Thanks for your interest in my work! A number of my papers are available in this directory, and on the world wide web. My home page is http://asb.www.media.mit.edu/people/asb. CONTENTS XII. Cyberspace is Not Disneyland: The Role of the Artist in a Networked World XI. Finding One's Own Space in Cyberspace X. The MediaMOO Project: Constructionism and Professional Community IX. MOOSE Crossing: Creating a Learning Culture VIII. Whole Learning: Three Communities Meet in Cyberspace VII. Democracy in Cyberspace VI. Serious Uses of MUDs? V. Approaches to Managing Deviant Behavior in Virtual Communities IV. Programming for Fun: MUDs as a Context for Collaborative Learning III. Gender Swapping on the Internet II. Identity Workshop: Emergent Social and Psychological Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Reality I. The Electronic Scrapbook: Towards an Intelligent Home-Video Editing System ABSTRACTS XII. CYBERSPACE IS NOT DISNEYLAND: THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST IN A NETWORKED WORLD Getty Art History Information Program. Available online as http://www.ahip.getty.edu/cyberpub/bruckman.html INTRO: Cyberspace is not Disneyland. It's not a polished, perfect place built by professional designers for the public to obediently wait on line to passively experience. It's more like a finger-painting party. Everyone is making things, there's paint everywhere, and most work only a parent would love. Here and there, works emerge that most people would agree are achievements of note. The rich variety of work reflects the diversity of participants. And everyone would agree, the creative process and the ability for self expression matter more than the product. XI. FINDING ONE'S OWN SPACE IN CYBERSPACE Technology Review, January 1996, pp. 48-54. Available online as http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena/org/t/techreview/www/articles/jan96/Bruckman.html INTRO: The week the last Internet porn scandal broke, my phone didn't stop ringing: "Are women comfortable on the Net?" "Should women use gender-neutral names on the Net?" "Are women harassed on the Net?" Reporters called from all over the country with basically the same question. I told them all: your question is ill-formed. "The Net" is not one thing. It's like asking: "Are women comfortable in bars?" That's a silly question. Which woman? Which bar?.... [A review of issues in the design of virtual communities.] X. "THE MEDIAMOO PROJECT: CONSTRUCTIONISM AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY" With Mitchel Resnick. Convergence 1:1, pp 94-109, Spring 1995. Available online as http://asb.www.media.mit.edu/people/asb/convergence.html and ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/convergence.*. ABSTRACT: MediaMOO is a text-based, networked, virtual reality environment designed to enhance professional community among media researchers. MediaMOO officially opened on January, 20th, 1993, and as of December 1994 has more than 1000 members from 29 countries. An application is required to join, and only those actively engaged in media research are admitted. Unlike many virtual environments, the world of MediaMOO is continuously being constructed and reconstructed by its members. This paper analyzes experience with the system to date, and highlights the importance of "constructionist" principles in virtual reality design. The philosophy of constructionism argues that people learn with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in constructing personally meaningful projects; learning by doing is better than learning by being told. This approach is most often applied to children's learning. We believe that not enough attention is paid to its broader applicability. We have found that letting the users build a virtual world rather than merely interact with a pre-designed world gives them an opportunity for self expression, encourages diversity, and leads to a meaningful engagement of participants and enhanced sense of community. IX. "MOOSE CROSSING: CREATING A LEARNING CULTURE." My dissertation proposal. Available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/moose-crossing-proposal.*. ABSTRACT: MOOSE Crossing is a text-based virtual world (or "MUD") designed to support the development of a "constructionist learning culture." (1) Children from a variety of geographic and cultural backgrounds will connect across the Internet to collaboratively build a virtual world. As part of this research, I am developing a new programming language (called MOOSE) and client interface (called MacMOOSE) designed to make it easier for children to create new places and objects. The virtual world, MOOSE Crossing, will be opened to 300-1000 children aged twelve and under on the Internet. Through analyzing the children's learning experiences, I will be able to explore the potential of the combination of construction and community. In what ways can community support and enhance constructionist learning? I will study the learning which takes place in this environment through two techniques. First, I will analyze the artifacts the children create and logs (recorded with informed consent) of what takes place in the virtual world. Second, I will work closely with one local group of children, and use an ethnographic methodology to explore their learning experiences. The goal of the MOOSE Crossing project is to create a new type of constructionist learning culture, and observe that culture to shed light on the power of the combination of construction and community. VIII. "WHOLE LEARING: THREE COMMUNITIES MEET IN CYBERSPACE." Available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/cwc94.*. Extended abstract of plenary address given at The Tenth Computers and Writing Conference in Columbia, Missouri, May 1994. This talk highlighted connections between research in computers and writing, constructionism, and whole language. VII. DEMOCRACY IN CYBERSPACE Outline of workshop presented at DIAC 94, in Cambridge, MA on April 23-24, 1994. Organizer and panelist: Amy Bruckman. Panelists: Pavel Curtis, Nancy Deuel. Moderator: Mitchel Resnick. VHS video tape available for $20 US; email cpsr@cpsr.org for information. Outline available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/democracy-diac94.txt. ABSTRACT: How is cyberspace to be governed? Bulletin boards systems, text-based virtual reality systems (or "MUDs"), and other services on computer networks are not merely sources of information; they are communities. Those communities are playing an increasing part in the daily lives of a broader and broader segment of the population. Are they to be controlled by the owners of the hardware and software, or by the participants? Pavel Curtis, the founder of LambdaMOO, will briefly describe the history of direct democracy on LambdaMOO. Amy Bruckman, the founder of MediaMOO, will briefly describe the history of representative democracy on MediaMOO. Nancy Deuel, one of MediaMOO's first elected councilors, will discuss her experiences as an elected official. Members of the LambdaMOO and MediaMOO communities will be invited to talk about how these experiments have affected them. VI. SERIOUS USES OF MUDS? Outline of panel presented at DIAC 94, in Cambridge, MA on April 23-24, 1994. Organizer and panelist: Amy Bruckman. Panelists: Pavel Curtis, Jon Callas, Remy Evard, David Van Buren. Moderator: Mitchel Resnick. Available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/serious-diac94.txt. ABSTRACT: Are MUDs useful for "serious" purposes? Or are they "just games"? Are people exploring the "serious" uses of MUDs pioneering the future of cyberspace, or are they having fun and calling it work? Is there a serious side to the future of cyberspace? Does cyberspace challenge us to redefine the boundaries between work and play, fantasy and reality? The panelists--who represent five "serious" MUD research projects: MediaMOO, Jupiter, Worldbenders, Infopark, and AstroVR-- will address these issues. V. APPROACHES TO MANAGING DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IN VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES Panel Discussion presented at CHI 94 in Boston, MA, April 1994. Organizer and panelist: Amy Bruckman. Panelists: Pavel Curtis, Cliff Figallo. Moderator: Brenda Laurel. Proceedings of CHI, 1994 (Boston, MA, April 24-April 27, 1994). New York: Association for Computing Machinery, 1994. Available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/deviance-chi94.*. ABSTRACT: It is an unfortunate fact of life that where there are multi-user computer systems, there will be antisocial behavior. On bulletin board systems (BBSs), there are those who persist in being obscene, harassing, and libelous. In virtual worlds such as MUDs, there are problems of theft, vandalism, and virtual rape. Behavior is "deviant" if it is not in accordance with community standards. How are such standards developed? Should standards be established by system administrators and accepted as a condition of participation, or should they be developed by community members? Once a particular person's behavior is deemed unacceptable, what steps should be taken? Should such steps be taken by individuals, such as "filters" or "kill" files on BBSs, and "gagging" or "ignoring" on MUDs? Or should the administrators take action, banning an individual from the system or censoring their postings? What is the appropriate balance between centralized and decentralized solutions? Gags and filters are computational solutions to deviant behavior. Are there appropriate social solutions? How effective are approaches like feedback from peers, community forums, and heart-to-heart chats with sympathetic system administrators? Are different approaches effective with communities of different sizes? What is the appropriate balance between social and technological solutions? IV. PROGRAMMING FOR FUN: MUDS AS A CONTEXT FOR COLLABORATIVE LEARNING. Presented at the National Educational Computing Conference in Boston, MA, June 1994. Available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/necc94.*. ABSTRACT: In text-based virtual reality environments on the Internet called "MUDs," participants meet people from all over the world. They can not only explore the virtual world, but extend it, creating new objects and places. MUDs are Constructionist environments in which people build personally meaningful artifacts. But unlike many Constructionist environments, MUDs place special emphasis on collaboration, encouraging construction within a social setting. This paper presents a case study of the experiences of a 43-year-old building contractor named Jim. It is one of an ongoing series of interviews I have conducted with people who learned to program for the first time in a MUD called MediaMOO. Salient features of their learning experiences include ease of collaboration, availability of technical assistance from peers, playfulness, availability of an audience for completed work, and community spirit. The success of MUDs as a learning environment for adults points to its potential as a learning environment for children. III. GENDER SWAPPING ON THE INTERNET Proceedings of INET '93. Reston, VA: The Internet Society, 1993. Available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/gender-swapping.*. Presented at The Internet Society (INET '93) in San Fransisco, California in August, 1993. ABSTRACT: In text-based virtual reality environments on the Internet called MUDs, it is possible to pretend to be the opposite gender. In these virtual worlds, the way gender structures basic human interaction is often noticed and reflected upon. This paper introduces MUDs, and then presents a community discussion about gender issues that MUDs inspired. Gender swapping is one example of ways in which network technology can impact not just work practice but also culture and values. II. IDENTITY WORKSHOP: EMERGENT SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA IN TEXT-BASED VIRTUAL REALITY Unpublished. Available online as ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/identity-workshop.*. ABSTRACT: This survey paper introduces the different kinds of MUDs, and social phenomena typical of each kind. It introduces issues of representations of self and how MUDs form a kind of "identity workshop." Introduces the notion of MUDs as an evocative medium--by being between reality and unreality, MUDs often encourage people to reflect on the nature of reality. Introduces gender issues that arise in MUDs, and explores the topic of MUD addiction. April 1992. I. THE ELECTRONIC SCRAPBOOK: TOWARDS AN INTELLIGENT HOME-VIDEO EDITING SYSTEM My Master's thesis (MIT Media Lab, September 1991). Available online in thirteen postscript files, "es0.ps" through "es12.ps", ftp://media.mit.edu/pub/asb/papers/electronic-scrapbook/*. ABSTRACT: How many people's home videos remain unedited and unwatched? Home video is a growing cultural phenomenon; however, few consumers have the time, equipment, and skills needed to edit their work. The Electronic Scrapbook is an environment designed to encourage people to use home video as a creative medium. The system and the user collaborate to create home-video stories. This work addresses issues of knowledge representation and interface design. Semantic knowledge representation is evaluated as a way to represent information about complex, temporal media. A modified form of case-based reasoning, "knowledge-based templates," is used to explore what a computational model of a home-video story might be. September 1991. DOCUMENT FORMATS FOR FTP FILES Files with a .ps extension are postscript, and should be sent to a postscript printer. Files with a .rtf extension are Microsoft's "rich text format" and should be opened in any product made by Microsoft. Files with a .txt extension are plain text and immediately readable, but lack illustrations and proper formating. I recommend getting a formatted version if you can. The paper "identity workshop" is too heavily formatted to make a plain text version. If you send a self-addressed envelope, then I will send you a paper copy. Send an envelope big enough for a 23-page document (46 pages double-sided). I'll supply the postage. My master's thesis "The Electronic Scrapbook" is also available only in postscript form. Send an envelope big enough for a 45-page document (90 pages double-sided). I'll supply the postage. My address is: Amy Bruckman MIT Media Lab E15-320a 20 Ames St. Cambridge, MA 02139 Enjoy! Comments are welcome via electronic mail. My address is asb@media.mit.edu -- Amy Bruckman