In the literature, the focus has so far mostly been on the structure and behaviour of the virtual communities themselves. Quite understandably so, since first we needed to have a basic understanding of what this complex phenomenon means before we could ask the next question: where do virtual communities live?
It is often taken for granted that communities only make use of standard, text-based communication tools, like mailing lists, newsgroups, or webfora. This is a very primitive form of community space, a kind of a two-dimensional Flatland if you will. These tools do not offer much functionality beyond direct one-to-one or one-to-many interactions, and maybe some archiving and indexing options. However, exciting new developments in hard- and software as well as high-speed Internet-connections, allow for a totally different community experience.
This is best exemplified by the incredible growth of the videogame industry. When marrying communities with true virtual worlds, communities will get a totally new way of expression, interaction, and production. Last year's "The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds" conference sketched a fascinating picture of how societies and communities may benefit professionally, politically, and in many other ways, from the 3D-technologies rapidly becoming ubiquitous. Be warned, I will say much more about this dimension of virtual communities in future posts.
Hopefully, there WILL be lots more to say since we've just announced the dates for State of Play II: Oct 29-31, 2004 in New York. Halloween weekend. Avatar costume ball, anyone? For more on virtual worlds, also check out the Terranova group blog, which has some really smart people writing about developments in these three dimensional environments.
Posted by: BSN | April 29, 2004 at 04:36 AM