An Exploration of the Development of

Cyber Communities Through Online

Games Such as Second Life

Image created as part of Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower on Second Life

A dream you dream alone is only a dream.

A dream you dream together is reality.

Yoko Ono

Regina Collins
New Jersey Institute of Technology
PTC-698
Social Media Project Proposal
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) created a pathway for people to
communicate online. One extension that developed from CMC was the ability
for people to play together online in what were originally called Multi-User Do-
mains (MUDs). The original MUDs included games such as Dungeons and
Dragons (D&D). These games were rudimentary environments involving textual
interactions and no graphics. Over time, however, MUDs evolved into alterna-
tive worlds with vivid graphical environments and customizable avatars.

Because users of these systems use avatars to represent their online perso-
nas, there is an understanding that the avatars are not necessarily accurate
reflections of the users behind them. In an environment of anonymity and role
playing, how can people develop a sense of community? My social media pro-
ject will examine how community is defined and developed in online environ-
ments such as Second Life.

According to Jeremiah Owyang, online communities can be defined as: “bodies

of people loosely joined together by a common interest that exchange informa-
tion using web tools.” According to his blog, the two main attributes that identify
online communities are “a group of people” and “commonalities/affinities.”
Based on this loose description, anyone who logs into Second Life, even an
observer or a very occasional user, is part of the community. Yet many of the
more serious players will attest to a deeper sense of community with other
players. In fact, there are affiliated groups who gather in Second Life specifi-
cally to associate in the relative freedom of the internet. For example, Johnson
& Johnson hosts a group dedicated to people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis
on Second Life. Universities (including NJIT) have their own islands and build-
ings in Second Life where they can host virtual meetings. Clearly, there are
groups of users who feel a stronger sense of community in environments such
as Second Life than just the random players. But how do these communities
evolve? How do they form and propagate? How is information about the group
passed so that other interested users might join? Are informal groups inher-
ently less stable than formal groups, or perhaps vice-versa?

Communities naturally form as an extension of the interactions users share in

online gaming environments such as Second Life. However, the communities
that are managed—that is, that are formally created and maintained—have a
stronger identity and therefore a tighter communal bond than communities
which form randomly in these environments. Underlying this distinction is the
fact that a stronger central network actor (if examining the community from a
social network point of view) is crucial to the establishment and maintenance of
the communal structure, mission, and vision. This central actor need not be a
corporation or formal entity. A person who has a strong message can attract
people to herself and thereby create a community.
My project will examine the development of online communities, both formal
and informal, to see how they develop, propagate, and evolve, and what under-
lying social network structures enhance or deter the formation of these commu-
nities. I will build a collection of social media (primarily videos, with some cap-
tured images) to reinforce my hypotheses and results regarding communities in
online gaming environments such as Second Life. The results of my research
will be posted on Scribd to solicit input not only from my professor and class-
mates, but from other interested readers as well. Scribd allows documents to
include hyperlinks, which will allow me to include supporting videos and graph-
ics in my report. Although I have galleries on YouTube and Flickr, my Scribd
document will serve as a central repository for all social media relating to this
research.