Seeing and Being Seen
Fashion Day Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston MIT Media Lab, Cambridge December 4, 2007
John Lester (Pathfinder Linden) Boston Operations Director Linden Lab
what is Second Life?
Second Life is a unique online world
• international community, multiuser, persistent world • not a game • Linden Lab provides a platform and tools for content creation • all content created and owned by the residents • realtime social environment
Demographics
• • • •
SL community older and more gender balance than typical MMO games Gender neutral by hours of use Median age of 35 70% of userbase outside of North America
15,000 CPUs 375 square miles Escape, Entertainment, Education, Work, Advocacy Free to Access, Fees for Land Ownership
People and Places – Seeing and Being Seen
Being Seen in Interesting Places
Virtual Identity: Shared and Malleable
Emotional Bandwidth
Use real-world social cues and proxemics, animations and sounds, and create your visual identity
Community around Music
The Creation and Transfer of Style
Spreading Trends at the Speed of Thought
Creators, not just Consumers
Build Communities, not Edifices
Thank you for listening
• John Lester (SL: Pathfinder Linden)
• pathfinder@lindenlab.com • www.pathfinderlinden.com