This project, led by Joshua Fouts, Project Director, and Douglas Thomas, Associate Professor in the USC Annenberg School for Communication, is an effort to better understand what role what role philanthropic organizations might play in the context of virtual worlds. As virtual worlds grow in size and scope (at present, Second Life, one of the largest virtual worlds, is host to nearly five million “residents”, who span more than 100 countries), so do the opportunities for engagement with the players who visit them, the communities they build, and the spaces they inhabit. In order to access the ways in which foundations might be integrated into virtual worlds, we ask the following three questions to help us understand the purpose of philanthropy in virtual worlds:

• How do we define “public good” in the context of virtual world?
• How do we use the capabilities of virtual worlds to further the goals of foundations?
• How do you build “real world” connections between physical and virtual spaces?

Each of these questions forms the basis for groups of projects that we believe will help define what virtual communities in these worlds look like, how foundations might build communities of interest around key topics, and how activities in virtual worlds might contribute back to communities with which they are connected. In what follows, we will expand on these basic questions to envision how we might understand, utilize, and connect virtual worlds to the goals of philanthropic organizations.

“We live in a world that is becoming more networked every day, and the internet has grown into an essential medium for communication, socialization, and creative expression. Virtual worlds like Second Life represent the future of human interaction in a globally networked world,” -Second Life: The Official Guide

Douglas Thomas
Associate Professor
USC Annenberg School for Communication

Shawna Kelly
Research Associate
USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Student Support
USC Center on Public Diplomacy