Virtual Nations
Virtual worlds are computer environments in which large numbers of human beings may interact, do useful work for each others, and build enduring social connections. For example, in World of Warcraft an estimated nine million subscribers form short-term action-oriented groups and long-term guilds, employing a variety of software tools to manage division of labor, spatial distributions, activity planning, individual reputations, and channels of communication, to accomplish a variety of often complex goals. A broader system of essentially permanent allegiances, comparable to current national governments and major corporations, frames the volatile forming and dissolving of small and medium-sized cooperative groups. New social technologies have a clear potential to supplement and render more flexible the existing structures of government, but they may also represent a significantly new departure in human social organization. The chapter will describe the diversity of information technology tools used to support social cooperation in virtual worlds, and then explain how they could be adapted to mediate in new ways between government and its citizens.