Angus Ware's Library tagged worlds → View Popular

12 Sep 08

416 There.com users were approached at random. Somewhat amusingly, about 20 of those approached for each test did something unexpected. For FITD, they simply teleported away before the question could be completed. Even more oddly, over 20 people agreed to spend a few hours taking screenshots with random strangers.
The FITD approach, which depends on people feeling good about themselves, increased cooperation on the second request from roughly 55 percent to 75 percent. DITF did even better, boosting the fraction of those who agreed to the second request to over 80 percent—but only if the avatar making the request was white. If that avatar was black, the response dropped to 60 percent, which was statistically indistinguishable from the control.
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- Since the DITF method depends on subjects' perception of the one doing the asking, the obvious conclusion is that black avatars are viewed as less appealing than white ones. The virtual world not only recapitulates social manipulation, but also social problems. The judgment directed towards the avatar's color is even more surprising, given that There.com allows its users to change their avatar's appearance instantly.

09 Sep 08

11 May 08

She says the ABC is one of the top three branded Second Life Islands in the world and it is attempting to fix the vandalism.

"When we opened ABC Island we knew that many challenges would present themselves and that by being the first Australian media organisation to venture into the world we were entering unchartered territory", she said.

06 Apr 08

Telstra and government agency Tourism Australia are also planning to establish themselves in Second Life.
Second Life has a currency, the Linden dollar, which enables users to purchase virtual products or land.

The current exchange rate is 270 Lindens to $A1.20 and it is estimated transactions are worth $840,000 a day.

Dr Zambetta expects this exchange rate to improve as more companies get on board.

"We have this thing called the web and it's a big container when we can put information on it. We can do multiple things, but it's nothing more than a container," he said.

"You should think about Second Life in the same sort of way with a better technological platform.

"Instead of having a flat 2-D world, you have a full 3-D world where you can meet virtual people, but at the end of the day, it is virtual people represented by real people.

"Second Life is a marketing tool in the first place but also, another way to replace the web at some point in time."