Experiencing a virtual world is no less a real human experience than acting in a play or participating in any other mediated human transaction.

Can virtual worlds (second life) become true communities? Virtual worlds have the potential to become highly functioning institutions, but since they are not set up to deal with the human reality of the body (indeed, they are adept at obscuring this reality) they cannot go beyond the status of institutions. Another kind of institution that limits its own capacity to be a true community is the university, which is not set up to deal with, and in many ways obscures, the human reality of the family and reproduction.

How can a virtual world create a sense of place by way of the presence of people? Virtual worlds create a sense of place for individuals to the degree that those individuals are able to feel a sense...
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