Week Seven

Hi everyone! 
Hope you're all well and enjoying Spring wherever you are. 
This week we had a really exciting week in class as we had the privilege to meet with group in Second Life called  Virtual Ability.  First off this is some information provided from their website that I found helpful in getting to know them, so you might too:

'We are a cross-disability peer support community of nearly 1,000 members from 6 continents. That means our members who have disabilities may have a physical disability, a mental or emotional or developmental disability, or a sensory disability (deafness or blindness). About ¼ of our members do not (yet!) have disabilities. 

Our community has been in Second Life for over 7 years, and we won the first Linden Prize for a project that has “a tangible impact on the real world.”

We are supported by an RL nonprofit, Virtual Ability, Inc. Our community assists people with all kinds of disabilities to enter and thrive in virtual worlds like Second Life. As a community, we offer our members a variety of educational and entertainment activities daily, but also encourage members to explore all the incredible things to do and places to explore within Second Life.'

We met them in their community in Second Life (SL) and had a great conversation in which some very interesting topics were raised. The primary topic much of our talk seemed to revolve around was the nature of community. Some definitions of ‘community’ include a geographic proximity, and obviously since they are based all around the world they don’t embody that aspect. Nor do they have cultural similarity. In fact, they embrace diversity. The population of persons with disabilities is the largest minority, and the most varied.

However they did list some other aspects of community they do exhibit:

• Both close and informal relationships
• Mutual support among members
• Common values and beliefs (in their case about emphasis on Ability, not DISability)
• Organized interactions and activities
• A strong sense of belonging to the community

Another aspect of community is of course citizenship

A digital citizen refers to a person utilizing information technology in order to engage in society, politics, and government.

Currently, the digital divide is a subject of academic debate as access to the internet has increased. Recent scholarship has correlated the desire to be technologically proficient with greater belief in computer access equity, and thus, digital citizenship

The comprehensive and sophisticated nature of online communities is frequently overshadowed by negative reporting on the dangers of addiction to virtual gaming. This even came up in the conversation we had, as some people wondered if anyone found they were 'addicted' to their life in the program. But the members of this community don't really see many differences between their two lives, and are happy to spend more time online then off. They regard their relationships and interactions in SL as just as meaningful and one of the members even went so far as to say that 'logging in is like coming home'. 

The community has one hundred and twenty peer support communities and host libraries, galleries and other public areas. They truly view this arena as another part of a 'real' life. For some it is especially beneficial; for example those with social anxiety or autism who find it hard to read physical interpersonal cues. They find they can be more social and confident in SL as they can better communicate and understand interactions. Interestingly, some members find that making an avatar that is very different looking to a human is a comfort as it perhaps allows them to feel less restricted by their RL (real life) up to that point. 

Another interesting point was that the many of the same problems that exist off screen exist in SL too. Racism, homophobia etc. are present just as they are in RL but you can step away more easily and you can remain safe. 

Over all, I really found the idea that these community members don't see Second Life as a secondary life, but an immanent part of their existences. For the members of Virtual Ability, citizenship, relationships and daily life all exist and are aided by digital technology. I found the idea that their lives have been bettered by and added to by this technology to be really profound and so exciting when looking toward the future of technology. If we can continue to use technology in such globalised, innovative and positive ways then I think we can really be excited for our future. 

After the talk Heron, who was one of the speakers from the community and I got talking and she told me of a wonderful little spot they had built behind a waterfall. I went to check it out and was pleasantly surprised. Check it out! 

Once again, thank you so much for reading. I really enjoy writing these posts and I sincerely hope they are enlightening in some way to anyway reading!
All the best,
Coldtoesies.