Swimming with mermaids: Communication and social density in the Second Life merfolk community

作者：

Highlights：

• The merfolk community of Second Life is made of ultra-specialized avatars.

• In order not to become isolated, merfolks of Second Life have developed strategies to keep social bonds.

• The merfolk community is a good model to study internal communication processes in virtual communities.

• Redundancy of information and optimal communication strategies reinforce social density in virtual communities.

摘要

•The merfolk community of Second Life is made of ultra-specialized avatars.•In order not to become isolated, merfolks of Second Life have developed strategies to keep social bonds.•The merfolk community is a good model to study internal communication processes in virtual communities.•Redundancy of information and optimal communication strategies reinforce social density in virtual communities.

论文关键词：Avatar,Computer-mediated communication,Merfolk,Social density,Social interactions,Virtual communities

论文评审过程：Available online 18 February 2015.

论文官网地址：https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.004