1. it doesn't make all that much difference for me, don't get me wrong, I love to have visual aid to an rp (instead of stuff like "in front of you there is a perolized brown bunny with a green cowboy hat and eyes that looks like x-mass balls") but for day to day social interaction I gues I have an abstraction ability greater than most, or perhaps something is mis-wired in my head, anyway, mmm, I forgot where I was heading with this comment, need to go sleep, see you around

Posted at 4:50AM on Jun 30th 2007 by TigroSpottystripes Katsu

2. A lot of people have yet to understand what a powerful experience it is to "create" your visual identity in this environment, and the fun we can have presenting ourselves in all manner of creative ways. Avatars are like a kind of wearable graphic art imo...

Posted at 3:59PM on Jun 30th 2007 by Myg

3. All I can think is... 'what an idiot'.

Facebook allows people to put up programs? No kidding! It's a web page! It's just a stupid web page. It'll never be more than that - and never be more than what you can do with other, existing web pages.

Posted at 7:27PM on Jun 30th 2007 by Crissa

4. There are many conversations that can just as well be done by IM and in which SL has no more value than a regular chat room. However, I can think (based on my own experience) of contexts in which SL brings much more value. I'll just throw around a few ideas. It's not a scientific study and I am not an expert in the subject.

In large group discussions, even just the visualization of the group and the number of people involved matters. IMO, even the process of people gathering sets a different tone to the conversation. Other visual elements are also a factor. I have been in group discussions that were done at round tables. They always seem to have a different feeling compared to discussions done in different settings.

A great example of visual elements comes to my mind from the discussions of The Ethics group (thanks, Selaras Partridge, for organizing them). In those discussions, people take a side in the argument and they indicate the side they are on by wearing a large marker colored red or blue. Imagine youself in an amphitheatre with people discussing a topic and you know what side of the argument they are on from the big marker on their back.

Another point. It may not make much of a difference when talking to someone you already know well, but I think that in large groups with many people who are strangers it helps to have a visual image of the persons involved. Our brains are probably just wired that way.

Then let's not forget that conversations in SL are not just idle chats. Conversations can also be an integral part of activities like building or exploring together. SL is not only a medium for chat, it is an enabler and even a subject. Even small talk is better when you can say something like "Nice dress".

I remember vividly a group meeting with people sitting around a table, some drinking, some smoking, (some doing both). The conversation sometimes moved away from the main topic, people commenting about other people's gestures, movements, animations and the look of their avatars. Maybe the conclusions of the discussion would have been the same in a chat room and maybe the discussion would have even been more efficient. But it is a much more complex and more enjoyable experience this way. The group that held this discussion and the friendships between its members would probably not exist if it were not for this kind of experience.

Posted at 12:42AM on Jul 1st 2007 by Lem Skall