Getting Real About Virtual Worlds: A Review

  • Authors:

  • Manish Gupta;Sung Jin;G. Lawrence Sanders;Barbara A. Sherman;Anand Simha

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Management Science and Systems, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA;Department of Management Science and Systems, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA;Department of Management Science and Systems, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA;Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY, USA;Department of Management Science and Systems, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

  • Venue:
  • International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

Virtual worlds have emerged as important socio-technical artifacts in contemporary society. They have enabled unique business models in the digital economy. This paper presents a rich account on how virtual worlds have transformed modern society and how they have been presented as having outstanding benefits and promise, with examples of successes and failures. The goal is to synthesize the research and demonstrate an accurate understanding of this novel artifact and its multi-facet consequences. In addition, and more importantly, this review proposes a research agenda for the information systems discipline and assists in identifying critical issues on virtual world technologies and strategic management practices. The objective of this study is to establish a foundation for research on virtual worlds.