Social regulation in virtual spaces

The described dissertation focuses on social regulation of user behavior within virtual social spaces. A multi-year field study of two fantasy-based game MUDs (multi-user dungeons) was conducted to gain a detailed understanding of the work involved in regulating behavior in these virtual environments. This field study examines the work and techniques employed by game administrators (immortals) to maintain social regulation over their respective game MUDs. One key feature of social regulation in such virtual spaces is the use and possible use of specialized software routines to regulate specific behaviors. Ongoing analysis of the field study data is expected to provide an understanding of how aspects of the virtual world affect the manner in which social regulation is performed. Keywords Virtual spaces, social regulation, MUDs

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Jack Muramatsu
• Keywords: CHI 2003, Human Computer Interaction, Keywords Virtual Spaces, Social Regulation, Virtual Social Spaces