Racial Bias Exists Online, Too

Here's an interesting newspaper article reporting on research conducted out of Northwestern - a PhD student project, I believe. The study investigated the role that an avatar's race can play in social-reciprocal interactions. The investigators found that avatars with light skin color, as opposed to avatars with dark skin color, are more likely to get another virtual world participant to fulfill a task. I've requested the original journal article - it's not in our library or accessible online. I'll let you know if the original study is interesting. If it is a sound study, it adds to the existing literature showing these types of biases in online environments.

"People are strange when you're a stranger..."

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/84525,researchers-find-racial-bias-in-virtual-worlds.aspx