The ethnographic study of the use of technology and computing will play an increasingly important role in our culture, as we continue to make advancements in technology and to integrate it more into our daily lives. At present, the trend is toward development of virtual realities that more closely simulate real life situations, through the inclusion of graphics and three dimensions. This trend represents a new frontier in technology and in the way humans interact. At this point anthropologists will continue to make valuable contributions to the study and understanding of how new technologies are being integrated into our culture. This will follow and complement work done by organizations such as Xerox PARC (1999) with its Work Practice Studies, and the Institute for Human-Machine Interaction (1999) with its studies in such areas as Gesture and Facial Expression Recognition and Adaptive Human-Machine-Interaction. This type of research may also assist designers and developers of future online communities, as they gain better understanding of how they are being used, by whom, and with what kinds of expectations.
It has also been valuable to look at cultural formation in this new, technological frontier in the light of literature and accounts of the frontier of the American West in history. In both cases, a mythology and ideal culture have arisen, among participants and observers, enthusiasts and critics. By incorporating a study of frontier mythology and literature along with personal and historical accounts, I have shown how these ideals may have deviated from the real, or actual cultures.
Is Cyberspace a frontier? In the original meaning of the word, as "a place occupied by fewer than two people per square mile" (Limerick, 1994: 67), probably not. In most areas of the United States, Internet usage has grown at a rapid rate, such that far more than two people per square mile are involved in some manner or another. In addition, participation in virtual worlds poses no threat to life, health, or safety. There are no harsh winters, no wars with indigenous people, no lack of food or other material resources. However, in the newer definition of the word as put forth by Patricia Nelson Limerick (ibid), "new and relatively unexplored, on the edge of exciting possibilities", virtual worlds like the ones explored in this thesis most definitely are frontiers. They present possibilities for entire new ways of communicating, interacting, doing business, and maintaining relationships.
To some extent, "frontier" has become a conceptual metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) for new technologies, in this case Internet technologies and especially virtual worlds. This is illustrated in many ways in our daily life and the way we refer to Cyberspace and Internet activity. Just the other day my manager was talking to me about how some of our newer, web-based business applications have become critical, and can no longer be treated with a "cowboy" mentality. This statement alluded to the fact that even this frontier is beginning to vanish and become more "civilized" and managed!
At the same time, I would argue that a virtual world is more than simply a metaphorical "frontier". The human interactions, development of standards of acceptable behavior, enforcement of norms and social control, all mirror to a great extent what happened in other frontiers of the last century. Rather than this being simply a metaphor, I would contend that virtual reality IS a frontier. A different kind from the Turnerian frontier in geography and many circumstances, to be sure, but not so different in spirit. If Turner's statement that "the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advancement of the American settlement westward, explained American development" (Turner, 1893: 1) is correct, then it makes sense that our past has followed us into this century and has had its influence over American culture and behavior today. The frontier concept and mentality prevalent in American history help us to contextualize the virtual environments we encounter in Cyberspace, that, according to my findings as illustrated, seem to follow a similar course.
In fact, the three worlds I explored represent different stages in the life of a frontier. The Palace, with its initial attitude of "do with it what they will", seems to be closer to the earlier stages, when explorers went into the West to seek adventure and to be independent. AlphaWorld, with its emphasis on building and free land, finds its parallel in the pioneers who took advantage of the Homestead Act to acquire and develop property. And WorldsAway, who deliberately built the Dreamscape technology around social interaction, and was the only world of these three to have official guidelines for behavior, seems to parallel the "settlers" of the frontier, and those who sought to tame the Wild West.
Richard White wrote "the story of the West ended with progress killing its parents." (White, 1994: 47) He talks also about the fact that "the cowboy became an American symbol in the very era that announced the end of the West and the closing of the frontier that had created him." (ibid) It may be an interesting test of time to see how, and in what ways, cyberspace will become a victim of its own progression as well!
In general, the extension of ethnographic research into online communities offers a wonderful opportunity for anthropologists to study and learn from an entirely new type of culture, as it forms, develops, and matures. In contrast to traditional anthropological research, which tends to focus on cultures and communities that are older, threatened, or even disappearing, most online virtual communities are still in their infancy. This is a great chance to gain insight into the beginnings, rather than the endings, of a community and a type of human interaction.
Because of the context and background that I have set in American history and mythology, this research has been very focused on the United States. In fact, only one of my informants was from outside this country. It might be worthwhile for a future project to concentrate on non-American, or even more specifically, non-Western citizens of virtual worlds, in order to see if the same general themes and principles hold. For instance, in addition to the many references we have seen to the "cyberspace frontier", there are also many references to "Cyberia" (Cyberia CafÚ 1999, Cyberia Information Development 1999, Cyberia Web Design 1999), paralleling Siberia (the Russian frontier). Would the same concepts explored here be true with Russian informants?
Additional research also needs to be done in the area of political economy of the Internet and communications technology in general. The information in Appendix B of this thesis shows approximately how many people are currently online, based upon their income level, education, race, and geographical location. As Don Tapscott put it, The most widely feared prediction surrounding the digital revolution is that it will splinter society into a race of information haves and have-nots, knowers and know-nots, doers and do-nots - a digital divide. This revolution holds the promise of improving the lives of citizens but also the threat of further dividing us. (Tapscott, 1998: 255) Will this inequality of access lead to the ever-widening gap of a two-tiered world? How might this affect people who are growing up now, without access to computer and the Internet? And what preemptive steps may be taken now, at this crucial time, to attempt to rectify the situation?
In addition, questions arise around what myths, if any, are present in Cyberspace that might parallel the Frontier myths explored here. Who are the "Daniel Boones" and "Kit Carsons" of Cyberspace? Certainly people like Bill Gates (Microsoft 1999) and Larry Ellison (Oracle 1999) have taken advantage of their legendary status in order to become "larger than life" symbols of their respective companies. And what might be the elements of our present culture that contribute to the creation of Cyberspace myth? How does the media contribute to both positive and negative impressions of the Internet and Cyberspace culture within our society? And how might various Utopian and Distopian viewpoints be played out and contribute to our concept of Cyberspace as a location and destination? Additional research into these questions could help to further our understanding of how our society views itself and our changing conditions.
Writers have begun to explore the parallels between the Internet and advancements in communication technology from past eras. Some good examples are Tom Standage (1998) and Wade Rowland (1997), who discuss how the telegraph and other electronic communications systems revolutionized world-wide communications and changed the very fabric of society. It might also be worthwhile to look at other types of inventions, and how they have affected the culture and society of their day. One example I saw in my research was that of the steamboat. Considered one of the most important and revolutionary inventions of its time, the steamboat made it possible to carry on internal transportation and trading to a degree that had previously not been heard of. Steam power also hastened the transition from subsistence to commercial farming, and the eventual demise of the American yeoman farmer (Smith, 1980: 156-159). Yet the people of the day failed to understand the enormous impact that this invention would ultimately have, and the incredible changes it would bring on American culture. A deeper understanding of the effect of past inventions and shifts in paradigm due to technological advance could possibly help us to predict the eventual impact of the Internet and Cyberspace in general.
In addition, I would like to see more thought given to how this technology could be used for more practical, "real world" applications. As we increasingly live and work on a global level, the need grows for better ways to communicate across space and time. Virtual worlds like those described here have much to contribute in areas such as distance learning, meetings, training, and general support activities. One good example is Fore Systems, who developed a graphical chat application on their Intranet using the technology of The Palace (Murphy, 1998). This application is used to answer questions about product information for members of Fore's sales and support staff.
Real life forms of human interaction have their rules and their norms. We are all expected to behave according to the social context that we are in. These rules and norms are also enforced in real life, in ways both formal and informal, both implicit and explicit. In a new and unfamiliar territory, however, these structures may need to be dismantled and reinvented, as people struggle to make sense of their surroundings, and of each other. This thesis has shown how this process takes place in today's frontier of graphical virtual reality environments, using the real and the imaginative American frontier of the nineteenth century as historical context.
In examining the parallels between these two frontiers, we have seen the disparity between the harsh realities of nineteenth century life and the self-consciousness and self-fulfillment of life in today's cyberspace communities. However, we have also seen that the mentality and motivations of people in both frontiers is, in many cases, quite similar. People attempt to transfer norms of behavior from their more familiar worlds, and there is a preference for social control to be carried out informally when possible. There is a strong drive for individual rights, for personal property, and for the freedom to reinvent ones' self as desired in both frontiers. The dynamics of power, consensus, and dealing with deviance work in ways that are very much alike.
Therefore, it appears that the concept of "frontier" is more than simply a metaphor in this case. I would contend that the frontier is actually a developmental phase in the history of any culture, whether physical or virtual. The systems of social behavior that are created in a frontier situation stem from a need among the participants for a common set of cultural understandings in which to define both themselves and their actions. As we learn about this cultural response to transition and liminality, we gain insight into human nature, our heritage, and what the future is likely to bring.