are stereotypes relative to gender usage applicable to virtual worlds?

Intl. Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 28: 399–405, 2012Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1044-7318 print / 1532-7590 onlineDOI: 10.1080/10447318.2011.601973

Are Stereotypes Relative to Gender Usage Applicableto Virtual Worlds?

Gilok Choi1, Hyewon Chung2, and Yoonsook Kim1

1Pratt Institute, New York, New York2Chungham National University, Daejeon, South Korea

Common stereotypes of virtual game or community users areoften portrayed as young and socially inept male addicts. Recentstudies, however, defy many of the common prejudices about gameor community users. As an extension of recent research, this studylooks at gender differences in Virtual Worlds and finds that femaleusers are actually a driving force behind the recent success ofonline communities. The study results indicate that female usersmore actively participate in social life, information seeking, andbuilding activities in Virtual Worlds than their male counterparts.Similarly, female users have greater appreciation for the value ofVirtual Worlds, although both male and female users recognizeVirtual Worlds as a highly useful entertainment tool.

1. INTRODUCTIONVirtual Worlds is a computer-generated simulated environ-

ment in and through which users can interact with other users,create their own content, access information, and participatein a variety of entertainment activities (Castronova, 2005;Ostrander, 2008; White, 2007). Virtual Worlds has been evolv-ing as a critical means of socializing, entertaining, and creatingnew knowledge for the future (D. Johnson, 2007). Accordingly,a long list of Virtual Worlds, which includes Second Life(SL), ActiveWorlds, OnLive! Traveler, Croquest, There, andWhyville, has emerged. For the last several years VirtualWorlds, especially SL, showed a giant leap in terms of size ofuser base and users’ interests. According to SL statistics (http://secondlife.com/), in 2010 there were approximately 20 millionuniquely created accounts, and during January 2008 users spent28,274,505 hr in this pioneering new environment.

With increasing popularity of virtual communities andrelated online games, many unverified stereotypes and preju-dices have been reported relative to user characteristics. Typicalusers are often portrayed as male and young, pale from toomuch time spent indoors, and socially inept (Williams, 2003).Recent studies, however, defy many of the common stereotypesin surprising and interesting ways (Hoffman & Vance, 2007;

Address correspondence to Gilok Choi, 8 Sherman Drive, Syosset,NY 11791. E-mail: [email protected]

Yee, 2007; Williams, Yee, & Caplan, 2008). Research indicatesthat female users make up a substantial proportion of the pop-ulation in Virtual Worlds, and they are indeed a major drivingforce behind the success of multiuser virtual communities andgames (Jones, 2003).

Since the beginning of the computer era, many studies havelooked at differences between male and female users, and sig-nificant gender effects in access, motivation, and user behaviorin computer use have been described (Imhof, Vollmeyer, &Bejerlein, 2007). As an extension of previous research, thepurpose of this study is to investigate the extent to whichgender-related differences persist with regard to newly emerg-ing technology, that is, in Virtual Worlds. To that end, this studysurveyed users to determine gender differences with regard tofour aspects of user experiences in Virtual Worlds: (a) sociallife, (b) information seeking, (c) building activities, and (d)entertainment. This study focused primarily on SL, which is themost mature Virtual World platform, with high usage figurescompared with other competing platforms (Warburton, 2009).

2. BACKGROUND

2.1. User Activities in Virtual WorldsVirtual Worlds are parallel places where cultures, societies,

and economics are created, and the social relationships andderived experiences can rival those of the physical world (Yee,2006). While interacting with other avatars and environments,users in Virtual Worlds also collaborate and service each other,share information and knowledge, enjoy entertaining events andactivities, and develop their own spaces and digital properties.

Virtual Worlds also constitute social spheres where diver-sity and openness of environments and interactions amongparticipants facilitate a wide range of activities (Castronova,2005). In fact, the openness and diversity of environments is acrucial component of play and culture in Virtual Worlds (Book,2004). Intimate relationships, emotionally salient experiences,and complicated social phenomena are derived from virtuallycreated social networking and culture within those Worlds(Yee, 2006).

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In Virtual Worlds, users meet and communicate with otherpeople via digital representation called avatars that show facialexpression, gesture, and other types of nonverbal signs (Shin,2009). Avatars play a key role by providing an alternate identityand therefore freeing participants from real-world physical limi-tations such as age, gender, race, and class (Book, 2004). VirtualWorlds also transcend problems related to physical space andwide dispersion, thus offering users greater control over the timeand pace of their interactions (McKenna & Bargh, 2000).

Such characteristics of Virtual Worlds support environmentswhere users, who are actually separated by distance, canengage in social activities of learning and information seeking(Bronack, Riedl, & Tashner, 2006). For users, information seek-ing and learning in Virtual Worlds offer rich and multifacetedexperiences with diverse interactions. The potential for gainingnew knowledge in Virtual Worlds has been reported in numer-ous studies, especially relative to education (Ostrander, 2008).In particular, the multimedia capabilities of Virtual Worlds haveincreased their popularity through the dynamic inclusion ofstreaming video, audio, and web content. These technologicaladvancements present strong incentives not only for educa-tors to build rich learning and teaching activities inside VirtualWorlds (Warburton, 2009) but also for users.

Virtual Worlds are also places of creativity where users areable to fulfill their own dreams and visions by taking advantageof distinct affordances offered by providers (Malaby, 2009).In other words, users in Virtual Worlds have nearly unlim-ited abilities and freedom to shape the world around themand to generate their own content including avatars and dig-ital properties (White, 2007). Indeed, users in many VirtualWorlds have created historically meaningful cultural sites, mod-els of current worlds, futuristic environments, and many otherimaginative spaces, and these simulations have been contin-uously expanding. As an example, the Alliance Second LifeLibrary created “Renaissance Island,” where users can partic-ipate in an historical role-playing game in which users wearold-style costumes and explore Renaissance-style buildings.As related activities, museums have created virtual exhibits toshow their collections while overcoming limitations of the phys-ical world such as the fragility of objects and the costs relatedto exhibition space (Sylaiou, Karoulis, Stavropoulos, & Patias,2008).

Finally, Virtual Worlds are entertaining spaces with a widerange of play activities and events characterized by open-endedness and diversity of participants (Book, 2004). AlthoughVirtual Worlds are rooted in multiuser online games, they arenot designed for particular tasks and activities; thus, the cul-ture of play in Virtual Worlds is very different from that oftypical game environments (White, 2007). Specifically, enter-tainment in Virtual Worlds tends to be more directly influencedand inspired by real-world pop culture or consumer life, ask-ing users to explore and interact with activities and events moreas active participants rather than as passive onlookers (Book,2004). In this respect, Virtual Worlds may be viewed as a

remedy to early disempowering and noninteractive media suchas television, radio, and movies, which are centrally managedby a small number of privileged developers (Guest, 2007).

2.2. Gender Differences in Computer UseResearch on gender differences claims that male individu-

als are more interested in technology, pursue more activitieson computers, and make more intense use of new technol-ogy than their female counterparts (Milagros & Mercedes,2010). Studies throughout the 1990s reported patterns of maledominance in computer use and relatively similar evidence ofperceptual differences between male and female users (Herring,1993; Schumacher & Morahan-Martin, 2001; Selfe & Meyer,1991). In these studies, male users were represented as hav-ing more positive attitudes toward computers and significantlylower levels of computer anxiety (Bernard, Mills, & Friend,2000; Comber, Colley, Hargreaves, & Dorn, 1997; Huber &Schofield, 1998). Research findings demonstrated that maleusers perceived computers as more attractive and were confidentabout their own computer skills (Comber et al., 1997; Huber& Schofield, 1998). Male users were also found to be moresatisfied with activities and interactive processes on computers(Bernard et al., 2000).

Numerous factors such as perceptual differences, learningstyles relative to computer use, computer software use, andentry into technology fields were investigated to explain differ-ences between male and female users (Schumacher & Morahan-Martin, 2001). Giacquinta, Bauer, and Levin (1993) found thatmale individuals have a tendency to think about computers asplayful, recreational toys, whereas female users are more likelyto view computers as a tool or a means to accomplish cer-tain tasks. Those studies confirmed previous research that foundmany female users feel psychological discomfort when they usetechnology; as a result, more experience may not have had acritical impact on improving their attitudes toward computers(Colley & Comber, 2003). Similarly, Singh (2001) found thatfemale individuals use computers as a tool for communicationand specific activities, while male users are more interested inmastery of technology. The contrast between male and femaleapproaches to computer usage was also explained in terms ofmale users favoring open-ended play, whereas female users aremore likely to prefer repeated patterns they are familiar withand, therefore, where the outcome is already known (Giacquintaet al., 1993).

Recent studies, however, have found that the gender gap thatpreviously existed with regard to computer access, use of com-puters, and perceived expertise has diminished dramatically, andmore important, the gap is less common with younger genera-tions (Miller, Schweingruber, & Brandenburg, 2001; Prinsen,Volman, & Terwel, 2007). A study by Colley and Comber(2003) reported that gender differences are significantly loweramong school children. In that study, Colley and Comber did notfind any significant gender gap in the frequency and proficiency

GENDER STEREOTYPES AND VIRTUAL WORLDS 401

of computer use. According to the Pew Internet & AmericanLife Project by Fallows (2005), female users are catching upin overall use of computers, an observation attributed to thewidespread use of the Internet and its ever-increasing pres-ence in homes, schools, and workplaces (Miller et al., 2001;Schumacher & Morahan-Martin, 2001).

Particularly interesting findings were presented in studies ofonline games. Williams and his colleagues (2008) found a trendindicating that female users spend more time in playing gamesonline than male users. Young male users are often considered“hard core” players, but female players are the ones who logon more often and play more times (Williams et al., 2008).In a related study, Yee (2007) examined gender differencesrelated to motivations of online game players and identifiedthree different components of player motivations: achievement,social, and immersion. The results showed that male playersscored higher on the achievement component, whereas femaleplayers reported higher scores on the relationship or social com-ponent. The study showed that male players socialize just asmuch as female players while playing online games, but expec-tations relative to relationships formed by social activities arevery different from those of female players. In other words,both male and female players have interests in connecting andcollaborating with other people, but female players have thedesire to form long-term, meaningful relationships (Yee, 2007).The results imply that female users have a greater apprecia-tion of community, social structure, and interpersonal pleasurethat are offered by multiuser online games (Yee, 2007). In sim-ilar research findings, a study by Hoffman and Vance (2007)noted that female users value enriching their relationships withnew technology and tend to show significantly higher skill lev-els relative to communications-oriented or social tasks, such assending e-mail, chatting with instant messaging, and creating apersonal space on social networking sites.

With regard to communication in computer mediated envi-ronments, early studies proposed a so-called equalizing effect.That proposal claimed that computer-mediated communicationreduces stereotypes associated with social status or physicalappearance and therefore removes barriers to equal participa-tion and social differentiation by gender or physical handicap(Harasim, 1987). However, recent studies have found thatgender-based communication styles in face-to-face environ-ments carry over into computer mediated environments so thatthe power dynamics and biases are still present (Gay, Sturgill,& Martin, 1999).

Of interest, it is reported that gender differences continue toexist in certain areas and are especially prominent in attitudestoward computers and computer use (Colley & Comber, 2003;Mitra et al., 2001). In spite of enhanced access to computers,female users are still less positive toward and confident in theiruse of computers (Mitra et al., 2001). Although it is certainthat the advent of the World Wide Web and online communi-cation systems have encouraged more female computer users,those technologies have not played a significant role in changing

women’s attitudes toward computers (Colley & Comber, 2003).The juxtaposition of greater usage by women in opposition totheir attitudes, as explained by Brunner and Bennett (1997),is that “the feminine attitude toward technology looks rightthrough the machine to its social function” rather than focusingon the machine itself (p. 48).

In an effort to gain a clearer understanding of how womenview online games and what activities they prefer, this studyconducted online surveys among male and female VirtualWorlds users. Details of the methodology selected and findingsare described in the following sections.

3. METHODS

3.1. ParticipantsTwo hundred fifty-nine SL users volunteered for this study

with a sample that included 121 male and 138 female partici-pants, ranging in age from their 20s to 50s. Our rationale fora sample of 259 is that based on an expectation of an effectsize of .5 (medium effect size), an alpha level of .05 and aconservative power level of .95, a sample size of 88 partic-ipants in each group, or 176 total were required, based onthe formula of n = 1/alpha × power/effect size squared.This sample size has been confirmed using the power analy-sis program GPower3 (http://www.psycho.uni-duesseldorf.de/abteilungen/aap/gpower3). Participants for each gender groupwere matched in terms of age in order to keep the two groups assimilar as possible.

Data were collected from SL, specifically from Help IslandPublic (surl: 128,128,128) and London Hyde Park (surl:128,128,128). These places are among the most popular andwell-known places in SL where users are able to learn newinformation, meet live volunteers and other people, buildobjects, and buy virtual properties. However, the sampling pro-cedure did not ensure representativeness of users in SL, andtherefore it would not be appropriate to make an attempt togeneralize the findings.

3.2. ProceduresTo recruit participants, a researcher met players in SL and

asked them to take part in the survey. When players agreed toanswer the survey, each was presented with a consent form,brief summary of the research, and other survey-related instruc-tions. After participants completed the consent form, theyanswered online surveys consisting of 40 questions that cov-ered the following topics: (a) general demographic informationincluding age, gender, and computer use, and (b) experiencewith SL in terms of social life, information seeking, buildingactivities, and entertainment. The survey responses with regardto experience and satisfaction were recorded on a 7-point Likertscale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), for whichthe higher score indicated a more positive experience and highersatisfaction. Participants’ information was kept confidential by

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assigning individual identification codes with a matching codenumber on all test materials.

3.3. MeasuresThe web-based scale that the participants completed was

designed to identify four latent factors: “social life in VirtualWorlds,” “information seeking in virtual worlds,” “buildingactivity in Virtual Worlds,” and “entertainment in VirtualWorlds.” Each factor consisted of either four or five items. Thedata demonstrated satisfactory reliability for the scale (α =.881).

4. RESULTS

4.1. Explanatory Factor AnalysisPWSA (Version 18.0) was used to run explanatory factor

analysis (EFA) to determine the structural characteristics of theitems. Factors were extracted using principal component anal-ysis with Eigenvalue greater than one as a cutoff value. Forfurther interpretation, a component matrix was rotated usingVarimax with Kaiser Normalization. Based on the criteria ofEigenvalue greater than 1, four factors were extracted. Thisextracted model was then evaluated based on the followingcriteria: (a) the factor loading value of an item in the rotatedcomponent matrix should be at least 0.5 for the correspondingfactor, and (b) the value should not be greater than 0.5 for two ormore common factors. After a series of EFAs was implemented,this study eliminated eight items with loading values less than0.5 or greater than 0.5 for multiple factors. Table 1 showsthe instruments consisting of the four factors. Approximately59.95% of total variance was explained by the four factors.

4.2. Confirmatory Factor AnalysisAfter determining the factor structures for the instrument

with the EFA, this study employed confirmatory factor analy-sis (CFA) to test the goodness of fit for the model. When theinitial model was tested, the fit indices were not acceptable:χ2(129) = 374.040, p < .001, comparative fit index (CFI) =0.857, Tucker–Lewis Index = 0.830, and root mean squareerror of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.086 (0.076–0.096). Fromthe modification indices, six correlated error terms were addedwithin the same factor:

• “I can make friends in SL” with “I enjoy chatting withpeople in SL”

• “Relationships and friendships in SL help with my reallife” with “SL helps my life and improves my socialskills”

• “I enjoy creating 3D objects and environment” with “Itis useful to learn SL scripting”

• “It is useful to learn SL scripting” with “It is interestingto learn and create Machinema”

TABLE 1Rotated Component Matrix

Component

Item 1 2 3 4

1 0.5622 0.5603 0.8124 0.7625 0.5606 0.6127 0.7738 0.767

10 0.72711 0.55415 0.73116 0.75117 0.81518 0.738

9 0.77514 0.72020 0.61022 0.690

• “SL is an effective media to deliver information” with“SL provides a good research opportunity”

• “I like creating and modifying the appearance of myavatar” with “I enjoy shopping in SL”

Fit indices for this revised model showed substantialimprovement: χ2(123) = 221.506, p < .001, CFI = 0.942,TLI = 0.928, and RMSEA = 0.056 (0.044–0.067).

4.3. Independent Two Groups t TestBased on the final model just described, this study ran two

independent t tests to test significant differences between menand women. The two independent t tests revealed that femalegroups showed statistically significantly higher means acrossthe four factors.

Social life in Virtual Worlds. Social life in Virtual Worldswas measured by five questions that asked about participants’experience with group activities, making friends, benefits of vir-tual relationships relative to real life, improvements in socialskills, and chatting. Table 2 shows inventory items listed bythe social life factor, along with corresponding factor loadingsacross gender. Overall, female participants reported statisti-cally significant higher factor mean in social life by 0.653(p < .001). When each factor loading value was considered,female participants showed higher values for group activitiesthan male participants. Female participants, however, reported


TABLE 2Standardized Factor Loadings of Items for Social Life

Across Gender

Factor Loading

Subtitle Inventory Item Male Female

Group activities I actively participatein group activities

0.548 0.671

Friends making I can make friendsin SL

0.690 0.588

Benefits toreal life

Relationship andfriendship in SLhelps my real life

0.616 0.431

Social skillimprovement

SL helps my life andimproves mysocial skills

0.560 0.354

Chatting I enjoy chatting withpeople in SL

0.690 0.585

Note. SL = Second Life. Bolded values represent higher factorloadings.

lower factor loading values in making friends, earning benefitsrelative to real life, improving their social skills, and chattingthrough SL.

Information seeking in Virtual Worlds. Information seek-ing in Virtual Worlds was measured by four questions thatasked participants about learning opportunities in SL, the use-fulness of information resources, effectiveness of deliveringinformation, and research opportunities. Similar to findingswith regard to social life in Virtual Worlds, female partici-pants reported statistically significant higher factor mean scoresfor information seeking by 0.682 (p < .001). Table 3 showsan inventory of items listed by the information seeking factor,along with corresponding factor loadings across gender. Femaleparticipants reported higher factor loading values for informa-tion usefulness and research opportunities than male partici-pants. Female participants, however, showed lower factor load-ing values in learning opportunities and information deliveryeffectiveness.

Building activity in Virtual Worlds. Building activity inVirtual Worlds was measured with five questions that askedabout participants’ personal thoughts and experience in terms ofinvolvement, constructing, scripting, Machinema, and creativ-ity. Table 4 depicts inventory items listed by the building objectsfactor, along with corresponding factor loadings across gender.Female participants reported higher factor loading values forinvolvement and Machinema compared to those of male par-ticipants. However, female participants had lower factor loadingvalues in constructing digital properties and environments, eval-uating usefulness of SL scripting, and enhancing creativitythrough SL. Regarding overall mean scores for the buildingobject factor, female participants showed statistically significanthigher factor mean scores than males by 0.557 (p < .001).

TABLE 3Standardized Factor Loadings of Items for Information

Seeking Objects Across Gender

Factor Loading


Learningopportunity

SL provides a goodlearning opportunity

0.875 0.697

Usefulness ofinformation

I can find usefulinformation in SL

0.786 0.862

Effectiveness ofinformationdelivery

SL is effective mediato deliverinformation

0.763 0.755

Researchopportunity

SL provides a goodresearch opportunity

0.563 0.608


TABLE 4Standardized Factor Loadings of Items for Building Activity

Across Gender

Factor Loading


Involvement It is useful to participatein an event orconference in SL.

0.641 0.708

Constructing I enjoy creating 3Dobjects andenvironment

0.777 0.646

Scripting It is useful to learn SLscripting

0.750 0.441

Machinema It is interesting to learnand create Machinema

0.639 0.679

Creativity SL helps me enhancemy creativity

0.683 0.543


Entertainment in Virtual Worlds. Entertainment in VirtualWorlds was measured by four questions that asked about partic-ipants’ experience with avatar manipulation, shopping, explo-ration of the World, and the users’ evaluation of SL as anentertainment tool. Table 5 shows an inventory of items listed byentertainment factor, along with corresponding factor loadingsacross gender. Female participants showed higher factor load-ing values for avatar manipulation and shopping compared tothose of male participants. However, female participants hadlower factor loading values in exploring more interesting places

404 G. CHOI ET AL.

TABLE 5Standardized Factor Loadings of Items for Entertainment

in Second Life Across Gender

Factor Loading


Avatarmanipulation

I like creating andmodifying theappearance of myavatar

0.526 0.598

Shopping I enjoy shopping in SL 0.337 0.558Exploration of

the worldI am excited to explore

more interestingplaces in SL.

0.713 0.343

Entertainment SL is a goodentertainment tool

0.752 0.592


and entertainment in SL. As with other factors, female partic-ipants reported statistically significant higher factor scores forentertainment by 1.601 (p < .001).

5. DISCUSSIONThe purpose of the current study is to examine gender dif-

ferences regarding the determined four latent variables (i.e.,factors): social life, information seeking, building activity, andentertainment in Virtual Worlds. To determine the latent vari-ables among the invented survey items, this study ran an EFA.After extracting the four latent variables using EFA, the currentstudy employed a CFA to test whether the proposed four factormodel fits well with the data. The results support an accept-able fit to the data, which in turn also supports the four-factormodel. With the finalized model, this study compared factorloading values and the factor score differences between malesand females using multigroup CFA.

With regard to social life in Virtual Worlds, the study foundthat female users were more active in participating in groupactivities and making friends than their male counterparts. Thisimplies that female participants are comparatively more appre-ciative of social activities and relationships in virtual spaces,although both male and female users valued the benefits derivedfrom SL. It is probably because female users have a greatersocial orientation in their use of computing and therefore tendto interact with SL as if in a social setting (R. Johnson, Veltri,& Hornik, 2008).

Similar to social life, the topic of information seeking inVirtual Worlds showed that female participants were morelikely to take advantage of learning opportunities and usefulinformation resources in SL. Previous research pointed out thatmale participants more actively consumed online information

on a wider variety of topics and issues (e.g., Fallows, 2005).However, findings from the current study suggest that femaleparticipants had an even greater interest in information seekingand also derived greater benefits from information resources inVirtual Worlds.

As with findings relative to social life and informationseeking, female participants also showed greater interest inbuilding activity: specifically, being involved with events andconferences, constructing digital properties and environments,creating scripts and Machinema (i.e., movies), and creativityenhancement through SL. It should be noted, however, thatalthough the gender difference in building activity was sta-tistically significant, that difference was relatively marginalcompared to those of other factors investigated in the cur-rent study. It was also interesting to find that the item of“being involved with events and conferences” was groupedwith other items in the category of building activity, becausethe other items are clearly related to creating or producingactivities.

Finally, looking at entertainment in Virtual Worlds, the studyresults indicate that female participants tended to appreciate thevalue of SL. One of the interesting findings in this study wasthat participants considered avartar manipulation as an enter-tainment activity similar to shopping and the exploration ofvirtual spaces. This finding suggests that avatar manipulationand shopping are viewed as significant entertainment activitiesin Virtual Worlds, and that may be one of the critical reasonsfemale users reported higher factor mean scores.

Overall, although comparisons of factor loadings associ-ated with each item revealed various patterns of loading valuesbetween genders, the four factor scores reported that female par-ticipants scored significantly higher than male participants. Theresults indicate that, in general, female users participate moreactively and positively in social life, information seeking, build-ing activity, and entertainment in Virtual Worlds. These findingsraise serious questions about previously assumed stereotypesand prejudices relative to the gender of users of virtual com-munities and online games, namely, that most users are maleand socially inept.

One primary limitation of the current study is the samplingmethod. Volunteer participants may not be representative ofthe target population, thereby limiting the generalizability (i.e.,external validity) of the findings of the current study. Futureresearch should attempt to replicate this study with a differ-ent sample and at different times to increase generalizability offindings of the current study.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORSGilok Choi is an Assistant Professor of School of Informationand Library Science at Pratt Institute. Her research areasinclude Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Interface Design,Information Architecture and Usability.

Hyewon Chung is an Assistant Professor of Department ofEducation at Chungnam National University. Her research inter-ests are Interface Design, Human Computer Interaction, andSocial Networking.

Yoonsook Kim is a master student of School of Informationand Library Science at Pratt Institute. Her specialty is librarymedia.

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are stereotypes relative to gender usage applicable to virtual worlds?

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