Lys Ware, of Second Life Creativity, has coined two terms to identify the two prevailing views of residents.The Immersionists believe that SL is a complete and discrete world in itself, and should have no truck with anything to do with RL. One could gather roleplayers (for example, the Goreans) into this camp. Immersionists tend not to disclose any of their RL information, and form groups to help flesh out their SL experience.
The Augmentationists view SL as an extension of their RL, more as a tool to be used to interact with others. These residents see nothing wrong (in general) with more interaction and connectivity with RL (for example, the Home Run Derby, or Suzanne Vega's in-world concert). You can read more of Lys's thought on the subject here.
Increasingly, it appears that SL is trending toward an Augmentationist profile. As more and more RL companies and media become aware of the viability of the SL experience as a marketing tool, we can expect to see continuing incursions on the SL space by advertisers, schools, and media industries. I believe this is inevitable, and we should be ready for more of this coming down the pike. This is not to say that the Immersionists are doomed to be crowded out of SL, but rather that we'll likely see the creation of roleplay-only enclaves, bereft of any mention of RL. On what side of the fence do you fall?
(Thanks, Gwyneth!)
1. I tend to go both ways, as needed by context. My relationship with Danielle is, of course, strictly immersionist in nature, but I have no problem with bringing in RL details to flesh things out. I approve of connections between RL and SL in general, and think that's the migration path by which SL will become or lead to a true Metaverse. But yes, there will always be room for hardcore immersionist enclaves (not all of which are like the Goreans...the Starfleet Command SLQ folks on Galaxy also get pretty immersionist).
Posted at 4:12PM on Sep 25th 2006 by Erbo Evans