A virtual world is a simulated environments, that usually plays host to a large amount of users. These virtual worlds can be used as a means to interact with people in a roomier setting, as opposed to the rigid structures of chat rooms and private messaging. In addition, virtual worlds may allow users to show off their personality through customization of space or behaviors that show in the virtual world. Virtual worlds may also be used to model real-life scenarios, since users will interact in a simulated environment, their actions may better reflect their behaviors in real-life. For instance, "In Room 100, It’s Sid and Nancy All Over Again", users interact in a virtual world that models an actual hotel that was taken down. This is a good way to help people find others interested in similar objects when they are no longer available.
Another added benefit that will lead to collaboration, which in turn leads to creativity, is using virtual worlds in the professional setting. As opposed to having to meet up in rooms or conference calls, employees can meet up in virtual worlds. Like it's mentioned in the article, "Going to the virtual office in Second Life" companies such as Enterprise are using it to facilitate better communication.
Although virtual worlds may be used to model behavior, there is a possibility that users will just do the socially desirable behaviors due to interactions with others, instead of the actions they may normally do. In addition, there may be some users with malicious intentions. A virtual world could be corrupted based off the ill intentions of a single user.
With advancements in technology, I think that document sharing and picture editing will be big in virtual worlds. Similar to how Google Doc's allows for collaborative editing, I think that to allow virtual worlds to gain more importance, users will need to provided with certain applications to allow the growth of popularity for virtual worlds.
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