Virtual Worlds Valuable for Ethnography
I really enjoy talking with smart people, especially smart people with lots of experience. I was asked by Bebee Nelson to speak at the International Association Product Development Meeting. Bebee is the Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development and co-author of New Product Development for Dummies.
Talking about using VW’s in product development, I was the outlier, bringing a different view into the conference.
At one point, Beebe and I were talking about ethnography in Virtual Worlds and she made a connection that I now include in my talks. One of the values of Virtual Worlds is that they allow people to become better ethnographers.
Why? Because many times people look at what’s going in Virtual Worlds, or video games for that matter, and dismiss the people there as freaks, losers, or misfits. Time and again, this stereotype has been shattered and I sometimes wonder if it’s more of a mirror on the commentator than the group.
Still, the point of ethnography is NOT to bring your preconceived notions into the group you’re studying, the point is to understand the group on their own terms. Because of this common, negative reaction, Virtual Worlds allow would-be ethnographers an opportunity to go beyond their initial reactions and really understand what’s going on. Having the first experience of setting aside preconceived notions and coming up with valuable insights is a very useful skill. I saw my interns go through just such an experience when I asked them to tell me about the payoffs people get for participating in Virtual Worlds. They went from being a bit skeptical to enthusiastic about what they were learning. The observational, question asking, listening, and analytical skills they learned in the Virtual World were directly applicable to the real world.
Also, because you don’t need to travel, VW’s offer a cost effective to gain experience doing ethnography. I know some of my anthropologist friends will disagree with me, but if the point is to understand people and what they are doing, and if people are doing things in VW’s, then I believe VW’s are legitimate venue for study. Certainly, it won’t be a complete ethnographic education, but it’s a good start.
Of course, really great insights can be made when going into people’s Real Lives and understanding how their Virtual Lives impact their Real Lives and vice versa. But that takes travel. Staying in the Virtual World allows would be ethnographers opens up their universe, reaching people from all over the world with a broadband connection and a computer.
