A Piece of Place: Modeling the Digital on the Real in Second Life

6 Pages Posted: 10 Jun 2004

See all articles by Cory Ondrejka

Cory Ondrejka

University of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Date Written: June 7, 2004

Abstract

Digital worlds exist as synthetic models and have no need for the constraints of the real world. This freedom allows digital worlds a vast design space of representational choices, ranging from near correspondence to the real world to complete abstraction. The digital world Second Life was designed to allow its residents enormous creative freedom and to be as broadly appealing as possible. Second Life chose to mirror the real world in many important aspects in order to provide a place that felt familiar and comfortable, while granting freedoms not possible in the real world. This Article will cover the environment of Second Life, the reasons for the choice and the challenges that arose.

Keywords: Virtual worlds, Second Life, Place

JEL Classification: L86

Suggested Citation

Ondrejka, Cory R., A Piece of Place: Modeling the Digital on the Real in Second Life (June 7, 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=555883 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.555883

Cory R. Ondrejka (Contact Author)

University of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism ( email )

3502 Watt Way, Suite 304
Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States

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