Second Life- Community Standards

Second Life has its own set of community standards, residents must treat each other with respect, without harassment and abide by local standards (these are indicated by simulator ratings G, M & R) concerning sexual & violent behaviour. The big six are the official guidelines, breaking any of the six results in suspension, repeat violations result in expulsion from Second Life.

The Big Six: -Disturbing the peace -Indecency -Disclosure -Assault -Harassment -Intolerance

This set of community standards can be paralleled to real world community standards, for example; behaviour that would be seen as acceptable in a downtown bar or club would be extremely unacceptable in a shopping complex (both inworld and in the real world).

Disturbing the peace- Anything that inhibits another residents ability to enjoy Second Life.
-disrupting scheduled events
-self spawning or following items
-creating items that intentionally slow server performance
-using sound repetitively
-repeated transmission of unwanted advertising

Indecency- Second Life is an adult community (M & R rated) material is not acceptable in all areas.
-behaviour which involves intensive and expletive language, nudity or sexual or violent content is allowed within private land rated(M) & (R).
-(G) rated guidelines must be followed in most public areas.

Disclosure- All residents are entitled to a reasonable level of privacy.
-the sharing,posting, remote monitoring or copying of conversation logs without consent is prohibited.

Assault- Most areas within Second Life are identified as being SAFE.
-an assault in second life can mean: shooting, or shoving and pushing another resident in a area identified as SAFE.
-Creating/using scripted objects which are designed to persistently target a resident in a way that prevents their enjoyment of Second Life.

Harassment- Harassment has many forms inworld but they are very similar to what we deem harassment real world.
-any behaviour likely to cause annoyance or alarm
-unwelcome sexual advances
-requests for sexual favours
-behaving in an intimidating, offensive or threatening manner
-communicating in any of the above manners.

Intolerance- Actions that are likely to defame or belittle an individual or group.
-use of derogatory or demeaning manner with images or language in reference to a residents ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual preference or race are never allowed.
-all actions that inhibit the exchange of ideas or diminish the Second Life community are prohibited.

The fact that Second Life has a set of community standards which must be adhered to with suspension or permanent expulsion being the consequence of inappropriate behaviour, seems to sum up that participants and creators of Second Life consider the grid (their inworld 'world') as a community. With rules to guide participants so as to increase enjoyment for all, areas are designated (G), (M), (R) rated as a means of assisting participants (residents) to the area most suited for the experience of their individual need or desire. An example of this would be that 'Joe' may prefer to attend a conference on alternate energy- inworld, and 'Jane' may prefer to hang out a rave party and have sexual encounters with another likeminded resident- inworld. Each individuals idea/need/want may be fulfilled, inworld we may extend our behaviour to the limits of the rules of the community standards, with fantasy and unrealistic situations being allowed and enjoyed by many.

As stated by Rheingold in 'Virtual Community'; "People in virtual communities use words on screens to exchange pleasantries and argue, engage in intellectual discourse, conduct commerce, make plans, brainstorm, gossip, fued, fall in love, find friends and lose them, play games, flirt, create a little high art an a lot of idle talk". "People in virtual communities do just about everything people do in real life, but we leave our bodies behind. You can't kiss anybody and nobody can punch you in the nose but alot can happen within those boundries. To the millions who have been drawn into it, the richness and vitality of computer-linked cultures is attractive, even addictive"(Rheingold 2000).

If we can participate, communicate and create in a virtual world such as Second Life(in which we can also create and actual persona 'avatar' to represent our body), we can be part of a community- A virtual community that exist only in our minds and on our screens, but a community that has been created and exists nonetheless.