Ibis: The Actual, In Second Life, avatars frequently use the term 'real life' to characterize action & communication in actuality

Harbin ethnography:

... avatar builders plan and build their virtual islands, from story lines in their minds.

In Second Life, avatars in communication with one another frequently use the term 'real life' to characterize action and communication in actuality, that is, in situations other than in Second Life. Actuality, in this Harbin actual/virtual ethnography refers to life at actual Harbin, that is ethnographically interpreted on-the-ground and in-the-waters Harbin, in contrast to, and in comparison with, virtual Harbin. The actual, in this respect, includes the multiple expressions of counterculture and alternative life which have taken place at actual Harbin, especially the serendipity and synchronicity, the spirituality and the creativity. But the 'actual' at Harbin is especially constructed and interpreted through ethnographic field work. While the actual, and actual Harbin, in this book are contrasted with the virtual, and virtual Harbin, that is with what takes place online, it's their articulations, their similarities and differences, which this book explores. For the purposes of this actual/virtual ethnography, the term 'real' closely approximates the 'actual,' but I use the term actual because what occurs online in virtual Harbin, and in actual Harbin, can be equally as real, meaningful and significant, to persons engaging these.

Whether what virtual worlds like Second Life make possible ...

















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/06/ibis-actual-in-second-life-avatars.html - June 8, 2010)