Gaining Status and Differrentiating between classes of users

Hi everyone. I'm working on a paper for my class about Social Classes within Second Life. How exactly do users gain social status within SL and are there any ways to differentiate between "levels" or "classes" of players? (ex: money, fashion, material goods etc.) Any help would be great! Thanks!

I don't think that we have a class system, despite the attempts of some individuals to provoke class warfare.

In the physical world status and class are determined by birth, appearance, education, income, etc. Those variables are either impossible to change, or at best slow and difficult to change in real life. You can change almost anything in SL. You can even disappear and recreate yourself from scratch as an alt.

In SL, some people are regarded well for having some skill, or even for being an excellent people person. But that regard is too fluid to translate into a class system per se. At least in my opinon.

Surreal

I guess there is a class of people everyone knows of, and then normal people. Those people everyone knows have usually either made something people know about, or are just everywhere .

Examples of "known" people:

merwan marker
torley torgenson
cubey terra
francis chung
nephalaine protagonist


its also a matter of perception. Those who you think are well known, actually may not me. eg me eltee statosky, Adam Zaius, etc.

for me there's two classes of people in sl: the people you would like to have around you, and the people you would like to have ebola monkeys around them.

if you want high status then be nice, help others, show respect, play fair and share.
if you want low status then do the opposite. that's about it. if your skillz are mad and you got alot of L$ and you own 10 sims but you're a jerk then you're just a jerk.

Check this thread out for term paper goodness:

/120/c4/33167/1.html

I've overheard people saying things like this...

POPULAR! you're gonna be popular!
i'll teach you the propper poise,
when you talk to boys,
little ways to flirt and flounce, ohhh!
i'll show you what shoes to wear!
how to fix your hair!
everthing that really counts to be...

POPULAR! i'll help you be popular!
you'll hang with the right cohorts,
you'll be good at sports,
know the slang you've got to know.
so let's start,
'cause you've got an awfully long way to go!

don't be offended by my frank analysis,
think of it as personality dialysis,
now that i've chosen to become a
power sister and advisor,
there's nobody wiser!
not when it comes to...

POPULAR! i know about popular.
and with an assist from me,
to be who you'll be,
instead of dreary who you were... are.
there's nothing that can stop you,
from becoming popular... lare...

la la, la la!
we're gonna make you pop-u-lar!

[An excerpt from the song "Popular" from the musical "Wicked"]

Lindsey, answer your own question:
You have just joined a new school and class. You wish to be popular and socialy known.

What are you going to do?

... Yup. Same thing.

what is status? what is it used for?
does that apply to sl?

Read all my threads, do searches on my name. This is all I have ever written about and I've become a huge bore : )

and hated by some

because they pretend there are no classes

but it's a distinct marker of this class system

that it keeps pretending their are no classes and privileges when there are

Interestingly all of which are pretty old players. I think there is a social conflict between those who have been here for over 1 year, and those who have come more recently. The more recent players tend to have come from other places such as TSO or There and are seen by some as contributing less. I expect as SL becomes more mainstream these conflicts will increase.

If you want to look for signs of tension look at all the threads on the new economic changes.

You need to be aware that the forums are not representative of the in-world population which is generally made up of various sub cultures which don't often interact. I see the same faces in world, but I've only ever met a handful of forum posters in world.

Some of the posters here have chosen to segregate themselves with private islands. Not all private islands are even on the map

Basic account holders seem to be looked down on by everyone and are seen by some as parasitical.

The very popular clubbing subculture is poorly represented in the forums and are looked down on by many.

There seems to be an element of "hero worship" around some older players, which is interesting.

LOL... thanks Chage. Well, it is an honor. ^_^

Oooh Roberta, I'm not an old player -- unless you consider 4 months to be old.

Or, unless you consider my previous accounts: Chaoma Chung and Arcus Starseeker... <--- kidding, kidding, I first started SL in mid-September but the birthday for Torley Jr. is in Nov. A bit confusing, I know. It has to do with the way I multitier things, like layers of a wedding cake. Or you know Pokemon cards, you just gotta catch 'em all. Same thing with me: I like to explore those possibilities.

For every contradiction I've embraced, there's also a stereotype I've smashed.

In Second Life, I...

-do not (really) create and sell content

-go clubbing a lot

-am a Basic account holder

-have come to SL in part to admire the amazing creations of others

-have good friends of varying ages, from the first Residents ever to newbies who are less than a week old

-am not a Linden, despite certain rumors to the contrary

-was fundamentally a loner, although it doesn't seem this way now

Shatterpoints indeed.

I just encourage unique individuality, and I'm all for talented, friendly people who celebrate themselves while celebrating others. =^_^=

Basic account holders and club goers aren't looked down upon. Clubs in general are looked down upon by a lot of people because there just too damn many clubs....every day 5 clubs and 7 casinos open . As for basic account holders I think you are reading too much into the recent forum issues.

The segregation you may see in world has less to do with status than it has to do with time. Those that prefer to socialize spend their time doing so....builders build....scripters sript...and so on.

As for forum people ....a lot of people who come to the forum do so for varied reason but all have a very real interest in the world and its mechanics....we care about this place greatly and are pretty passionate about issues regarding it. Because the passion runs high occasionally it scares off some people and other people may see some forum posters as " celebrity's" . No one here really buys into that crap and would certainly hang out with anyone in world.

I tend to hermit a bit in world working on things...but I've met just about everyone in the forums and a great many people in world from oldbies to newbies.

If you do meet any forum posters in world I think you'll be surprised that they aren't what you would expect....generally everyone is extremely nice and will do whatever they can to help a newbie or an oldbie.

I sorta divide the world into 3 totally unequal parts.

People I like
People I don't
and People I don't know.


Siggy.

for what it's worth my personal experience has been almost the opposite of this. i've seen one remark on the forums against basic account players and never once met anyone in game who looks down on them.

I agree with Siggy. In my experience the people who claim there's some kind of class system tend to be newer members who make assumptions about well known players that have little resemblance to the truth. If you imagine there's a class system you'll find that it's true because you'll project that bias onto others and view the world through that lens. As Prokofy suggested, read his posts on the subject. He's a perfect example of projecting bias onto others who tend to resent the accusations and respond accordingly, thus making him feel justified in his claims. What he doesn't seem to realize is that you tend to get back what you put forward. Torley is a perfect example of someone without any bias who in return is loved by old and new alike. Class and status in SL are self fulfilling prophesies. Zuzi posted a wonderful allegory that sums it up perfectly in this thread /130/eb/33374/1.html

See by yourself. Read forum. You say what you want and say bad things about people and nobody says or does anything means you are bourgeois.

My own opinion on this is that if they're juggling prims and torturing torii, it's probably a building class, whereas if they're all sat round staring at rotating cubes spamming messages, it's likely a scripting class. Other classes exist in Second Life too... if in doubt about what class you're in, I suggest asking the teacher.

what is the purpose of social status?
that may point you at the people who have such status.