Coming of Age in Second Life

Name: Coming of Age in Second Life
Brand: Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand
SKU: 9780691168340
Price: 88.0 NZD
Availability: InStock

An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human

By Tom Boellstorff

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( 400 ratings, 39 reviews)

Summary

Coming of Age in Second Life explores the vibrant online virtual world of Second Life, where millions engage in creating communities, conducting commerce, and forming relationships. Anthropologist Tom Boellstorff spent over two years immersed in this digital society as his avatar "Tom Bukowski," applying rigorous ethnographic methods to uncover the complexities of identity, culture, gender, race, and social dynamics within this virtual landscape. The book reveals how virtual worlds alter our understanding of self and society, demonstrating that humanity's capacity for culture extends naturally into digital realms. This classic study remains relevant with an updated preface addressing recent shifts in online culture.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$88⁰⁰

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Coming of Age in Second Life

$88⁰⁰

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in anthropology, digital culture, sociology, and virtual worlds. It suits academics, students, and anyone curious about how virtual environments shape human interaction and identity.

Millions 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, fin

Description

At the time of its initial publication in 2008, Coming of Age in Second Life 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.

Coming of Age in Second Life 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.

Now with a new preface in which the author places his book in light of the most recent transformations in online culture, Coming of Age in Second Life remains the classic ethnography of virtual worlds.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Winner of the 2009 Dorothy Lee Award and honoured with the 2008 PROSE Award Honorable Mention, Coming of Age in Second Life is praised for its groundbreaking approach. David Robson of Nature commends Boellstorff’s analysis of the intersection between virtual and physical identities, calling it a lasting and important study. The book is celebrated for making a previously obscure world accessible and for setting a benchmark in virtual anthropology research.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780691168340

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 25 August 2015

Country: United States

Imprint: Princeton University Press

Edition: Revised edition

Illustration: 24 halftones.

Contributors:

Preface by Tom Boellstorff

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 510g

Pages: 348

Collections

Computing & Technology Education & Reference Non-Fiction Tom Boellstorff

About the Author

Tom Boellstorff is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. He is the coauthor of Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of Method (Princeton), and coeditor of Data, Now Bigger and Better!