a different area of the world or creating their own home someplace that they find comfortable. Another thing to point out is that people, when choosing which place to stay in, usually do so by seeing the other people who are in the community or area. This is usually done because of one defining characteristic to Secondlife which is that people have the opportunity to look around and see what fits them before deciding where to settle or not. All of this creates the difference between the real world and virtual world because one is able to create whatever they please on Secondlife.
Just like the real world, Boellstroff goes on to talk about how there are some zoning regulations when building takes place. These regulations are set on things such as billboards, building out of the property line, etc. Whats interesting, I thought, is that people had to purchase land just like in real life in order to build things. However, Secondlife always expanded to make more land when more people were becoming members which could never be done in real life. Mostly, when people are purchasing land they do so from others or at auctions and they usually choose where to get land based on surroundings.
Some other important aspects to discuss about the chapter is how people could “rez” to different places which,I thought, is quite similar to someone flying to a different country but taking more time. When one rezses they can go to a different location fast and even though in the real life people are limited on where they can go they are still traveling to some place that is out of their own place of living just like people in Secondlife do. Boellstroff also talks about how people choose and create their own buildings, furniture, etc. and that their are so many different textures, styles, etc. that could show personality of the avitar. Sometimes people could purchase things or create things for their own land. Others could see what they have done such as “lag” where people on SL could tell how they created there pieces based on prims and scripts.
One last thing, I thought was important, was the concept of AFK and how people, when their friend is away from the computer, plays practical jokes on the other while they are gone. This is very common that people leave their computer and stay logged on people do not mind as much if you approach someone and they did not respond because they then knew they were away which would not be the case in the real world whre it would be rude if you did not respond back to someone. One way of knowing is that after 3 min. the head of the avitar would bow down and say away.
Overall, I think voice and having one is important in Secondlife because it would create a border between real and actual because what you are saying is based off your experience in the real world. Which leads to presence and the fact that people involved in Secondlife create a presence for themselves and this can be decided on how you talk to someone one to how much intimacy is involved.
After reading this chapter, I think that all these aspects are very important when one goes on SL. I think it is important to be comfortable where they are and with the people they speak with and come close to on SL because it would create a more enjoyable experience. I think that everyone in SL uses a lot they get from the real world to create their way of living in SL and I think that this is a good thing instead of creating something totally different because then I think they could lose a sense of their real self. Another thing is that their presence and emergence into SL is important in the fact that this will help them start to know how to build, go to events, buy clothes, etc. Just like we had to go on our own and find people to ask about SL has helped me in understanding how people could become more involved in SL.