With the increasing media regarding Linden Lab's Second Life and the moral panic regarding Age Play & pedophiles, Sex play & Violence in Gorean Communities, and Furries. Considerable discussion regarding what these communities stand for and whether they should regulated and banned, or moderated in some way.
Either option is complicated and loaded. If we start banning communities that challenge ideologies and norms of behaviours in virtual worlds, what are we really saying about our rights & freedoms? Should we or better yet, can we exclude certain RL practices in the virtual world? What type of ideal virtual world are we striving for? Economically, I don't think LL can afford to ban these communities - there are too many of them and too much money would be lost in commerce.
If Linden Labs wants to start moderating spaces in Second Life, what does that say to us about notions of 'public spaces'? Does it mean market places? Corporate Land? Does it mean a club? Will people be restricted to the - out of sight, out of mind' mentality and keep their actions in the bedroom/personal land. What kind of political ideologies are we shaping and recreating in virtual worlds?
I had hoped for a virtual world with out Rl boundaries. There's so much potential, yet so much resistance, and thinking inside the box....
The repercussions of the media hype - members of these communities are discussing self-policing in public spaces. Age players dress in adult clothing, Goreans don their Earth clothes, and Furries change their appearance. So again, what are public spaces? Why or should people have to self police their behaviours in virtual worlds?
There are many questions to be answered and our answers often lead to more questions.
What kinds of virtual worlds will be branch off into their own 'private' worlds. Are we segregating people already? There's an ideological revolution going on in the virtual world....
posted by Netwoman @ 1:38 PM
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