My first experience in a virtual world taught me an important lesson. While interacting with avatars one can never be sure who is behind the computer screen, and therefore who they should or should not trust. Based off of this, I learned that it is crucial to keep an open mind regarding those you meet. Just as individuals judge others by their appearance in reality, avatars judge others by where they are hanging out or what group they identity with. Engaging with the social clique known as the furries taught me that just because they act differently, it doesn't mean that they are an offensive group. After coming to terms with this, I decided to explore the social cliques in Second Life, and the extent to which they mimic those in real life. I researched this project by figuring out the key characteristics in social cliques, and then attempting to see if they applied to any groups in Second Life. My main focus centered around the furries, homosexuals, and tinies. These three groups were chosen as I felt that they exemplified the groups that would be most likely to feel better in Second Life rather than real life due to the discrimination they faced. Looking back at my paper, I wish I had explored even more groups, however, I seemed to find popular places deserted when I tried logging in. My advice for future students would be to interview with at least one member of each social clique as this would be highly beneficial. I was fortunate enough to interview a furry which provided me with a lot of great insight. You should never be too quick to judge another avatar by their appearance as you never know what information they may have to offer you, or how willing they are to share their valuable experiences.

Read The Permeability of Social Cliques from Real Worlds to Virtual Worlds

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