Daniel Cardoso, a researcher for Portugal's part of the multi-country project EU Kids Online, emailed me his comment, adding a reminder that MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Entropia (not to mention the Xbox Life community and Sony's Home in a different way) are contributing in a major way to this user-driven Web. I'm glad he points that out. So, here are Daniel's likes:
"Well, it allows for a much greater overlapping between what is usually referred to as "the real world" with the online reality.
"We must not forget that MMO games are also part of the social web, and they are the ones who most effectively reinforce the idea of cooperation and working for a goal.
"This overlapping will start inserting technology into people's lives in a much more seamlessly way, making the use of what is now a novelty into something more than normal - necessary. While this could be viewed as neither good nor bad, the fact is that mass usage of something tends to perfect that same thing. So we'll see more features, more interaction, more difference from analog media.
"That in itself is an interesting point: that something that will grow to be fundamentally different from our analogic reality will (probably) be present in such a seamless way. Virtual worlds of today tend to emulate the real world (contrary to what common sense would dictate, it seems), but as the new generations become more and more accustomed to the Web 2.0 (which will eventually be Web x.0), they will develop and expand the characteristics of this soon-to-be Metaverse."
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Great point. I also believe that teenagers today that have grown up with this web and virtual communication actually don't really see a difference between "virtual" reality and reality. It's all reality to them. A conversation online with a friend is as real and tangible as a phone conversation. I think this may translate to MMORPGs and virtual world games as well.
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