Juanita Deharo
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8 months ago
in The ABC in Second Life: one year on on The Metaverse Journal
Thank you for your timely article.
There is no doubt ABC island, in particular the sandbox, has been a major benefit to Australians in S., nor that a small band of volunteers have out in a lot of effort to make it work. Thank you to them.
However, with 12 months on the clock I wonder what sort of serious evaluation has been done of ABC's presence in SL.
I was part of the initial discussions about starting the island, and have attended almost every event - except the music quiz show and tiny soccer- neither of which interest me. In its 12 months existence ABC has offered some interesting content like the CSIRO talks or the Librarians discussion - but on the whole I think it has offered very little that has been engaging to me or to many others I have spoken with in SL. It is in no way representative or even indicative of ABC's rich and diverse offerings to the Australian community, and it has not offered many opportunities for creative individuals to explore and push the boundaries between the real and the virtual.
Before the ABC expands with more of the same ( or a bigger and less laggy version of the same) there needs to be some thought given to the whys and hows of its presence in SL and to the way it has operated in the last 12months.
Unless there are ABC staff resources devoted to the project it is in danger of becoming the domain of possessive in-world volunteers and vested interests and will not offer the sort of environment that can truly test the possibilities of virtual worlds, or present the ABC in any good light to the world.
I offer these thought not as criticism of those who have worked in world to maintain the ABC island - but as an observation from someone who sees unused potential and wasted resources. I think it would be a waste to have ABC island expand without a serious rethink of its role in SL and the addition of resouorces and management from within ABC.
There is no doubt ABC island, in particular the sandbox, has been a major benefit to Australians in S., nor that a small band of volunteers have out in a lot of effort to make it work. Thank you to them.
However, with 12 months on the clock I wonder what sort of serious evaluation has been done of ABC's presence in SL.
I was part of the initial discussions about starting the island, and have attended almost every event - except the music quiz show and tiny soccer- neither of which interest me. In its 12 months existence ABC has offered some interesting content like the CSIRO talks or the Librarians discussion - but on the whole I think it has offered very little that has been engaging to me or to many others I have spoken with in SL. It is in no way representative or even indicative of ABC's rich and diverse offerings to the Australian community, and it has not offered many opportunities for creative individuals to explore and push the boundaries between the real and the virtual.
Before the ABC expands with more of the same ( or a bigger and less laggy version of the same) there needs to be some thought given to the whys and hows of its presence in SL and to the way it has operated in the last 12months.
Unless there are ABC staff resources devoted to the project it is in danger of becoming the domain of possessive in-world volunteers and vested interests and will not offer the sort of environment that can truly test the possibilities of virtual worlds, or present the ABC in any good light to the world.
I offer these thought not as criticism of those who have worked in world to maintain the ABC island - but as an observation from someone who sees unused potential and wasted resources. I think it would be a waste to have ABC island expand without a serious rethink of its role in SL and the addition of resouorces and management from within ABC.