Coming Of Age In Second Life Summary

Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, by Tom Boellstroff, gives us a unique outlook on humanity in that we get to experience the world of virtual reality through a study conducted by an anthropologist. Boellstroff creates an ethnography by entering “Second Life”: an online world where people create a virtual representation of themselves and go about a new life. The experiment takes place between 2004 to 2007 and the main goal is to determine if entering into this new world does in fact create a new person, or “homo cyber” (virtual reality version of oneself), and whether or not it makes the user more human or less. I chose this particular ethnography was for a few reasons. The first being I knew that a majority of classmates would most likely choose to read an ethnography from someone we studied in class, like Bronislaw Malinowski or Margaret Mead because they offer a more traditional outlook; I wanted a more contemporary study. After reading through the synopsis’ of each book, this one stood out to me. I was very intrigued by the idea of a study conducted in virtual reality; I was drawn

I believe that creating a world that allows you to fulfill your fantasies makes us more human in a sense. In the final chapter, Boellstroff sums up the argument that this virtual world actually creates new people and in creating this new world, people become more human. He also tells us what Second Life is and isn’t: Second Life may seem like it creates a world similar to ours, but it does not replicate the actual world. It is nothing like social media because it is a place where people interact. In Second Life, you can actually do typically everyday things like find friends, meet a significant other, attend events, make money, buy and sell things, etc. This is not something that you can do through a television program or a