![]() I did not see any groups that classified as Bereavement, but several of the chat oriented groups might qualify as they include ‘loss’, and other difficulties. ![]() I attempted to categorized the rest under the American Self-Help Group Clearinghouse’s categories.(6) Some additional groups did not seem to fit, 31, so I left those out at this juncture. I left them out of my beginning analysis. For 142 health groups I identified, 13, or roughly 10% were such chat groups. ![]() I am unsure as to what sort of health issues these should be understood to be dealing with. Many had no firm theme and only a modest amount of members. I found a large number of seemingly simple ‘chat’ type groups within this health category. If true, and I saw it in several groups’ details, it would skew some of this data.) (Some of the group’s details suggested that at one time IMVU credits were given to people if they started a group. I looked at the “Real Life/Health” groups for my research.(5) Of the 331 groups IMVU listed in that Health subcategory, I identified 142 as being about health. The groups area is well thought out and includes an online discussion forum as well as the possibility to meet up inworld. They currently have 20 million registered users and have been around since 2004.(3) Average User age is younger, perhaps 12-17 (4) Users can generate content, and goods can be bought and sold. Users can be 13, with parent permission, or over. Indeed, the focus on developing IMVU has been on avatars and not land.(2) IMVU offers free accounts as well as paid. It is a 2.5d type space which is room based, one does not really walk around much. IMVU is an Instant Messaging Service (1) with a heavy graphical user interface. Group growth rates can also me determined with many starting around the same time, but growing at differing rates. There is a long tail effect with a few groups having large memberships, but the majority having only a few members. However, there are some differences, higher Mental Health, lower Disabilities groups and membership, that may be due to to younger demographics of IMVU. The number of groups and their membership can be broken down into categories, with similar amounts to SL and AS-HC. Many are more informal than those within Second Life, SL, or listed in the American Self-Help Group Clearinghouse, AS-HC. There are well over 100 healthcare support groups in IMUV. It allows for participation of anyone from 13 years of age and older. So, after Lively, I’ve decided to take a look at other virtual worlds besides Second Life.Ībstract: IMVU is an avatar based instant messaging environment.
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