Consumerism and Creativity in Second Life

botgirlq Botgirl Questi 

Consumerism is a more universal norm in Second Life than creativity. #virtualworld

One of the most revered aspects of Second Life is its culture of creativity. This is mostly fueled by creative tools that are built right into the platform, allowing users to:

• Create, shape, color, texture and combine prims to build virtual 3D objects
• Create clothing items with support for external texture creation and compositing
• Write programs that can be combined with objects for automation and interactivity
• Terraform land
• Stream music from a single user to a large audience
• Capture high resolution images and video
• Hold virtual concerts and exhibitions

Second Life also supports a large community of people creating content for consumption outside of the virtual world. Mediums such as machinima, comics and virtual photography use the virtual world for source material, but are edited and distributed externally. There are sizable Second Life contingents on sites like Koinup, YouTube, Flickr and Vimeo.

The flip side to this unprecedented culture of creativity is an equally larger-than-RL culture of consumerism. It's supported by the platform through an in-world economy that facilitates peer-to-peer transaction and the Second Life Marketplace site for web-based shopping with in-world delivery. Another factor encouraging the hyper-consumerism of Second Life culture is that virtual items cost a tiny fraction of their physical counterparts. Virtual clothing, for instance costs less than even RL doll clothes.

One result of this fluid ecosystem is that most Second Lifers' inventories make the iconic Imelda Marcos seem like a bag lady. Shopping and the incessant acquisition of new items is the norm. This tendency is so  pervasive that I'd wager more than 90% of the items in most people's inventories never get used more than a few times. (It makes me wonder whether the absence of a meta-tagged, visual virtual closet is also a factor moving people to buy something new, rather than search through lists of thousands and thousands of item titles.)

Consumerism in the physical world contributes to a number of significant personal and cultural problems. The incessant drive to keep up with the Joneses pushes many people to devote more of their lives to making a living than to living fulfilling lives. It fueled the credit crunch and housing market crash and contributes to the looming ecological crisis. But I think that none of these negative aspects of RL consumerism play out significantly in the virtual world. We can go on shopping binges in Second Life without threatening our credit rating. Virtual vehicles don't deplete our oil reserves or pollute the air. Virtual goods are not created by sweatshop workers in developing countries.

As with virtual identity, virtual consumerism provides us with an opportunity to use the mirror of the virtual world to shed light on our behavior in the physical world.  We can use our virtual consumerism to notice how what we buy relates to our sense of identity and self-worth. We can notice how long it takes before the thrill of a new purchase dies and we are moved to hit the stores again. Over time, this self-realization can be extended into the physical world and act as an antidote to our happiness-through-consumption mindset.

Metaphors for Virtual Identity

One idea I've been flirting with is that it's more useful to view virtual identity from the perspectives of multiple metaphors rather than trying to cram everything into some unified model. This is the first of two posts outlining two triads that expand a bit on earlier posts.

The first set of metaphors focuses on the experience of avatar identity as a unique character, as depicted somewhat fancifully in the Botgirl vs. Human Trailer:

Although the scene in the video is clearly an exaggeration, it gives a sense of the kind of internal creative process that some of us have been playing around with through the creation of comics, art, video and blogging. A couple Second Lifers who also explore this area are Chrome Underwood and Gracie Kendal.

I've connected this approach to three metaphors that resonate for me:

• Author/Character: Some writers feel as if certain characters write themselves. Author Elizabeth Moon described it like this: 

"The character finally came into my head and said, 'I'm Lou, tell my story'  . . . Sometimes they arise without my wanting them to . . . and they bang on the inside of my skull basically, until I write their stories." 

• Ventriloquist and Dummy: I think that ventriloquism is one of the best comparisons for those like me who have unique avatar identities, but are not pseudonymous. Jeff Dunham’s description of his characters is right in line with my personal experience of Botgirl. He said,

"I know the dummies aren't alive, but they certainly live in my consciousness".

•  Channeler/Channeled Being. Although channeling has gone out of fashion, I think it’s another comparable phenomenon. Although some channelers may very well be putting on an act, I believe others genuinely experience the sense that the words they speak while channeling are not coming from their own volitional consciousness.

Mick Brady jokingly described the phenomenon as a Multiple Personality Disorder. But I view it more as a Multiple Personality Capability.

The Dangerous Powers of E-Personality (Cue Dr. Evil Music)

The result of all of these online interactions is the unwitting creation of an e-identity, a virtual whole that is greater than its parts and that, despite not being real, is full of life and vitality. Elias Aboujaode, MD

This quote illustrates the frustrating mix of interesting insight and dualistic neo-Luddism expressed in  Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality. On one hand, he does some groundbreaking work in describing how virtual experience is profoundly transforming our psyche in ways that are largely invisible to us. Unfortunately, this insight is spoiled by an almost exclusive focus on negative consequences. He ends up demonizing virtual identity, describing it as:

. . . the Internet-assisted id, with its infantile self-centeredness and its dark dreams that demand to be satisfied . . . an online self that can be quite foreign to the person sitting behind the computer.

Makes you want to break into evil laughter, doesn't it?

Dr. Aboujaode focuses on how identity plays out in old-school communication such as email and Web 2.0 platforms such as Facebook, match.com and even e-shopping. But it seems to me that avatar identity is probably the clearest exemplar of emergent virtual persona that is distinct from physical identity. And there has been plenty of research pointing out the positive potential of avatar identity. Maybe Daniel Voyager can put together a good list for us!

For a more nuanced look at the impact of virtual identity, I recommend Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle.

The Embarrassing Secret Behind My VWBPE Keynote Selection

Despite my initial confusion, I am thrilled to be presenting the opening keynote for the fourth annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference on March 17 at 2:00 PM SLT. Should be a wild ride!

Finally. A Working Theory About Extra-Marital Affairs in Second Life.

As Mazar et al. (2008) proposed, the ability of most people to behave dishonestly might be bounded by their ability to cheat and at the same time feel that they are behaving as moral individuals. To the extent that creativity allows people to more easily behave dishonestly and rationalize this behavior, creativity might be a more general driver of this type of dishonesty and play a useful role in understanding unethical behavior. from The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can be More Dishonest by Francesca Gino and Dan Ariel

Second Life has a reputation as both a vital creative community and a hotbed of extra-marital virtual affairs. A new working paper does a pretty convincing job of tying those two seemingly disconnected aspects together. The condensed version is that the same flexible thinking that fuels out-of-the-box thinking in areas such as art or science, tends to also be applied in questions of ethics and morals.

I approached the paper with a lot of skepticism. But after reading through it and reflecting on the numerous conversations I've had with people who justify Second Life affairs through extremely creative rationales, I suspect the theory explains al least part of the phenomenon.

RANT ALERT: New User Group and JIRA Changes For Second Life

I'm not one of those who believes that what goes on in Second Life isn't really (eye roll) real. That said, I've got to admit that some of my fellow SLers respond to the cognitive dissonance between avatar and human identities by acting like virtual ostriches with heads buried in the sand and bottoms up in the air.

But the biggest fantasy that just about everyone buys into is that Second Life is (or should be) a democratic community. It's like the Bizzaro version of the Emperor's New Clothes with virtual peasants walking around naked while everyone pretends to be progressively attired. Time and time again we protest when the Lab makes another dictatorial decision about pricing, zoning, client use, etc. And the story always ends in the same way:  They do what they want and we learn to live with it until the next time.

So it's not surprising that many people have expressed displeasure about the recent announcement that Linden Lab is turning off the voting functionality of the bug reporting system (JIRA) and eliminating the Office Hours program. Those impotently egalitarian communication channels are going to be replaced by User Groups limited to people hand-picked by Lindens. To top it off, there are new policies in the TOS that restrict "negative communication", which some people see as unfair censorship of the community voice.

I'm personally thrilled by the changes. I think they will likely improve the platform over time. Instead of pretending to listen to the ranting masses, Lindens can do substantive work with small groups of SLers who will be actively involved in creating constructive change. Another reason I'm glad to see these changes is that they reinforce the fact that Second Life has never been and will never be a democracy. We are customers of a business, not citizens of a virtual country. And it's about time we wake up and smell the Capitalism.

Viva La Revolución!

Early Valentine's Day Video Greeting Card

After a week of serious posts, a little silly fun for your viewing pleasure.

Creative Cycles: What To Do When The Honeymoon is Over

One overlooked benefit of long-term blogging is the opportunity to observe how one's creativity emerges through cycles of subject matter, tone and form. I don't know whether this reflects some sort of psychological circle of the seasons or just my attention-deficit chasing its own tail. I've also noticed these cycles in social networking, with periods focusing on link sharing, social interaction, observations, humor, etc.

Yesterday, I returned to the Twitter micro-rant format, which is a series of fortune cookie messages on a particular topic. Yesterday's was #creativity. Here are a few of the tweets, along with additional thoughts:

• A creative project, like a marriage, only gets real depth after the honeymoon is over. There's nothing like the rush of a new romance, be it with another person or one's Muse. Barriers within and between vanish. Communication is effortless and joyous. Insights flow freely. Breakthroughs abound. But all honeymoons end. And that is when the true work begins and the most precious gifts are given and received. The safety created through the honeymoon period paves the way for the next phases, when deep, hidden, forsaken, wounded and undeveloped aspects of self can emerge into the light of day. Both relationships and art offer the potential to heal, actualize and integrate these shadows. Unfortunately, the strong negative emotions that accompany these emerging ghosts can chase us away. And so we run from relationship to relationship and from project to project, never digging far below the surface.

• Trying to power through a creative block is usually futile. It's usually better to take a break and let the Muse do the work. Instead of running from difficult relationships and projects, some of us habitually attempt to power through relational and creative blocks with urgent brute force. Although this can be an effective approach in short bursts, it is not a sustainable strategy. Blockages are a natural part of the creative and relational cycle when we are working within our depths. The key is to have enough confidence in an eventual resolution to "Let go and let Muse". Any in-progress work of mine that gets cranky is sent to bed for a nap.

• Be all embracing in brainstorming and ruthless in editing. There are two problems that often plague our creative work. The first is too much self-censorship at the start. Since it's impossible to envision what may grow from the seed of an idea, it is best to capture every idea that emerges in the brainstorming phase. The second mistake is to be so enamored by our creative fruits that we end up with the artistic equivalent of a dish that includes every spice on our shelf.  To truly worship the Muse, transcribe her every whisper. To be clear, that's "transcribe", NOT "share". 

.

Unapologetic Funktionslust

funktionslust: (German) Pleasure taken in doing what one does best. Birds flying, dogs running, dolphins swimming, people sexing, etc. Urban Dictionary

I've been working for the past week on a presentation related to education in virtual world (details coming soon). One of the catch-phrases I've been playing around with to describe the potential for virtual worlds as a learning environment is "Montessori on Steroids".

The key role of the educator in the Montessori paradigm is to provide a developmentally appropriate "prepared environment" for self-guided exploration. The idea is that humans have an innate drive to learn that manifests naturally when matched with the corresponding environmental cues and resources. Students are motivated by the intrinsic joy of learning, or funktionslust, rather than the current cultural fixation on external results such as tests scores.

Although Maria Montessori and those who have extended her work have done wonders to optimize physical world classrooms, virtual worlds can provide almost unlimited possibilities for the creation of prepared environments that educate through unapologetic funktionslust.

Why All Value Judgements on New Technology Suck

First Take on Blue Mars Mobile Including Over-Hyped Video Trailer

Blue Mars developer Avatar Reality announced a restructuring last month that is shifting focus to a mobile version of their platform. They released an initial free version for the iPhone and iPad last week, which:

. . . allows users to view and rate avatars and fashions from Blue Mars, which populates the results on the "Top-Rated". They can also use the "Recents" option to track avatar updates and see the latest fashions. From Blue Mars blog

I decided to give it a try. The initial version is very limited, but feels really responsive. Downloading an avatar takes only about ten seconds. Once it's there you can pan, rotate and zoom with standard iOS gestures. You can view a list of avatars by either popularity or recency, and also search for them by name. Unfortunately, at this time you can only create or modify an avatar using their PC client. Which is a big problem.

One issue is that it only runs on a Windows. Although the client supposedly can run under Parallels or Boot Camp on a Mac, I couldn't get it running despite three hours of trying. Didn't find any useful help in their forums. So I dug up a mid-level Windows notebook and finally got it working after downloading a huge file and installing the most recent version.

Even after logging on successfully, it was way more frustrating than fun. The response was very sluggish and it took over an hour to find a shop with decent clothing for sale. Along the way I downloaded three additional 300+ megabyte locations. Nope. Not fun at all.

Needless to say, few iPhone or iPad users are going to be willing to go through hours of downloads and searching just to create a marginally customized avatar just for viewing. But despite the initial kludginess, I'm still optimistic that when they bring avatar customization into the mobile app, the experience will be much better and it will eventually evolve into a fun 3D avatar chat application:

Future updates will include such enhancements as avatar customization, interaction with other social networking platforms, the ability to chat with other Blue Mars users, and integrated shopping of clothing and other items via Apple's in-App purchase feature. From Blue Mars blog

For now, here's a totally over-hyped trailer I put together showing both the iPad and iPhone versions.

Will Virtual Worlds Ever Catch On?

I had planned to post today on the new Blue Mars iOS app, but had to postpone it due to a frustrating series of issues with the PC client that must be used to create and customize your avatar. But it got me thinking again about why virtual world use is fairly stagnant compared to other new technologies such as social networking. Here are a few morning ideas that should eventually work their way into a more coherent post or comic:

• Throughout history, inventions have augmented or replaced functions of the human body. And subsequent technology does the same.

• Biological; Mechanical; Electronic; Digital; Virtual

• Horse/Car; Wagon/Train/Bus/Plane; Mail/Email; Scrapbook/Photo Sharing Site; Journal/Blog

• There's a period of co-existence, with the prior technology becoming more marginalized, specialized or eventually dropped altogether. For instance, most personal mail has shifted to email, social nets and texting. It is still used for formal invitations, commercial mail (decreasingly) and of course, packages.

• Interpersonal communication seems be trending shorter/more frequent/more public: Visit; Letter; Phone; Email; IM; text; tweet

• New technologies become cultural norms when they do a clearly better job than what came before it. For instance, cars needed the dependable, low-price, readily available versions provided by the Model T, plus supporting paved roads, gasoline availability, etc. Horse travel and car travel co-existed for a period of time. 

• Which needs does physical experience or non-VW technology fulfill that Virtual Worlds can clearly do better today? Not many yet. So what will it take?

• Once virtual experience is sensorially indistinguishable from the physical world, and the virtual body can be controlled as unselfconsciously as the physical body, it is likely that virtual life will replace signifiant aspects of physical life.

• The only place where the physcial world will eventually be able to compete against the virtual, will be at the low end of the Maslow scale: food, shelter, etc.

Why I Explore Virtual Identity