DRAFTPAPER.

DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

TheABCofshoppinginSecondLife?Issuesofidentityandculture or ALiteracyAcademicgoesshoppinginSecondLife Introduction InpreparingforthissessiontodayIhaveundergoneaprocessthatmightbereferredto as blinging up my avatar. Less than a week ago my avatar was wandering around the University of Sheffield Education Second Life space in its (I now realize) pitiful looking system shoes, hair, skin and clothes. DrJoolz had skulked around in the safety of education spaces where people have been very circumspect and quiet about her/my1 lackoffashion/culturalawareness.HereinTheSchoolofEducationandininfolitiSchool IhaveattendedregularmeetingsandtreatedthespaceasifitweresomekindofSkype facilityworkingwithcolleaguestoplanafundedseminarseriesandconference.Ihad vaguely noticed that others at these meetings, more experienced at SL than I am, somehow looked better than my own avatar. I was not really clear about what it was thatlookedsosystemaboutDrJoolz;indeeditwasjustthisweekthatIdiscoveredthis lookhadalinguistichook,withthetermsystembeingusedadjectivally.Thetermseems tobelongtothesameparadigmasinsitutionalisedbutactuallyidentifiesnotjustalack ofindividualstylebutalsotheideathatoneisnotaninsider,someonewhoisnotinfact institutionalized,butissomeonewhohasnotmovedbeyondthebasicsandstillretains thestandardissue. So,fittingintothecommunityistosomeextent,aboutlookingthepartyoushowyou areaninsiderbyyourphysicalappearance.Toshedyourfirstcaterpillarskinistoshow thatyouhavebeenaboutintheworldabitandhaveinvestigatedtheoptions.Youhave to earn your wings by getting out there and involving yourself in the capital exchange. Writing for educators, introducing them to Second Life, SavinBaden et al (2009) describethenewbieexperienceinthisway: Younoticethatyouravatarsappearanceislikeahugebadgethatsays I dont know what Im doing; you become slightly envious of those around you with a more individual appearance and begin to wonder howtheyacquiredtheirimpressivehairandclothes.Thisleadstoan extended period of playing with your avatars appearance settings, which ends with it looking slightly less default but still fairly unpleasing. (SavinBaden,etal,2009:3)

1Readersmayhavealreadynoticedmypronounproblememerginghere.Lastweekitwas definitelymyavatarandthisweek..selfconsciously,itisbecomingIandme. 1

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

SothisweekIhavestartedshoppingindeedIhavehardlystopped;andIhavemanaged togainnotjustmynewskin,eyes,hair,fingernails,clothesandaseriesofmiscellaneous freebie items like cocktails; salsa dance moves, the odd Tshirt and random pieces of furniture. But I have also dipped my toe in the water of the Second Life culture, since whenonestartstogoshoppinginthespace,onestartstogetsomekindofsenseofthe culturalvaluesandrituals.HoweveraswillbeappreciatedfromhowmuchofanoviceI am, I am sharing with you my feelings and observations on these early explorations of Second Life; I feel confused by the world and I have to confess that I bought things in shops I was kindly taken to by Sheila Yoshikawa and have not yet found my own personalgeographyintheworld. A strange thing has happened, which is that in getting involved in shopping activities I have started to think about my avatar as a presentation of self within the world. My engagement with shopping activities, the act of evaluating goods, selecting and buying merchandise, represents an investment of time, money and thought. Whilst I have selectedthingsthatareinsomewayclosetowhatIwouldwearinRealLife,Ihavealso beeninfluencedbywhatisavailableinworldandbywhatthefewothersIhaveseenare like(mySLskinforexample,ismuchmoreyouthfullookingonmyavatarthanonthe RLme;franklyIdontthinkaclosermatchwouldeverbemarketableinSLorRL).There seems to have been some kind of accommodation process happening and I have gradually started acclimatizing to the new cultural spaces in SL. However, I am aware thatIhavemixedinverydiscretecircles.Fromtheformaleducationalinstitutionspaces of Lancaster and Sheffield and a very few other universities in the Uk and the states, I have a limited cultural experience. I am drawing from personal observations at this pointandneedtoliveabitmoretobeabletothinkofthisasanethnography,andwould like to interview others who inhabit more diverse communities than the ones I have foundmyselfin.AndwithallthisIhavebecomefurtherawarethatSecondLifeisnotjust one cultural space but many, and that different ways of behaving are expected in its differentdomains. Literacy I have begun looking at Second Life shopping practices through the lens of literacy. SecondLifeisliteracysaturatedandliteracydependent;moreoveritseemstometobe fundamentallyaboutcapitalexchange.Itisfascinatingforexample,todiscoverthaton

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

the right click facility, one is offered a dial of options that includes: Sit Here, Touch, Create,Open,Edit,Pay,andTake.

Within this paradigm of basic actions , Paying and taking are on the premier list. So a simplequicklookatthelanguageofthecommandsoneofthekeysocialfunctionswithin theVirtualWorldisconcernedwithacquisitionofgoodsalongsidesittingdown! In order to function inworld one needs to be skilled in a range of literacy practices; many of these are subsumed within managing the technology; the mechanics of manouevring are of course hugely important and these are sometimes managed by selecting from textual options that appear in multiple formats, from maps and dials; menus, icons and lists of words. Of course all these manouevring skills come into play whenoneisshopping,butthereareevenmoreliteracypracticesspecificallyinrelation toSecondLifeshopping. SointhenextfewminutesIwilljustbrieflyoutlinewhereIamcomingfromintermsof literacytheory;IthensharesomeoftheobservationsIhavemadeaboutdigitalliteracy practices as they relate to shopping in Second Life, particularly thinking about the questionWhatliteracyskillsandknowledgedoyouneedtogoshoppinginSecondLife? andthenfinallyImakeafewobservationsaboutwhatIthinkwillbeinterestingareasto exploreusinganethnographicapproachtolookatliteracyandshoppinginSecondLife. Iseetheproductionandconsumptionoftextsassocial;thatis,textsareproducedoutof particular contexts, and readers bring to those texts and contexts, meanings derived from their own experiences, cultures and social position. That is to say, social aspects are irrefutably part of literacy practices, and meaning is not just mediated straightforwardlybytextualcodes(alphabetisedrepresentationetc),butareshapedby

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

socioculturalmatters.Textsaresocioculturalconstructs.Inemphasisingthesepoints, myworkwithinwhathasbecomeknownastheparadigmoftheNewLiteracyStudies, associatedwiththeoristslikeBartonandHamilton(1998),whodescribeliteracyasa socialpracticeandarguethatLiteracyisprimarilysomethingpeopledo;itisanactivity locatedinthespacebetweenthoughtandtextargueBartonandHamilton(1998:3). Being literate therefore involves an understanding not just of how to decode alphabetically, but also involves being aware of all kinds of social stuff that surround texts. One needs to decode cultural and social context clues as Lankshear and Knobel argue: From a sociocultural perspective it is impossible to separate out from text mediatedsocialpracticesthebitsconcernedwithreadingorwriting(orany othersenseofliteracy)andtotreatthemindependentlyofallthenonprint bits, like values and gestures, context and meaning, action and objects, talk and interaction, tools and spaces. They are all nonsubtractable parts of integratedwholes.Literacybitsdonotexistapartfromthesocialpractices inwhichtheyareembeddedandinwhichtheyareacquired. (LankshearandKnobel,2006:13) WhenyouthinkabouttheusesofliteracyinSecondLifethiskindofargumentisdifficult todisputewherereadersandwritersoftextsareprimarilytryingtodosomething;they are involved in social acts making friends, asking for help, selling, presenting, explaining,teaching,reportingandsoon. The work of the New London Group in conceptualising multiliteracies is now well established (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000); multiliteracies takes into account a full range of modalitiesascontributingtomeaningmakingsothatvisual,aural,andspatialpatterns areacceptedasbeingasmeaningfulasthelinguisticmode.Shifts,indeedabroadening of the meaning of the word literacy, have been partly due, since the proliferation of screenbasedandotherdigitaltexts,totheescalationoftheuseofdifferentmodalities within single texts (Kress, 2010; Van Leeuwen and Jewitt, 2001). Literacy researchers drawingontheseideasofliteracyasasocialpractice,ondoftextsasmultimodal,would therefore treat Second Life as a text in itself, discussing meanings inscribed within individualentriesonthesite,theirrelationshipwitheachotherandthesitegenerally,as wellasthewayinwhichotherfunctionalitiesoftheeBaysoftware/suchastheratings system,blogsanddiscussionboards/impactonmeanings.

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

I also draw on the work of critical literacy theorists, beginning with the writings of Freire,whodescribeshowinReadingthewordwearealsoReadingtheworld.That is to say, that text is never ideologically neutral. Thus when we interact in Second Life, weneedtothinkabouthowthetextmighthavebenefitsforsomeandnotothers;how powerisinscribedintotextsandwhomightbeaffectedbythis. As I mention above, Second Life is literacy saturated and literacy dependent. It is a programme on the Internet, but it is also a set of everyday cultural practices. Fundamentally the programme is made up of html text and the cultural practices take place via this (largely invisible) medium; moreover residents within the Virtual World interact through multiple textual modes visuals, alphabetized text, sound, and so on. The creation of content is all textual whether it is the words exchanged among interactants,orwhetheritisthecreationof3Dlikevirtualobjectsortheuseofgestures enactedviaavatars. ShoppinginSecondLife The Second Life website introduces Second Life to newcomers; it provides video materialandadvertisementsforjoining.Akeyareaitsellsistheshoppingmalls: ShoppinginSecondLife Shop'tilyouDrop Changeyourshoesoroutfitasoftenasyouchangeyourmind.Maybe todayyou'llbearobotoratinyrabbit,orroleplayafantasycharacter withyourfriends.Here,theselectionisasendlessasyour imagination.Andit'salwaysinyoursize. Itdrawsoneverydayfantasiesandeverydayidiomshoptillyoudropwhichwomenin particular are likely to identify with. For those to whom such a phrase might appeal, Second Life is able to make claims that Real World shopping Malls cannot. The transformativequalitiesoftheworld,coupledwiththepronounYouwherethereader is directly addressed, begins the process where potential residents start to make a transitionbetweenthinkingaboutavatarsandthinkingabouttheself.Theinformation given describes how one can buy goods within world, as well as outside, on the web. ThenotionthatbeinginvolvedinSecondLifealsoinvolvesshopping,isonethatseems veryclear;followingonfromsuchadsistheinvitationtoJoinNow>>ItsfastFreeand simple.

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

Theskills In thinking about participation requirements for second life, the first skills required involvethefollowing: Registeringonthewebsite: Havinganemailaccount Decidingonanavatarusername Secondlyinordertomakethetripshopping,oneneedsto Setupapaypalaccount,validatetheaccount(orsimilar) Locateashop Understandhowtoteleport Understandhowtowalkaroundtheenvironment Workouthowtodiscoverthecostifitisnotdisplayed Know how to make the exchange clicking on an item, selecting buy etc Knowing that items will appear in the inventory and locating the inventory Knowinghowtoaccessitemsfromyourinventoryeitherdraggingthe packageandopening,orrightclickingandwearing As can be seen by my one and only visual for this talk, one of the common errors for newbiesoccursintheunpackingofgoods.Ididseeandtakeasnapshotofsomeonewith apolarbearattachedtoherbodyacoupleofdaysagoshehadjustwontheitemona lucky chair. It did not seem quite so lucky to me as she had to move around with that beastattachedtoher.

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

Itisprobablynowafamiliarproceduretomostpeoplehere,thatinpurchasinganitem it is not transferred to the buyer intact. It appears, as a folder in the inventory. Moreover, when one manages to locate the folder in the inventory, there is a series of icons which need to be deciphered. The purchase of one cardigan recently, manifest withafoldercontainingfouritems.Ineededtodecidewhichoftheseitemswereindeed thecardigan.ThemysteriouswordprimseemstobeusedeverywhereandsoIneeded tolookelsewhereonthewebforanexplanationoftheterm.

Inadditiontoallthisareissuesaroundtheft;becausethevirtualworldistextual,and becauseonecancopyandreplicatedigitaltextwithvaryingdegreesofease,thismeans thatcomplexinstructionsandregulationssometimesaccompanypurchases.Theuseof legallanguage,oftenverypowerfulsounding,referringtooinworld(theLindens)and outofworldauthorities(thelaw)asabackuptothewarnings.Clearly,whilethisisto somejustagame,thisisalsoabusinessenterpriseandsoaswithotherweb2.0spaces copyrighttheftisanimportantconcern. SomeitemsareavailableforpurchasewhichIhadnotconsidered;forexamplethesalsa moves I managed to buy; facial expressions, fingernails (in varying lengths), skin, eyes andsoon.TheassumptionsweholdinRLaboutwhatonecanbuyandwhatisgivenare challenged;althoughinsayingthis,thereisthegrowingrealizationthatinrecentyears muchofthesethingshavebeencommodifiedintheRealworldtoo. Thereareadditionalareasoneneedstothinkabout.Firstlythatsometransactionsthat appeartobelikebuying,areinfactnotbuyingatall.Thisisakindofsubversionofthe capitalistprinciplewithintheworldwhereonecanpayzeroLindensforanitem.Using the option to buy allows residents to make the transaction to happen and so individualscantakeadvantageofthiskindofaffordanceintheirownway.Herewesee

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

the exploitation of a particular affordance that has developed over time, beyond what was initially envisaged. Such adaptation of affordance use is common across web 2.0 spaceslikeFlickr,eBayandYouTube.Secondly,shopownerscanusethiswayofgiving goodsawayinordertocourtlatercustomandtoacquireinterestintheirshops. FurtherResearchConsiderations AsanewcomertoshoppinginSLIaminterestedinexploringmuchmore;myprevious workinlookingeBay(2008)enabledmetothinkabouthowtheDiscoursesofthesite shapedthewaysinwhichpeoplebehaved;Ilookedatreputationandthewayinwhich that was configured both through official and unofficial online spaces. I was also interestedinhowpeoplebolsteredtheirreputationasbuyersorsellersthroughtheway theylinkedtoothersitesontheInternetsuchasthroughtheirblogsandFlickrspaces. This will require a longer period of time to allow an ethnographic exploration to discoverifthereareanykindsofparallelinSL.IarguedthatineBayneedtoconduct relationshipsasbuyersandsellers,involvednotjustinparticularisolatedtransactions, but with an understanding that individual exchanges contribute to an accumulated biography of themselves that can be referred to later. eBayers also need to read critically. Cross referencing; an understanding of community rules and the ability to discern and put into practice cultural and social knowledge of eBay. This is a space wheretradersformaselfmonitoringcommunity,withanawarenessofbeingwatched inamannerevocativeofFoucaultspanopticon(Foucault,1977).Thereissomesensein whichSecondLifeoperatesinthisway. Notcoveredinthisbriefconsideration,arethewaysinwhichtheSecondLifespaceis used by RL advertisers; for example I purchased free some Pringles, a bottle of Jack Daniels and sundry other branded items just today. The hidden exchange of capital involvingoutofworldmerchandiseisclearlyanareaworthyofexploration.Iamaware of work by Catherine Beavis looking at the advertising of McDonalds in a MMOG but I thinkthereismoretobeexploredhere.KenwayandBullen(2003)talkaboutissuesof globalization in what they refer to as the age of desire. To take on board the ideas of critical digital literacy, I would want to explore these ideas further in relation to shopping in SL. Such research whicvh moves across online and offline spaces might needaconnectedethnographicexplorationnotjustvirtualbutinRLspacestoo(Fields andkafai,2008).

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

I joked earlier about the appearance of my avatar, but the inworld glamour and adherence to stereotypical notions of westernized beauty seem to go largely unchallenged;theculturalexchangeofgoodsandwork.Certainlythereisanareahere forfurtherthinkingaroundhowtoparticipateinsuchspacesasafeministandwhether onecanorshouldresisttheDiscourseswhichpositionmenandwomenisspecificways as currently seem to be so prevalent inworld. In buying the dreams that the Second Lifebusinessespousesinitsads,areweaddingtoinequalitiesinoutofworldspaces. Iwouldalsobeinterestedinexploringwhatkindsoftracesweleavebehindwhenwe involveourselvesinSLpurchasingandwhetherthedigitalfootprintsweleaveremain inworldorfindtheirwayoutside. Conclusions Drawing on the notion that literacy is a social practice, I have argued that the literacy skills required in order to participate successfully as a buyer or seller are complex. SecondLifetextproductionandconsumptionpracticesrequireasetofcomplexliteracy skills. Arangeofliteracyskillsthatare: Functional Critical Social New/Digital Multimodal everyday References Cope,B.andKalantzis,M.(2000)(Eds.)Multiliteracies;LiteracyLearningandtheDesign ofSocialFutures.London:Routledge. Davies,J.(2008)`PayandDisplay:TheDigitalLiteraciesofOnlineShoppers.In Lankshear,C.andKnobel,M.(Eds.)DigitalLiteracies:Concepts,PoliciesandPractices. NewYork:PeterLang.(Pp227248). Fields,AandKafai,Y.(2009)Aconnectiveethnographyofpeerknowledgesharingand

DRAFTPAPER.DrJuliaDaviesTheUniversityofSheffieldMarch18th2010 ESRCFestivalofSocialScience:InfolitiSchool,SecondLife

diffusioninatweenvirtualworld.InComputerSupportedCollaborativeLearning.4:47 68 Kenway,J.andBullen,E.(2003)Globalising The Young In The Age Of Desire: Some Educational Issues. Kress,G.(2010).Multimodality:Asocialsemioticaproachtocontemporary communication.London:Routledge. Lankshear,C.andKnobel,M.(2006).NewLiteracies:EverydaypracticesandClassroom Learning.Berkshire:OpenUniversityPress/McGrawHill. SavinBaden,M,Tombs,C.White,D.Poulton,T.Kavia,S.Woodham,L.(2009)Getting StartedwithSecondLifeJISC. Street,B.(2003).WhatsnewinNewLiteracyStudies?CriticalApproachestoliteracy intheoryandpractice.InCurrentIssuesonComparativeEducation,TeachersCollege, ColumbiaUniversity.Vol5:27787. VanLeeuwen,T.,&Jewitt,C.(2001).Handbookofvisualanalysis.London:Sage.

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