The Mystery and Death of MediaMOO

The first chapter in the text is titled The Mystery and Death of MediaMOO by Amy Bruckman and Carol Jensen. This article is about a virtual community that thrived between the years 1993 and 1996 but was essentially extinct by 1998. The first thing I wanted to know about is what a MOO is. In the text a MOO is defined as a Multi Object Oriented environment which is a type of MUD. This did not clarify my conception of what a MOO is so I looked online for more information. The definition in the text was confirmed by Wikipedia where it was written that a ” A MOO is a type of MUD. Which is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users (players) are connected at the same time.” Although I am not sure I have a good functional knowledge I can tell it uses old technology and interaction is conducted through the Internet through text exchanges. The interesting things about this article was the fact that someone had studied a group that had come and gone and analyzed what makes people return or leave a virtual community. The findings show that
· People leave groups to form new groups with a more specific focus.
· People leave virtual groups when technology becomes outdated
· To have a thriving group you have to have a plan to recruit new members when existing members leave. It is normal for people to move through life stages and outgrow the need to be a part of a virtual community that has a specific focus.
· The leadership of the group must be rotated or the leaders lose enthusiasm over time and the group suffers.
All of these lessons learned through MediaMoo can probably be applied to any virtual or non-virtual group in my opinion.