Student looking to speak to Second Life users for Master's degree project

[TommyMacca]

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

[Freya Mokusei]

Joined today. Have you been in-world yet?

Perhaps if you're studying virtual worlds, you've logged into others. If so, which?

Assuming this project is due in the academic year 2016. Is it due imminently? Aren't you leaving it a little late?

In short, why should anyone spend time/effort talking to you? At first glance, it doesn't seem like you're very commited to the subject.

Not your petri dish.

[Perrie Juran]

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

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You're kidding us?  Really?

A Masters student in Journalism writes like this?

May I suggest you take English 101 before proceeding further.

[TommyMacca]

Hi Freya,

I've never been in-world. Until very recently, I was focusing entirely on Virtual Reality technology. I've spoken to a number of developers, users, and psychologists about the subject, and have also been using VR myself. My interest is in contemporary forms of escapism, and the societal impact of modern technology

During my research I've become increasingly interested in virtual worlds beyond VR headsets and was hoping to expand the project to include them. It's due in a couple of weeks, so yes, I am leaving it a little late. 

All the best,

Tommy

[Trinity Yazimoto]

Send me an IM inworld, i can try to help you. 

[Syo Emerald]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

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You're kidding us?  Really?

A Masters student in Journalism writes like this?

May I suggest you take English 101 before proceeding further.

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Be gentle, at least he isn't giving us copy paste surveys like other students did in the past.

:catlol:

[mikka Luik]

This " increasingly interested in virtual worlds beyond VR headsets " made me wonder, which virtual worlds have you been using With a VR headset?

[TommyMacca]

Hi Mikka,

I've tried to experience as many different areas of using the headset as possible: communication through AltSpaceVr, education via a surgery demonstration, documentaries on VRSE such as Clouds Over Sidra, entertainment with games such as Insidious VR and art with Tilt Brush.

What I meant by "increasingly interested in virtual worlds beyond VR headsets" was that I felt focusing on the VR headset was limiting the scope of the project.

 

Tommy

[Rhonda Huntress]

Oh!  So you are researching VR *headsets* and not worlds.  I'm not sure what youare expecting here but I do not know anyone persoanlly that has used a VR headset in Second Life.

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Imagine you've arrived in a large city like London or New York, one comprised of countless communities of people from all over the world which variously intersect or ignore each other in countless ways.

SL is that complex. Could you understand it by sitting in a coffee shop chatting to whoever happens to wander by?

And for all that many here use it as escapism, it does seem that most bring their real lives and selves with them in one way or another.

[TommyMacca]

Thanks for all the feedback and sorry if I came across as intrusive. I appreciate the advice. It sounds like you've got a nice community here.

[Sassy Romano]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

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You're kidding us?  Really?

A Masters student in Journalism writes like this?

May I suggest you take English 101 before proceeding further.

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Perrie...  it seems to me that today, an investigative journalist, for example, considers their craft to be the ability to copy and paste a few posts from a celebrities Twitter feed.

What exactly where you expecting?

[Chris Frentis]

Hi mate I have been in Sl for about 8 years  and am happy to lend a hand if you want. It does alter your brain, but one thing you will discover is it is  a lot nicer and sociable than social media is.  look me up inworld.

[Ilithios Liebknecht]

Sure, you can IM me in world if you like.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

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You left out a very vital bit of information... What's in it for us?

[Phil Deakins]

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

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You left out a very vital bit of information... What's in it for us?

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Surely the joy of helping another person is reward in itself

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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Phil Deakins wrote:

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

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You left out a very vital bit of information... What's in it for us?

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Surely the joy of helping another person is reward in itself

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[AdamZadig]

Im happy to share my thoughts and experiences. 

[Trinity Yazimoto]

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

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Phil Deakins wrote:

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

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You left out a very vital bit of information... What's in it for us?

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Surely the joy of helping another person is reward in itself

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Drake , with all the friendship i have for you, i dont see where it is hilarious to enjoy helping another person. Really not. Actually i think if more ppl would enjoy helping other ppl the world would be a better one, you see.

And if you cant imagine, that student could have been you, maybe think it could be one of your kids, a nephew, a niece, a cousin, a friend's kid .... and maybe you would find this, suddendly less hilarious. 

The tittle of the thread makes it really clear about what it is about. Ppl not interested can avoid to click and that's all. There is room for everyone here, one just needs to avoid what is bothering them. 

And as you can see, there are still ppl here who are happy to help without expecting smth in return. There is nothing hilarious about that imho.

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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Trinity Yazimoto wrote:

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

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Phil Deakins wrote:

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

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TommyMacca wrote:

Hey guys. I'm writing a dissertation for my MA in journalism about virtual worlds and their social impacts, both good and bad. I was hoping to speak to some users about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Would anyone be willing to speak to me about it? Happy to do so anonymously if preferred. Thanks!

---

You left out a very vital bit of information... What's in it for us?

---

Surely the joy of helping another person is reward in itself

---



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Drake , with all the friendship i have for you, i dont see where it is hilarious to enjoy helping another person. Really not. Actually i think if more ppl would enjoy helping other ppl the world would be a better one, you see.

And if you cant imagine, that student could have been you, maybe think it could be one of your kids, a nephew, a niece, a cousin, a friend's kid .... and maybe you would find this, suddendly less hilarious. 

The tittle of the thread makes it really clear about what it is about. Ppl not interested can avoid to click and that's all. There is room for everyone here, one just needs to avoid what is bothering them. 

And as you can see, there are still ppl here who are happy to help without expecting smth in return. There is nothing hilarious about that imho.

 

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Wel, you see... I remember a time, not so long ago, when we would see a flood of these types of posts every spring. Invariably they were all from students who had ZERO info about SL and assumed that it was a MMoRPG like WoW or EverQuest.. This kid, one day in SL and already asking for peoples input in a forum rather than just walking around and asking people inworld.

I am all for helping people.. I give things away constantly. I have freebies in my store and have no probem helping people in SL. The difference is, he has no interest in SL nor does he care one bit about any part of it. He is only here because SL is the biggest name in virtual worlds. And putting that in his dissertation will draw attention to him. A simple search of the forums would have given him a novels worth of good and bad tales of SL.

[Trinity Yazimoto]

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

 

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Wel, you see... I remember a time, not so long ago, when we would see a flood of these types of posts every spring. Invariably they were all from students who had ZERO info about SL and assumed that it was a MMoRPG like WoW or EverQuest.. This kid, one day in SL and already asking for peoples input in a forum rather than just walking around and asking people inworld.

I am all for helping people.. I give things away constantly. I have freebies in my store and have no probem helping people in SL. The difference is, he has no interest in SL nor does he care one bit about any part of it. He is only here because SL is the biggest name in virtual worlds. And putting that in his dissertation will draw attention to him. A simple search of the forums would have given him a novels worth of good and bad tales of SL.

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You obviously have no idea what a student can be asked during their studies. In no way, the teacher has asked to join sl and have fun with that. 

Yes, SL is seen here as a subject of study and not as place to hang out for the fun. Where is the offense in that ? 

I never understood why people take so much offense everytime someone is asking for this kind of help. 

And i remind you your first post here was about geting reward for answering. Now it turns about being offensed by the request. There is a lack of coherence here.



Your turn to be hilarious. 

[Phil Deakins]

Don't bother Trinity. There are people here who seem to enjoy jumping on such students. They see a student asking for assistance with their studies, and they seem to automatically go into student-bashing mode, just for the fun of it. It says a lot about their characters.

They make the excuse that the student either isn't one of them already, or isn't trying to be one of them; i.e. an SL user. But it doesn't excuse them in any way. They just show themselves up, and probably sense an unsaid, but mutual, pat on the back. And they probably imagine that, here in this forum, they are speaking on behalf of all users, when, thankfully, it's only a very small number of users. When faced with inworld problems, those same people would no doubt "mute and move on" but, for some unfathomable reason, when faced with this kind of forum thread, they don't want to mute and move on, by simply ignoring it. They feel the need to stick their oar in and be an idiotic busybody.

[Chris Frentis]

Surely the joy of helping another person is reward in itself <- Has been one of my attractions to SL because its so complicated when you start, or even along a bit there usually is no end of considerate helpful people either helping someone or contributing tangibly to ebveryones experience inworld. You get nothing for it excpt a good feeling inside that you acted like the people that did it for you.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

He isn't studying SL, he is studying VR headsets. I never said to "have fun" in SL.. But if he is actually studying Sl he should ACTUALLY log in at least once. HE says himself that he has never been in world. How can you possibly include any information about something in a dissertation if you never experienced it? That's like doing a dissertation on a city and never going there. There have been very very few of these students that have actually put any time inworld and roamed around.

I don't know how it is where you are but around here in the spring there are college kids by the handful actually walking around and asking people on the street if they would like to complete a survey to help them with there degree. If i fit their criteria, i help. This kids criteria is so broad everyone in SL fits it.. So why not actually log in and talk to people there? Where is the logic of coming to a forum where, as a rule, most of the forumites rarely log in? By that i mean, in most forums there are few actually daily users of a product and lots of asshats and trolls.

If he contacts me in world i will be glad to help. That, at least, shows initiative. Posting on a forum is a lazy way to gather info.

[Trinity Yazimoto]

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Phil Deakins wrote:

Don't bother Trinity. There are people here who seem to enjoy jumping on such students. They see a student asking for assistance with their studies, and they seem to automatically go into student-bashing mode, just for the fun of it. It says a lot about their characters.

They make the excuse that the student either isn't one of them already, or isn't trying to be one of them; i.e. an SL user. But it doesn't excuse them in any way. They just show themselves up, and probably sense an unsaid, but mutual, pat on the back. And they probably imagine that, here in this forum, they are speaking on behalf of all users, when, thankfully, it's only a very small number of users. When faced with inworld problems, those same people would no doubt "mute and move on" but, for some unfathomable reason, when faced with this kind of forum thread, they don't want to mute and move on, by simply ignoring it. They feel the need to stick their oar in and be an idiotic busybody.

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No but i wont bother, you know. 

it looks so weird to me and so senseless to ask someone doing a research to be part of the group lol, that well....i m no longer trying to understand... must be some frustration, or lack of knowledge, or an extreme sensitivity... i dont know.

But well, you said perfectly what i would have said (less perfectly lol).

And well, we all know here, how SL is hard when you start. That it takes long weeks and monthes to start to enjoy it... so yeah..; let's remember our first times in SL and imagine, that on top we had to meet ppl for a research and do interviews etc lol...