/130/c7/73464/1.html
an SL resident is inviting us to participate in what actually seems to be a US project aimed at exploring the use of Virtual Worlds to indirectly project US propaganda worldwide. Inviting us to compete to create SL content with this end in view.
To me this looks pretty appalling. Though carefully wrapped up, this appears to be a project exploring the potential of US-originated MMOG's to subtly project US poltical propaganda onto the world, and manipulate world attitudes.
This is potentially an clandestine abuse of meeting places which the participants trust to be relatively agenda-free. A more sophisticated version of flashing brief messages onto a screen to achieve unnoticed persuasion. Which is illegal, of course. What part of the US neo-con propaganda machine is putting up the funds for this, I wonder?
I beseech you - don't touch it with a barge-pole.
http://www.uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/projects/mmog
A couple of quotes (please note "the tools of persuasion", my bolding):
Traditional definitions of public diplomacy include government-sponsored cultural, educational and informational programs, citizen exchanges and broadcasts used to promote the national interest of a country through understanding, informing, and influencing foreign audiences.
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy views the field much more broadly. In addition to government sponsored programs, the Center is equally concerned with aspects of what CPD board member, Joseph Nye has labeled "soft power." The Center studies the impact of private activities - from popular culture to fashion to sports to news to the Internet - that inevitably, if not purposefully, have an impact on foreign policy and national security as well as on trade, tourism and other national interests. Moreover, the Center's points of inquiry are not limited to U.S. governmental activities, but examine public diplomacy as it pertains to a wide range of institutions and governments around the globe.
Unlike standard diplomacy, which might be described as the ways in which government leaders communicate with each other at the highest levels, public diplomacy focuses on the ways in which a country (or multi-lateral organization such as the United Nations), acting deliberately or inadvertently, through both official and private individuals and institutions, communicates with citizens in other societies. But like standard diplomacy, it starts from the premise that dialogue, rather than a sales pitch, is often central to achieving the goals of foreign policy. To be effective, public diplomacy must be seen as a two-way street. It involves not only shaping the message(s) that a country wishes to present abroad, but also analyzing and understanding the ways that the message is interpreted by diverse societies and developing the tools of listening and conversation as well as the tools of persuasion.
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy views the field much more broadly. In addition to government sponsored programs, the Center is equally concerned with aspects of what CPD board member, Joseph Nye has labeled "soft power." The Center studies the impact of private activities - from popular culture to fashion to sports to news to the Internet - that inevitably, if not purposefully, have an impact on foreign policy and national security as well as on trade, tourism and other national interests. Moreover, the Center's points of inquiry are not limited to U.S. governmental activities, but examine public diplomacy as it pertains to a wide range of institutions and governments around the globe.
Unlike standard diplomacy, which might be described as the ways in which government leaders communicate with each other at the highest levels, public diplomacy focuses on the ways in which a country (or multi-lateral organization such as the United Nations), acting deliberately or inadvertently, through both official and private individuals and institutions, communicates with citizens in other societies. But like standard diplomacy, it starts from the premise that dialogue, rather than a sales pitch, is often central to achieving the goals of foreign policy. To be effective, public diplomacy must be seen as a two-way street. It involves not only shaping the message(s) that a country wishes to present abroad, but also analyzing and understanding the ways that the message is interpreted by diverse societies and developing the tools of listening and conversation as well as the tools of persuasion.
Now, bearing in mind their use of the words "Public Diplomacy", read this:
Why Virtual Worlds?
Virtual worlds, mainly constructed through massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), function as communication networks in three different ways:
As one-to-many networks (developer to community). Virtual worlds, in other words, are created by a team of developers and include assumptions, values and beliefs in the structure, design, and art of the game.
As many-to-many networks. Virtual worlds are networked communication systems, which allow for interactive chat, internal email, and private and public messaging. Communication can occur among and between any of the online participants in a multitude of configurations.
As one-to-many networks (player to community). Virtual worlds also offer individual players increasing access to a new form of 'broadcast' from things as basic as avatar appearance and selection to the ability to create and display objects or messages in public forums or virtual space.
Each of these spaces provides us with research questions that can help us to better understand the role of virtual worlds in public diplomacy.
Virtual worlds, mainly constructed through massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), function as communication networks in three different ways:
As one-to-many networks (developer to community). Virtual worlds, in other words, are created by a team of developers and include assumptions, values and beliefs in the structure, design, and art of the game.
As many-to-many networks. Virtual worlds are networked communication systems, which allow for interactive chat, internal email, and private and public messaging. Communication can occur among and between any of the online participants in a multitude of configurations.
As one-to-many networks (player to community). Virtual worlds also offer individual players increasing access to a new form of 'broadcast' from things as basic as avatar appearance and selection to the ability to create and display objects or messages in public forums or virtual space.
Each of these spaces provides us with research questions that can help us to better understand the role of virtual worlds in public diplomacy.
