Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
environments, where communication is enabled, but also feature an internal
geography where participants may move around, and where they may add and
drop characteristics, and also take certain actions, like nodding, waving and
hugging. There can be a scoring system that rewards certain actions, which
count when the MUD is used as a game, and many of the earlier MUDs were
game sites. They have also developed as educational and social environments,
and are used as common discussion areas, albeit often with assumed characters
(Cherny, 1999). Users can connect to MUDs with a Telnet terminal application,
but will be limited to a purely text-based interface. There are also MUD clients
which are designed to enhance the interface to the site. There have been several
social studies of MUD sites, typically focusing on the style of communication
between users (e.g. Cherney, 1999; Herring, 1996). The increased computational
and network power available now means that MUDs are increasingly making
way for more visually oriented virtual reality environments, such as the internet
game sites which will be described briefly in a later chapter.
Forums
Forums are not precisely instant communication sites, but can be used in sim-
ilar ways. Forums are typically accessed with a web browser, and are sites
where any kind of discussion and information insemination can take place.
Being web-based, they usually require an explicit page refresh by the user, or
perhaps on automatic refresh every 30 seconds, so the interaction is not imme-
diate, but can still be satisfactory. Specialized applets written in Java or Adobe
Flash can make the experience more immediate as well. Many of the social net-
works also have chat-like facilities. For instance in
Facebook
, joining a group
allows you to post messages on a list, which become immediately visible to
other logged-in users in the group. And similarly with many blogs (described
later), the response section can serve as a kind of chat area.
As with any research method, there are unique benefits and weaknesses. A
synchronous discussion with research participants, while providing a more
interactive and natural feeling discussion, also brings a number of technical
challenges. There is a need to select an appropriate application and ensure
that it has the necessary functions, such as being able to create a private chan-
nel and to log the discussion. In addition, both support services for the
researcher as well as support for participants need to be factored into research
planning. Similarly, there may be installation challenges for participants as
well as limitations from their location of participation. Finally, a synchronous
discussion needs to be arranged and scheduled, so everyone is available at
the same time (which, incidentally, may limit who can participate due to
time zones, etc.). So while chat provides good opportunities, it should not be
pursued unadvisedly.
