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Thursday, January 03, 2013

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Eddi Haskell

The obviously have not checked out the gay scene in Second Life. Head on over to Spurt Beach and you can see lots of male flesh available for public view.

Roslin Petion

Well said, Iris. In my opinion, the results of the study aren't very newsworthy. I do find it fascinating that this was considered an appropriate subject academic study though. There doesn't seem to be any merit in the subject and even less in his theories to explain the results. It boggles my mind that it was conducted by a professor when I'm pretty sure it's not even thesis worthy subject matter.

Jo yardley

Well it is surprising to me, but not news.
And yes, to me those outfits are scandalous.
I never understood why so many women run around half naked in SL, but I don't understand why they do in RL either.
But that is just me living in the wrong century.

ii singh

yawn

WhiteStar Magic

I wonder if the ABC news people or Matthieu Guitton ever looked at the other research papers which indicate what percentage of female avatar's are in actual fact not female. In reality, at least 70% of the "females" that 'flash skin' are not as advertised. There is also a certain percentage of Male avatars which are not in actual fact male....

In either case.. it's just avatar's, not real individual's showing off their goods. Likely the best for all people and their eyesight.

Iris Ophelia

@WhiteStar They do refer to research done in the past that revealed approx. 25% of female avatars are operated by men.

Metacam Oh

You guys must have missed this, the real desperate housewives of beaver ridge (SL Machinima) http://youtu.be/9J-Q5vxT4QM

Iggy

Dr. Guitton needs to get out more. This academic does, by RPing in a combat/pirate setting with a (male) ALT, and the "findings" cited should surprise no one who has ventured beyond academic settings.

Y'all reckon it was a slow news day at ABC?

Nalates Urriah

ABC reports are the people many rely on for political news too. Ever wonder how good a job they do of that?

and Anthropomorphic Global Warning...

the environment...

any issue...

elizabeth (16)

iris wrote: "There's no strapless top equivalent for men"

yes there is. but is not pretty bc they mostly only wear at about 2am on the weekends. after they forget how to put their arms thru the holes and they just come out the same way as their head

is prettier tho than a crop top for men i think. mostly bc men who wear crop tops been drinking lots of beer for about 20 years

(:

Sandy Sandalwood

Everybody is taking the ABC piece too seriously. They have used Guitton's trashy research as a weak kickoff point for a scandalous, sensational report to titillate their audience. That's what television does today. It's not serious. It's just fluff on TV.

Ciaran Laval

If I could find Dr Guitton's paper it may present a bit more context, but some reports have presented this with the context of the shape of the avatar, that skin exposure for female avatars is not dependent upon shape of said avatar.

I'm still not sure what they're trying to prove here with this research but there's more to it than the ABC report suggests.

Dr Guitton is very much aware of virtual worlds though, it's unfair to suggest otherwise and he takes a look at Second Life regularly.

Ciaran Laval

Found the proper survey results:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0051921

There's a lot more to this than the ABC report suggests.

Adromaw

A refreshing article, Iris, and It’s a pity to see that preconceived notions are still a regular tactic used against vulnerable generations. It must have a specific target audience in mind, like the poor soul that came to me warning me of the (hoax) postcard email virus—that was attacking a brand name more than anything.

It's exactly the kind of thing that would be absorbed and provide an instant reaction of belief. Just like the one about all internet users and chat people being balding old dudes. Though growing up through my own generation it was mostly theirs that was just about the only demographic not using the net—in some fashion (and only just started recently).

Now that I think about it, that's likely where it started in the first place, but hopefully it'll die off soon (the notion).

I hope we don't have to wait out a whole lifetime for that kind of twisted reporting to die off, though.

Connie Arida

Slow News Day :)

Pussycat Catnap

"Well riddle me this, Batman: When was the last time you saw an actor walk the red carpet in a sheer gauzy tux? Or maybe even without a shirt, so his jacket reveals a deep-V of his bare chest?"

Why am I hearing the Bee Gees sing Staying Alive and seeing John Travolta in my head right now?

Oh that's right... cause that's the last time that look was cool for men...

Yeah...

I can say it till I'm blue in the face and people still won't hear me: The world sees anything with 3D cartoons as being for kids. And when it fails to live to that norm, finds nothing but scandal. Even in the banal, mundane, and achingly normal...

If ABC ran a story that said "Shocking news: women wear skirts above the ankles in NYC, the sluts, burn them all!"
- I think everyone would call that out for the crazy it was...

But wearing the same thing in a cartoon... well, that's also not noticed. But as soon as that cartoon might have some kid unsafe content... anything in it is fair game to be skewed into 16th century scandal...

Arabella Jones

I don't show bare skin in SL.

It's all covered with fur.

Draxtor

Great post Iris! Never fails to utterly depress me how mainstream news is stooping to new lows by combining regurgitated material with superficial "reporting". Not sure if they are trying to beat bloggers at the speed game to prove they are still relevant or if US commercial media has been like this since cable arrived? I am no expert and also I am a foreigner you know....anywho: I read The Nation weekly and listen to OnTheMedia - that soothes the soul & I highly recommend it. In re avatar identity: my reporter wife did a story years ago examining why SL avatars prefer Barbie and Ken looks. Short and hype-era SL albeit still relevant IMO - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOWsm0AabJA

Pussycat Catnap

Outside of NPR, this is about the typical quality level of ALL us media...

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