EAGER -- Virtually Meaningful: The Power and Presence of Meaning in Virtual Worlds

Manhattan University, Bronx NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project explores the ways in which massively-multiparticipant online interactions provide experiences of meaningful accomplishment and how this engagement may portend the social use of digital technology for mass persuasion and motivation. Use of distributed network gaming technology has expanded rapidly in all age and ethnic demographics over the past decade, and current predictions conclude that growth will continue. As many of these online engagements and computationally produced virtual worlds explore idealistic themes or enable experiences of fulfillment, they could powerfully reshape the mores of modern life , especially given that it is the experiences made possible which account for much of their appeal. The principal investigator and four undergraduate students will examine a variety of such virtual worlds for the significant themes within them, such as the conflict between good and evil, a system of principles and adherents, development of personal meaning or character development, and individual identity expressed in heroic terms. All researchers will conduct fieldwork, interviewing users within the virtual worlds, and surveys will be conducted online for the residents of one or more virtual worlds. While shedding light upon the appropriation and modification of such experiences in virtual worlds, the project will also help clarify the ways in which cultural beliefs interact with technological development and, more importantly, the influence of technology on the public. The results of this research will be disseminated through several publication efforts. The principal investigator will mentor the students through the authorship of academic papers, which they will submit for presentation or publication. The students will thereby learn to carry out long-term research projects and develop their insights for an academic audience. An additional paper co-authored with the students will assess all of the findings and draw broad-based conclusions from the comparisons. The various publications will help the project reshape public and academic understandings of how digital technologies operate in public life, especially in their reconfiguration of ideas and practices.