Archetypes
From SL Creativity
Contents |
Archetypes
In this section I will offer a description of four resident archetypes. Most residents will probably not identify exclusively with one of these, but rather display traits of some or all of them. A useful analogy is a map with the cardinal directions north, east, south and west. On a map of the SL resident population these archetypes might represent the points of reference. The process of identifying and describing archetypes is very inspired by: Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit MUDs in which Richard Bartle famously defined the four player types: Achievers, explorers, socializers and killers.
During the course of my conversations I got an insight into how residents live their second lives. Standing on the relatively generic SL platform residents gets up to an amazing amount of interesting things. I started to think about categories to put these activities in and after a while four emerged. Residents like to:
- Create interesting new things
- Think about what SL is and where it is going next
- Socializing with other residents
- Do business to earn L$
Based on these four categories of activities I identified four resident archetypes:
- Creators
- Philosophers
- Socializers
- Businesspeople
In the following sections I will elaborate on these four types of residents, but just before that I’d like to touch on some types of people you might find on the grid who would not fit any of these very comfortably. The obvious example is the Lindens who are there for more administrative reason. Others who are there for what Bartle calls meta reasons might be people such as myself who are in SL to do research.
Creators
Creators use SL as the best set of Lego blocks they have ever owned. Freed from the constraints of atoms they create wildly imaginative things in SL’s digital environment. The social nature of SL means that an audience and help from peers come right in the box. The most interesting kind of creations are those that feel like they could only have happened in this space. Pushing the envelope is a constant goal. Raph Koster has argued that games are inherently about learning. Players take on the challenge given to them and try to beat it. [Koster 2004] Creators see SL as a similar challenge, but more in the sense of a tool that they can keep on coming up with new and innovative ways to use.
Becoming successful with creations in RL often means dealing with stuff engineering types usually care less for. To handle RL growth often means things like economies of scale with its need for more, faster, optimized etc. In the digital realm you invent something and then you can sell multiple copies of it; in SL often through automated vendors. There will still be some support, but everything else being equal you get to focus more on creating. You could say that the fun often scales better.
Eric Von Hippel has described places where “users can create, produce, diffuse, provide user field support for, update, and use complex products by and for themselves in the context of user innovation communities.” [Von Hippel 2005] For a creator SL is such a place. The SL toolset will usually be simpler than what they have used before coming to this space. (Many had previously used programs such as 3D Max or programmed in C++) But these tools come embedded in a community and that is the secret sauce. The community is an entire ecosystem of things a creator needs and this is why SL acts as a creativity amplifier for many.
A creator’s closest SL friends will often be other creators. Someone told me: “the thing about it is that the ones I chat to are often all content creators.” Having skilled creator colleagues on your side means live help when you are in need and a very savvy beta tester for you latest creation. You do the same for them of course. This is also a good source of inspiration. Creators seemed very aware of their peers and the very public nature of creations in SL helps to continuously raise the bar. A resident, who was building a sci-fi role playing game inside SL, told me: “It helps to go out and see what other people are doing. Can be humbling, too. I thought I was being original by building space ships and stations, but seeing what others were accomplishing was humbling in a good way.”
In spite of this you won’t often hear creators emphasize the social aspects of the space. Instead they will focus on the tools available and point to other creative accomplishments. Still there is an underlying understanding reflected in this quote: “Not everyone who comes here is socially oriented. I know I wasn't. I'd had a lifetime of experience training me away from it. People are unavoidable in SL. There are few places you can go and stand for a half hour without having someone turn up to see what you're doing.” The ideal is to be able to go it alone, but the realization of how much peers push you to excel is right under the surface.
Often some of the larger more spectacular creations have been pulled off by teams of creators. This is despite the fact that “collaboration in SL is hard” as a well known SL creator told me. Various SL features, such as how hard it is to work together around the permission system and the missing meta layer, belong in the explanation. But the lacking social norms around working in 3D space in the way that for instance the Wikipedia community has been a part of developing around a wiki should also be considered. Why such norms does not seem to exist at the present would be an interesting question to tackle.
To pull these larger things off you need a strong organization like the people behind the Space Flight Museum have built. Also bear in mind how that group augmented SL with putting meta data in their wiki. Often such structure is also found on larger commercial endeavors where creators might participate on a contract basis. But outside of these you will often see residents work alone. In August 2006 the SL group tools got a much needed overhaul that meant that group management becomes more effective. Maybe this is a sign that the social aspects of the toolset will become a higher priority?
During the course of my time in SL I have often found myself impressed with some creators. I even think that a wider part of the population would be surprised to realize the quality of the cultural productions that come out of these very savvy residents. The self awareness is remarkable. One of my favorite examples is a resident who created a sculpture called The Gray. The idea is to make fun of the gray look things in SL have before the textures load. [FOOT NOTE: Things in SL load much like a webpage. A little bit at a time. This means that if your internet connection isn’t very fast you’ll often see things in gray until the textures are loaded.]
My definition of a creator does not restrict itself to someone who builds such geometry. Many design clothes, animations or avatar skins. Some are RL musicians that play to a live SL audience on a regular basis; often playing in concert with others through the use of some clever little hacks. Others are more unique in a more traditional creation sense. They will often use SL for the creation of roleplay. Subcultures such as Furries or Goreans are examples that are prominently represented in the SL community.
With the increased internationalization of SL since open registration was introduced in summer 2006 this diversification has continued out another axis. I came across a group of very skilled Japanese residents whose creations had a very unique flavor. LL has announced that the SL client will be localized in a number of languages, so this interesting trend looks set to continue.
Philosophers
A philosopher is a type of resident that questions and creates theories about the nature of Second Life. [FOOT NOTE: I riffed of this definition: Philosophy is a field of study in which people question and create theories about the nature of reality. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philosophy&oldid=81480930] They are very aware of what they are participating (I use the word in a broad fashion that also includes being critical or observing) in is a digital frontier and feel the responsibility that comes with being an early settler. Philosophers are very vocal in the ongoing negotiations of what SL is and should be and feel a sense of idealism around being a resident.
As someone who was trying to understand the nature of the SL beast; I found that philosophers were a special treat. Always interested in discussions with peers where they would generously share their deep knowledge of the subject matter or learn new ideas. Discussion groups meet on a regular basis and discuss all things SL and beyond.
Attending these was a challenge as I have touched upon earlier. The participants are very knowledgeable and aware and I would just sit and listen. You feel you step into a group of people who have been over the basics and reference things without stopping to explain. Everyone is free to take part, but you will need to invest the time and effort to get up to speed.
Philosophers will often have a fair bit of experience with creating. They will often be proficient in most areas of SL, but rarely experts in any of them. Creating is a fun casual activity, but creating meaning of SL and impacting where it is going is really where it is at for them. New features will be eagerly tried out to understand what they can do and mean in the larger scheme of things. But in general philosophers prefer to be excited by the creations of others.
Henry Jenkins writes: “In the classroom scaffolding is provided by the teacher. In participatory culture, the entire community takes on some responsibility for helping newbies find their way.” [Jenkins 2006, 178] In SL this responsibility is mainly taken on by philosophers. The idealism of philosophers often translates into putting significant time and effort into volunteering to help out new residents.
LL writes on the SL website: “Second Life relies on the volunteer support of its Residents to make the world a better place, and offers several Volunteer Programs.” I see this framework as a part of the process towards becoming a platform where as much as possible gets outsourced to the residents.
Some volunteer within LL’s framework others work outside it. But I found the resident to resident support to be a vital component of SL’s culture. Getting socialized into SL is regarded key to successfully becoming a resident. There is a strong sense of the need to take responsibility among the impressive numbers of residents taking part in these matters. Philosophers understand their part in this ecosystem. A resident mentor told me: “Communities are key. We're a young society - three years old. But you can't just leave the three-year-olds to their own devices, unless you want the society to be Lord of the Flies.”
As I am writing this in fall 2006 about new SL accounts are created per month. With free sign up that number will of course include alts and people who only log in once, so the number of accounts is often a contested metric. But when you consider how SL in December 2005 hit a total after about 3 years then I think it is at least safe to say that the growth is substantial.
When you sign up for a new SL account you can choose a resident greeter to welcome you when you arrive. Hitting the mainland for the first time can be a mouthful, so having a friendly avatar face to meet is very useful. Greeters often act as new residents’ segue way to getting cohesion in the community, by listening to your interests and pointing you in the right direction. “SL is a social platform. You’ll learn what you need to know from other people” as someone told me. This is how people get started and this social learning carries through later levels of experience as well.
I think that for the new residents who embrace what I would call a culture of creativity there is encouragement to be found. When I went “undercover” as a new resident; the experience confirmed what people had told me of how residents were willing to spend time helping you out. If you for instance got stuck on a building problem; a polite question would usually lead to a fast constructive response. Broader questions such as: “What do you do in here?” or “How can I make money?” were frequently ignored. I have a strong sense that those who are willing to invest some time in SL will find help readily available. But the ones who do not fit this culture will be among the many who stumble on the initial hump.
I checked SL’s event calendar for Thursday August 31st 2006 and it showed 70+ classes were scheduled to take place that day. The first started at 2 AM SLT and the last one at 10 PM SLT, so you can attend classes almost around the clock. At these you could learn a wide array of things ranging from “Building a Musical Egg” to “How to make the right decisions about land purchase.”
I attended a number of classes dressed as my alt. The learning usually takes place in a fun atmosphere. Teachers are very patient with answering questions; often staying after class to do so. Some residents find their niche in teaching; often just picking up whatever skills necessary to do so. One of these told me: “I am not a *great* builder.. but I am a great teacher :)” Some have no formal training others teach in RL as well. When I asked why they would come home from RL work only to do more teaching. I was told of the fun social aspects of teaching and the desire to positively impact SL. Both teachers and students are part of the same community. One teacher told me: “There are rewards for seeing your students do well, learn new things, and in SL there's that extra thrill of seeing someone you helped learn how to script selling their scripted objects.”
Resident volunteers often act as the first line of defense against griefers. As very skilled residents they can often take action without the need for LL involvement. Some times it is a matter of a voice of reason when two parties have fallen out. At other times people need to be sanctioned and witnesses become important. The fact that volunteers have no actual “extra” power for such jobs is a source of frustration.
The helpful efforts of philosophers are highly regarded in the community. I think there is a strong sense of how the value of the SL network becomes higher with growth. Creators get a larger audience and more creators will increase the supply of good stuff. The roles of mentors, teachers and others who help out are recognized as very important. [FOOT NOTE: To get a stronger sense of this status you can visit http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/08/04/interview-tateru-nino/ for an interview with Tateru Nino. She is recognized in the community as a major help to many new residents.] A lot of philosophers have come up through the SL “school system” themselves and experienced the status involved in teaching first hand.
I feel that there is a strong networking component to the efforts of philosophers. Residents who were teachers or mentors would usually have active social lives. In SL you can add people to your friends list. Volunteers generally had a remarkable number of people on these. Often partially as a result of temporary friendships with new residents who got pruned off the list when they could fly on their own. I found most people to have at regular contact with about half the people on their list, so this is a good rough quantative indicator of a resident’s social activity. Larger SL efforts such as the Space Flight Museum will most often be the result of collaborations between residents with different skill sets. Just like in RL there is an increased capability aspect to maintaining strong social networks.
Socializers
Sozializers’ main interests are other residents. SL is great as a place to meet really interesting people and make friends with them really fast. Socializers will explore SL’s features. Usually they will basically orientate themselves to the point of no longer walking and talking like a newbie. With the growing supply of stuff to do, see and buy being a socializer makes as increasing amount of sense.
If you look at the total number of residents in SL then I believe that a majority are socializers. If you break down the numbers of hours spent online then maybe the numbers become less clear. I talked to residents that treated SL as another place to go and meet their friends; much like you would at a café. They can have periods of time where they are not on the grid; but they will usually be back sooner or later.
Forming friendships in SL feels very different from RL. My own experience resonates well with what residents told me about how amazingly fast you get to a level of emotional intimacy with other people in SL. This is certainly an interesting issue that deserves a lot more attention. My own preliminary thoughts run along the lines of how we when dressed anonymously as avatars feel it is safer to share information; because the one you are sharing with is an outsider to your RL. That lack of familiarity and and anonymity should lead to greater intimacy is admittedly counterintuitive and something I would like to see examined further.
The social interactions feel very powerful even if you are essentially typing text chat. This also means that negative social interactions feel equally strong or as a resident put it: “People are what I like most and least about SL.”
I went to a self help group for people who suffered from depression. The setting might have been virtual but the feelings people were describing felt anything but artificial. The participants were sharing what they where going through and receiving comfort from others. Not hard to see why this is very important to people who may for different reasons not have access to such things in RL. For others avatar mediated interactions might be better altogether.
Such experiences add up to a powerful realization of how such spaces are important to many people in our modern capitalist society where the sense of community is in steady decline. Edward Castronova has pointed out that use of such virtual spaces is likely to grow because “they point to areas of ordinary life where something might be missing.” [Castronova 2005, 73] This rings very true to me. A resident whose husband, son and daughter all were in in SL told me: “I have more contact with my son because of being here than I would otherwise..and we are in the same city”
Some take socializing to a different level. Sexual activity has been a major part of SL culture for a long time. Your avatar is born without genitals and nipples much like toy dolls. But unlike any Barbie accessories I am aware of SL’s range of choices of detachable penises and the like is very impressive. Subcultures with sexual roleplay such as Goreans take full advantage of the possibilities for customizing your avatar and environment. I got to spectate at one of their events and it is a powerful experience. Such activities takes place somewhat less discretely that they would in RL with listings easily found in the general SL event search.
In a place where you can pick up a good looking t-shirt for about a dollar shopping is of course a favorite activity. Some friends took me on a shopping spree at one point and I have to say that I do see the attraction. It feels infinitely more social than going to a website and looking at 2D images. The clothes pretty much always fit, but if you’re in doubt then just ask the people you’re with for input. When you’re shopped out you can hit one of the many clubs in SL to show off the new threads.
Another example of where SL feels a little more social then the 2D web is while watching movies. Web sites such as YouTube have made video watching a popular activity, but it seems that about 3 minutes is what I can watch before I start clicking around. I think few people sit there and watch a whole movie. In SL I went to a screening of a classic public domain film that was streamed straight from the Internet Archive. If I has been sitting on my own watching it in the browser I might not have finished it. But with the virtual popcorn in my hand and a fun social atmosphere with lots of little remarks I stayed to the very end.
Socializers will often belong to a larger number of groups. There are a very large number of these in SL organized around many different things. Each resident is at the time of writing allowed to belong to 25 groups, which for many socializers feels like a low number. Some groups are used for sports such as sailing and racing. I generally found the builders of such activities to be very aware of the need for social structures. It was remarkable how these communities had as tight knit social fabric as you might find in any RL sports club. The supply of activities such as these is on the rise so the range of possibilities for socializers in SL is widening.
I have earlier touched on the initial hump of starting your second life. My hunch tells me that people oriented towards socializing are quite prone to not get over this. There is awareness of the need for cohesion within the community. A very social resident told me: “You don't much last in SL without some sort of peer group. I wouldn't have.” Getting this cohesion on your own will take a little research on what is going on and how to find it. Think of how long you feel you can spend on understanding a given website before you move on. What the equivalent time would be for SL is something to think about and investigate.
Businesspeople
Businesspeople might remix a Ted Turner quote and go: "Second Life is a game. Money is how we keep score." In the book Play Money Julian Dibbell gives a fascinating account of how his attempts to make money in the MMORPG Ultima Online. [Dibbell 2006] As more and more people get past their disbelief: “You can actually make money doing that?” The idea is taking root. And it is true, but make no mistake: Businesspeople work hard for their money. Residents told me of setting up databases tracking sales, customer data and inventory in their virtual shops. Hard core business skills translate well into (and out of) SL.
A resident who had done business in both RL and SL told me: “…but what is nicer here is that there is a much greater correlation between effort and result.” This perceived better correlation might stem from excitement about the fact that you can make actual money in this game like space as well as the actual payoff. But SL does do well in relation to RL economic metrics such as how easy it is to start a company or the minimal paperwork involved in running one. For now, it seems, the economic activity flies well below the radar of RL authorities, but this might not last too long I suspect. [FOOT NOTE: See an recent (Oct. 2006) article: Virtual economies attract real-world tax attention - http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=D26B10CA0DE48DE1619FCEFC39D00D64]
Some of the larger more organized businesses in SL have increasingly turned their attention outwards. The notion that SL might be a contender for what the next large iteration of the web might look and feel like is spreading fast. A lot of large companies want to get in on the ground floor of this. Good money is being made right now acting as a bridge to SL for RL companies much like web designers do on the web. There are those who think that the opportunities right now are not unlike those of the early web in the nineties.
Businesspeople in SL make a varying amount of money. I think that as a basic rule of thumb those who are oriented outward make significantly more then those who stay within the SL economy. The tradeoff is that with an outward orientation you will need a framework to handle business on more “normal” terms. Many have made a conscious choice for or against this. These considerations have the familiar taste of the immersion vs. augmentation issue. I have come to think of the businesspeople who orient outwards as the new breed and those staying within the framework of SL as more traditional. Even if using a word such as traditional in the context of SL feels slightly amusing.
Doing business in SL shares properties with when commercial enterprises engage with free and open source software. Those who are successful have struck a balance between adding value to the community and making money. “Don’t sell me; play with me” as someone at SLCC 06 put it. Businesses that have entered SL with old habits of talking at their customers were not that successful. The savvy businesspeople know this only too well. Often you will find them taking part in various key activities in the community in order to maintain their feel for the current state of things. Understanding where SL is headed is also a way to see new business opportunities coming down the line.
We live in a time where successful companies like Skype and Google can give away their core products and monetize the peripherals. The new economics of the digital realm is well understood by SL’s businesspeople: “A lot of new residents are suspicious when I give them a freebie. For a lot of people this is their first encounter with gift economy. Why do you give me stuff?” Doing business in SL is, in the absence of an enforceable legal framework, often a matter of trust.
Business people are painfully aware that the grid is not the most stable of places. As SL’s popularity is on the rise so is the number of grid attacks and general scams. People who are doing business are very frustrated with this. When the grid is down your shop is closed for business much like a real shop would be during a hurricane. The digital winds are often blowing at high speeds in SL.
In addition to this LL has adapted the open source adage of releasing code early and often. During the time I did my research meant that SL was offline for updating pretty much once a week. These updates fall in the middle of the week and have been dubbed Black Wednesdays by residents. There is ambivalence towards this from businesspeople. On one hand stability is better for business. On the other is the awareness that LL’s fluidity and willingness to take risks have made SL what it is in the first place.
More people equal more customers, so businesspeople have a strong interest in seeing SL continue its impressive growth. I think it speaks to the rising cultural importance of SL that the company Rivers Run Red is now helping to setup an island for Duran Duran. On this the band intends to play concerts and engage with their fans. The logic behind this is that this gives the band a way to get cohesion with community much in the same way MTV did 20 years ago.
The ways of making money are as diverse as SL itself. The classic way is to build stuff and sell it. Anshe Chung made all her L$ by buying land from LL, developing it and then renting it out with prefab homes built on it. For larger projects businesspeople often act in an administrative capacity and hire creators as they’re needed. In the sex industry animations have been a hot item for a long time whilst others rely on prostitution for income. Listing all the ways to make money does not make sense here. I hope you the reader get the idea that there are many diverse ways; including ones that have not been invented yet.
Drawing the map
Having given accounts of the four archetypes I will now try to show how these make up an overall picture. Consider this illustration:
The axes represent the source of residents’ interest in SL. The x-axis goes from augmentation to immersion; and the y-axis from acting to interacting. In each of the four quadrants created by the x and y; you find one of the 4 archetypes. Let me elaborate on each of these.
Creators are interested in exploring what unique SL creations they can invent. They are IMMERSIONISTS who wants to ACT in SL. The best accomplishments are those that feel like they could only have been created immersed in this unique space. The main attraction with SL is the unique options it gives for creation. Other people add a handy audience/customer base and help when you need it. The goal is to keep pushing the envelope and come up with new things to dazzle others. In the SL status hierarchy creators are top of the pile and they know it.
Philosophers are hungry for more knowledge about what all this means on a more human level. They are IMMERSIONISTS who wants to INTERACT in SL. Technology is the facilitator and interesting for what it can do for human interaction and self expression. Both sides of the equation matter. Focusing 100% on the technology is as meaningless as just focusing on the people that use it. Philosophers have idealism and a very deep knowledge of most aspects of SL. The first of the two makes them share the second generously. The status that comes with doing these things is a not bad at all either.
Socializers are interested in interacting with other residents. They are AUGMENTATIONISTS who wants to INTERACT in SL. SL is just another place to come, but one that seems especially good for being social. On the backdrop of this brave new world they are meeting other people to hang out and make friends with. The number of cool people they meet in SL is a constant source of surprise. Socializers feel very proud of their friendships and the influence that comes with having a strong network.
Businesspeople want to us SL to make money. They are AUGMENTATIONISTS who wants to ACT in SL. The way to do it is to understand what unique possibilities SL presents in order to come up with ways to monetize this. To optimize your income you need also need to understand customers. And as far as numbers of customers: The more really is the merrier. Businesspeople have a very easy to understand metric for how well they are doing. Those who do well will not mind other people hearing about this either.
Interactions
Understanding how the different archetypes relate to residents similar to themselves and people they perceive to represent the other archetypes will provide some insight into the dynamics of SL. Please still bear in mind that very few resident will fit only one of these archetypes.
Creators vs.
This archetype prefers to hang out with its own kind. In these social networks the main topics will usually revolve around something SL. Other people are a source of getting up to speed with the latest little tips and tricks about the tools. When a perceived peer asks a question they will be very helpful, but a new resident should not always expect a reply. There is an ideal of the creator with all the chops to go it alone, so using other people as a resource is something that should be kept to a minimum. Sometimes creators with complimentary skills take on larger edgy often non profit projects together. If such collaborations are successful then very strong lasting bonds can be forged among the participants. But all in all creators are the archetype that will express the least need for the presence of others.
The very best philosophers will have the attention of creators; especially if they can compress their thoughts into interesting blog posts. But generally there is a sneaking feeling that philosophers would be creators if they could. A creator might look at a philosopher the way someone from computer science might look at someone from the humanities. They don’t really identify with what they do and how they do it, but do fundamentally understand the importance of the work. There is a basic respect for the work they do with integrating new residents. Some creators could even have benefited from such effort even if they might not admit to it.
Socializers do not really make sense to creators. “If you just want to stand around and talk then there are plenty of places to do that!” Creators will be happy if socializers buy their products, but annoyed if they come back asking questions that were already answered in the documentation. Socializers don’t really have anything creators want except for the odd bit of rumor about other creators that could be of interest.
Creators have mixed feelings about businesspeople. Very few creators will be able to make as much money on their own as when they join one of SL’s growing numbers of companies. These companies will usually be run by businesspeople. Creators do appreciate when businesspeople come with financially interesting offers, but there is a feeling that the work they come with is often less interesting. They view businesspeople’s continued efforts to bring in wealthy outsiders with a mixture of joy at the money this could send in their direction and concern for what this will do to SL’s culture.
Philosophers vs.
Philosophers have some ambivalence about creators. On one hand their creations are a very important part of the culture. On the other this single minded focus on creation can be hard to reconcile with the very social values philosophers have. Creators are often seen as a bit antisocial, but the good ones are also excused for being that way. Much like you might excuse a gifted “left brained” scientist for lacking in social skills. Sometimes if creators have some knowledge that a philosopher needs; a little friction can arise if this is not shared readily.
This archetype enjoys the best of its own kind very much. These colleagues are people with whom to form groups with, share ideas and move forward in understanding. But philosophers who come in without having done their homework are seen as a nuisance. Everyone is allowed in but to feel welcome you must take the necessary time to get to know your subject. There is an internal hierarchy within the ranks of philosophers. People who are putting a lot of effort into helping out those in need are held in very high esteem, but the ones who think and convey the deep thoughts sit at the top.
Socializers are people who can be impressed with solid knowledge of all things SL. A teacher needs students and most students will come from this group. Philosophers have a dream of seeing their students move on to become great philosophers or creators and take great pride in it when it happens. Those who are card carrying socializers really aren’t people philosophers prefer to hang out with. If the topic of conversation drifts too far from something with a philosophic twist then they tend to lose interest. All in all socializers are viewed as people who need a little help to move on up in the SL hierarchy.
Philosophers are not always fond of businesspeople. They do respect that businesspeople often have solid knowledge of SL, but it does not sit well with them that this knowledge is accumulated with the sole purpose of monetizing it. Businesspeople make up the success stories of SL when the mainstream media writes about the money the have made “playing a game.” There is a feeling that this misrepresents SL culture, which shows in the unrealistic expectations of many new residents that philosophers have to deal with. Everything else being equal they would prefer that pretty much the only business in SL was done by people who sold their own innovative creations.
Socializers vs.
Socializers like creators because of all the great things they produce. They love coming together about the latest craze in SL, which usually will be supplied by a creator. Stories of great creators feature prominently in socializer folklore. These stories are usually second hand information because the two types will not usually communicate very well with each other. Talking about creators is better than talking to them.
Some philosophers are more likeable than others. Those who volunteer as teachers, greeters or mentors are held in very high regard. Those who are into deep conversations about SL all the time are a little more of a challenge. Socializers like to participate in discussions as well but really wish that some philosophers would just lighten up once in a while.
Unsurprisingly this archetype enjoys other socializers a lot. Few things are better then exploring, shopping or just hanging out with your best friends in SL. The atmosphere is really fun and you can sit there at home at your computer and feel that you are out for a night on the town. A lot of self help groups also meet on a very regular basis and there is a virtual shoulder when you need one, but it is also totally fine to meet up and chat about everyday stuff.
Socializers like the supply of things to buy and try that businesspeople provide. When you come to do business then you can have a really good conversation. But like the people in a RL shop they are nice because it is the professional thing to be. As tenants of rented prefab houses socializers often see businesspeople as landlords. Sometimes the prices are scoffed at but in the end they keep coming back because businesspeople understand what their customers want.
Businesspeople vs.
Creators are very important to businesspeople. They respect and need their skills which are vital for the business. At the same time they are a funny lot who left to their own devices might fly off on a tangent and produce something no one would ever buy. These little creative geniuses need to be managed and nurtured. The best way is to hire them into the company so you have them working for you exclusively, but this is not always possible.
Businesspeople are not always sure what to do with philosophers. The best ones are very interesting and keeping in touch with their thoughts is very useful. At the same time participating in discussion groups with them can be a frustrating experience. It is very hard to stay on topic and it feels very disorganized. Any attempt at adding structure will usually be shot down or ignored. At the same time the volunteer work philosophers do is very important to keep the accelerating flow of new residents going strong.
Socializers are your customers; without those there would be off course no business in front of people. Understanding what has this archetype exited at the moment is vital at all times. Word of mouth is how a lot of business comes your way, so maintaining a good relationship with your customers is very important. Negative experiences can travel across the grid like wildfire, so these things must be avoided.
Businesspeople tend to not get in each others way. They protect their businesses by not disclosing unnecessary information just like in RL. Keeping an eye on the competition is naturally very important, so a lot of time is allocated to that. Increasingly SL businesspeople are organizing themselves in larger companies. These have proved very successful in attracting RL companies and media attention to SL.
A culture of creativity
“In any biological system, the physics governs the basic structures but additional energy is then required to sustain and operate the system. Beyond physics groups also depend on group–specific history, experience, ideas and purpose, which ensure reciprocity, trust and a shared sense of mission. In other words, there must also be that social glue that I term group culture. While the physics describes the way the group can form, the culture describes the way the group sustains itself and does its work” – Beth Noveck [Noveck 2005]
If you look as the resident population as a whole made up of the four archetypes then what is the social glue that holds it together? If you look at the level of the individual archetypes then very different motivations exist. One level further down is the individual resident who often has elements of a number of archetypes; maybe even all four.
When I try to put the pieces together I see what you might call a culture of creativity. LL created an empty desert and gave the residents what was needed to settle there. In The New Resident Experience I outlined some of the characteristics of those who managed to settle here. Residents may have shown up looking like newbies here, but that was only (avatar) skin deep. SL became populated by early adaptors and innovators and these still dominate to this day.
One might think of the residents as an ecosystem consisting of the four archetypes. Creators infuse this system’s dynamics with their innovations. Businesspeople help disseminate these. Philosophers open this world to people. Socializers populate the space and make it feel like more than an empty doll house. Like in any most ecosystems removal of any of the parts it would fundamentally change it. So a culture of creativity does not necessarily mean that everyone in here creates. Due to the qualitative nature of my work I am deliberately avoiding saying things like: There are xx% creators etc.
At this point I see this Archetypes section (and all of the preceding sections for that matter) as a snapshot of the residents frozen in time as I am writing these words in Fall 2006. What I have described is very much a moving target, so a year from now, I rest assured, much will have changed just like I am sure a lot was different a year back.
Some residents are starting to realize the power they actually have. Being in SL as a Linden I felt how some related to me like I was a game master in World of Warcraft. But the realization of how this is different is starting to take root in me. I now think Lindens are to the residents what a producer of brushes, paint and canvases are to a painter. The powerful realization who the author of this space really is almost takes a revolution of the mind to fully grasp. Not strange really since at least all adult residents grew up in a culture much less participatory than the one they are now a part of creating one stroke at a time.
Keep in mind when you read these words that I framed my empirical research as an analysis of creativity, so I went looking for something specific. I did talk to what I would call a broad selection of residents, but I got to ask the questions. This is why I can’t pretend to have to the overview really needed to abstract up to a high enough level to feel sure I know what the SL culture is. Maybe the passing of time coupled with more pieces of the puzzle might enable someone to do it. In a similar way be aware of the generalizations necessary to identify archetypes. If you go looking for the for resident who fit one single archetype they will be hard to find. Archetypes should be regarded points of reference when studying the resident population.
An interesting direction to take this work on Archetypes would be to design an “Archetype quotient test.” [FOOT NOTE: This idea is inspired by the Bartle Test at http://www.andreasen.org/bartle/] Residents would fill out a choice questionnaire to discover what resident archetypes they fit and to what extent. It would be a way to get more quantative data about the archetypes. You could also track changes in archetype composition over time or even compare SL to other similar non game online 3D spaces such as There.
