Virtual Environments: Is one life enough?

CLASS SUMMARY:

The class was based on a discussion about content creation online. We started by considering what constituted content and came up with writing on blogs, Facebook, Amazon, Kindle; music on iTunes; videos on Youtube; photos; and objects made for SL among others. This led on to thinking about how content is generated, and why, what is the purpose of writing a blog, or posting photos? Sharing content and thinking about its value led Inish to share a link to a website that values twitter accounts which proved interesting as we discovered how much ours are worth.

A recurring theme throughout the discussion was the ownership and protection of content. The terms and conditions to which we agree when signing up with social networks such as facebook and twitter frequently include relinquishing our copyright. In addition, even though we might wish to remove images or text at a later date this may not be possible. It was also clear that copying digital data is much easier than copying analogue information which may lead to greater infringement of copyright. Generating an income from online content was thought to be as time-consuming as it is in real life and the conflict that can ensue was noted.

Inish Karu shared her experience of creating content for her store in SL.

After class Symeon Siamendes took us on a tour of the fabulous Lauk’s Nest, one of the earliest remaining natural parks in SL.

ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT WEEK:

1. Reading: Thoughtful blog post about the legal issues around protecting ‘things’ you create in SL. Read the comments also.
   
2. Write a post about content creation in your blog.