Second Life = Deviant Life? Have YOUR say

What does "researcher" mean? Are you undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD student, professor? ... or what? Who are you?

What subject area or discipline is this study for? (ooh, I said "discipline" hehehe) I see you say "human sciences" or something, but that's very broad.

From your webpage ...

so... the purpose of the research is to do the research?

Good to know you're not biased then.

The other survey that was posted here today got an unusually positive response because it was from somebody who has been in SL and on the forums for a while and who took great pains ("pains" heehee) to let us know exactly what the survey was for. She(?) even had the good grace to apologise for bothering folks with yet another survey because she's been around long enough to know just how often we are bothered with them. If I knew the first thing about RPG I'd have done that one. I won't do yours because after careful consideration, I am with Isablan on this one:

Not I can not! I am sorry. Actually, ironically, I did write "by deviant, I do not only mean sexual behaviours" originally. I deleted that because I thought people would be offended by the word 'sexual'. Well, I know why you are angry now. The general perception of SL is...

I think you will find that many of us actually view the two areas as separate entities. SL is inworld, the forums are the forums.

ME:

Well, all I can say is if I had been here for a while pretending to be one of you, then suddenly jumped out as a researcher. I would seriously violate the rules of the ethics committee. I was given a set of rules and I have to obey. If I have upset you, I am very sorry.

The Research in a few sentences:

SL is often described as an inherent old bed of deviance. However, SL may have its own rules, norms and power structures influencing the perception of what is deviant. So, things that are generally considered as deviant in RL may not be deviant at all in SL. This research is to find out what is deviant in SL.

So, Ghosty, don't dodge the issue. The question is do you closely resemble a llama? or do you just wish you were a llama? ....... or maybe you ARE a llama?

LOL, actually, I like llama. So cute. Saw three a few months ago.

You're going to have to define what deviance is - basically narrow down what it is you're looking for. As you have it right now, it's too broad. When you take the entirety of SL as a whole, what may be considered deviant to one group will be considered normal to another. In the end, nothing is really deviant when applied to SL in its entirety; the only thing deviant is deviance.

This. I am far more open with my personal life here than inworld.

It's hard to define deviance in a place where the motto is "Your World, Your Imagination". Or has that been changed to "Shut up and like it" yet?

Look, it is not for me to define what deviant is to me. It is your world, your SL. Tell me what should be allow and what should not be! If you think us researchers should not be allowed here, tell me (nicely please I had too much tonight). Your opinion will be reflected in the analysis.

This research is to find out about the constitution of deviance in SL.

Well said, Brenda Connolly

Yeah. Dave Bowman.

But that really is a great analogy. I'm letting you know now, I am stealing it and will use it as my own in feeble attempts to sound profound and thoughtful when it suits me.

No, I'm actually Ian Anderson.

LOL! There may be hope for you after all.

*At least he didn't call you an "Intellectual."

It is NOT for me to define what deviant is to me. It is your world, your SL. Tell me what should be allow and what should not be! If you think us researchers should not be allowed here, tell me (nicely please I had too much tonight). Your opinion will be reflected in the analysis.

If you are only aware of what is deviant in the sim that you often visit then tell me about it.
If you do not know what is deviant because it is far too confusing, that is very relevant too.

I am NOT here to say this is the norm and this is deviant. I am a researcher, I have been in and out SL for a while but my views are inevitably influenced by my real life role.

Look, that would actually piss me off, LOL

ROFL. Everytime I see that picture, I can't believe it's you. You look like you've been up for a week straight, eating boxes of No-doze and someone came in the one minute you actually nodded off and gave you a bad perm

You, are a brave llama!

/me waves to Wilson in piggy heaven

No, No. A .44 is too gaudy for me. A simple Ex-NYPD .38 is the handgun in my house.

Yeah. and the guy with the beard doesn't look that great either.

No, what I wanted to know was in what capacity you are connected with Swansea University.

It's OK, you haven't. I have a teenage son and so am quite used to w*nky boys

However, phrases such as "pretending to be one of you", along with your admission of going around second life watching people, do make me feel a little ... "squicky".

That is worded so much better than either your OP or your webpage. You might want to consider changing one or both to add this.

If the OPs posts and webpage are representative of the standard of research performed by academics at Swansea University, I for one am not impressed. As someone who is currently performing psychological research on human subjects (I'm a PhD student), my experience suggests that any ethics committee worth their salt would not approve a project of this kind. Participants of this sort of research (when it's done properly) have to be able to give "Informed Consent" - which means that among other things, they need to be informed of:

- the full legal name of the person performing the research
- contact info for the researcher and the department that they're working within
- the reason for the research being performed
- FULL details regarding how the information will be used and whether it will be published
- and a mountain of other similar stuff.

I see none of this in the OPs statements. I note that the webpage the OP provides is provided by the CompSci dept. From this and other clues (such as the poor quality of the survey questions), I infer that the OP is not in fact an academic working on an official, sanctioned project but is most likely an undergrad working on a term paper or the like.

If I am incorrect, perhaps the OP would like to clarify, and to provide the information required for potential participants to be able to give full informed consent to participate in this project.

One thing to keep in mind that makes the SL environment drastically different than the RL environment is that we are all adults here (supposedly). Imagine how the fabric of society and social acceptability would change if everyone in the real world was an adult. I'd bet that part of the reason "amoral" (subjective) behavior is so heavily suppressed has to do with concerns over exposing a minor to it.

Go to a sex shop or a strip club in RL. Does BDSM seem so taboo there? Not really. Many consenting adults go to strip clubs or sex shops and they aren't typically seen as exceptionally deviant. It's normal behavior for many adults.

Go to a PTA meeting at your kid's school and talk about BDSM? Yeah.... probably a bit deviant. Deviance, by it's very definition is simply a degree of separation between the norms of the majority around you.

Deviant in SL: traffic bots, landcutting, selling worthless "security" devices, ...

Just to explain myself, when I was observing... I did not make friends, chat with people, engage in group activities, etc. I was in the environment but I was out of it.

This. Considering SL is strictly entertainment for me, the idea of being watched as I entertain myself is somewhat creepy.

*Waits for the comebacks from Pep, Ghosty, Damien.........

I would not really say that we are angry so much as frustrated - and you manage to pop in with the wrong wording and you got the brunt of our frustrations.

I thinik now though that a few more will help you out.