Second Life, Second Body: Microethnographic Analysis of Nonverbal Communication in the Virtual Environment

Thursday, 3 May 2007, 08:30 to 09:30

Location: 100 Murphy Hall [map]

May’s breakfast meeting features:

Second Life, Second Body: Microethnographic Analysis of Nonverbal Communication in the Virtual Environment by Smiljana Antonijevic, PhD student, Rhetoric

Antonijevic will present results from a six-month long ethnographic research study of nonverbal communication in Second Life, a multi-user 3D virtual environment. Conducted in 108 Second Life locations from a virtual Capitol Hill, beaches, art galleries to strip bars and bondage clubs, she analyzed both textual and nonverbal discourse. The results reveal a significant difference between user-defined and predefined nonverbal communication in computer-mediated communication.

Smiljana Antonijevic is completing the Ph.D. in Rhetoric at the University of Minnesota, specializing in Internet studies. Her research focuses on social aspects of information and communication technologies, virtual ethnography, and nonverbal communication in virtual environments. She is a co-editor of Into the Blogosphere: Rhetoric, Community, and Culture of Weblogs; she has published several book chapters and peer-reviewed articles in the field of Internet studies.

Registration Information

This event is free and open to the public.

Go to: Upcoming Events | Past Events