Our group for the Second Life Build-It Project consisted of Amanda, Andrew, Jun, and I. We entered Second Life and immediately divided up the tasks. Amanda had been in world a few days earlier and begin constructing walls to begin a house, thus we deemed her the Head Architect due to her construction prowess. Andrew decided to be the Group Archivist, and Jun nominated herself the Project Manager. With no job positions available, I decided to upload everyone’s snapshots. My group nominated me the ‘photoman.’ With this title, I stood in the lawn outside of our building and created numerous boxes which I then enlarged and flattened, making perfect picture frames. Meanwhile, Andrew, Amanda, and Jun e-mailed me the snapshots they chose to incorporate into the building. I then uploaded their photos into my inventory. This unfortunately cost me all 50 of my Lindens, so I will not have any to give to charity. Once Amanda had completed our building, I moved the pictures into the house and positioned them on walls. Below is the snapshot I chose for this project of my avatar, Deklin Windlow, as he attempted to interact with a group of avatars on Help Island.

            This snapshot was taken shortly after I changed Deklin from a Caucasian male to an African American male. I was attempting to study the affects of race in virtual worlds, and I hoped to gather my information by interacting with groups of avatars at public locations. As I approached this group of avatars, a handful turned around and walked in the opposite direction, while the others ignored my presence and attempts to engage in conversation. This experience was the foundation on which I based my final paper for English 103. It made me realize that discrimination against minorities based on stereotypes exists in virtual worlds as they do in the real world, making the two more alike than one might imagine. I feel confident making this claim after spending a semester in world due to the fact that I have observed and experienced countless situations where Second Life seemed very similar, if not identical to reality. Ignoring the graphic differences, people and avatars interact in very comparable ways. Second Life serves as a social tool with which individuals can connect.   

10-1 Observations and Theories About Image

1. Batman’s head is bowed down as he is walking away, as if he doesn’t even want to look at my African American Avatar

2. Deklin’s head is bowed as well, but for a different reason; he is ashamed and disgusted for being treated in this way.

3. The couple sitting on the ledge doesn’t look like they want to interact with Deklin at all

4. The man sitting on the ledge has his arms crossed in a very exclusive manner.

5. The man in the background is turned towards the group of people, observing the situation.

6. It seems as though this avatar has a look of pity on his face for Deklin.

7. He also seems to have a look of disgust on his face in relation to scene unfolding in front of him.

8. He represents the one moral, concerned avatar in this snapshot.

9. Discrimination and racism exist in virtual worlds

10. Minorities are stereotyped and treated accordingly

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