{"title":"Tom Boellstorff","description":"\u003cp\u003eTom Boellstorff’s works offer insightful explorations into virtual worlds and digital cultures, blending anthropology with cutting-edge technology studies. Readers can expect thoughtful reflections on identity, community, and the evolving nature of human interaction in online spaces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis writing is often grounded in detailed ethnographic research, making complex ideas accessible and engaging for those interested in education, cultural studies, and digital communication. Boellstorff challenges conventional perspectives on technology’s role in society, inviting readers to reconsider how we understand reality in the digital age.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"coming-of-age-in-second-life-by-tom-boellstorff-9780691168340","title":"Coming of Age in Second Life","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMillions of people around the world today spend portions of their lives in online virtual worlds. Second Life is one of the largest of these virtual worlds. The residents of Second Life create communities, buy property and build homes, go to concerts, meet in bars, attend weddings and religious services, buy and sell virtual goods and services, find friendship, and fall in love—the possibilities are endless, and all encountered through a computer screen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt the time of its initial publication in 2008, \u003cem\u003eComing of Age in Second Life\u003c\/em\u003e was the first book of anthropology to examine this thriving alternate universe. Tom Boellstorff conducted more than two years of fieldwork in Second Life, living among and observing its residents in exactly the same way anthropologists traditionally have done to learn about cultures and social groups in the so-called real world. He conducted his research as the avatar \"Tom Bukowski,\" and applied the rigorous methods of anthropology to study many facets of this new frontier of human life, including issues of gender, race, sex, money, conflict and antisocial behaviour, the construction of place and time, and the interplay of self and group.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eComing of Age in Second Life\u003c\/em\u003e shows how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. Bringing anthropology into territory never before studied, this book demonstrates that in some ways humans have always been virtual, and that virtual worlds in all their rich complexity build upon a human capacity for culture that is as old as humanity itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow with a new preface in which the author places his book in light of the most recent transformations in online culture, \u003cem\u003eComing of Age in Second Life\u003c\/em\u003e remains the classic ethnography of virtual worlds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47596025250028,"sku":"9780691168340","price":88.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/40e6ae96a13f3b97e92bd05cfe08b3ec.jpg?v=1777931983"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/tom-boellstorff.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}