Editing Virtual community (section)

===Virtual worlds===
{{Main|Virtual world}}
[[File:Party in Hyrule, Second Life, picture 2.png|thumb|A party scene from ''[[Second Life]]'' set in [[Hyrule]]]]

[[Virtual world]]s are the most interactive of all virtual community forms. In this type of virtual community, people are connected by living as an [[avatar (computing)|avatar]] in a computer-based world. Users create their own avatar character (from choosing the avatar's outfits to designing the avatar's house) and control their character's life and interactions with other characters in the 3D virtual world. It is similar to a computer game; however, there is no objective for the players. A virtual world simply gives users the opportunity to build and operate a fantasy life in the virtual realm. Characters within the world can talk to one another and have almost the same interactions people would have in reality. For example, characters can socialize with one another and hold intimate relationships online.

This type of virtual community allows for people to not only hold conversations with others in real time, but also to engage and interact with others. The avatars that users create are like humans. Users can choose to make avatars like themselves, or take on an entirely different personality than them. When characters interact with other characters, they can get to know one another through text-based talking and virtual experience (such as having avatars go on a date in the virtual world). A virtual community chat room may give real-time conversations, but people can only talk to one another. In a virtual world, characters can do activities together, just like friends could do in reality. Communities in virtual worlds are most similar to real-life communities because the characters are physically in the same place, even if the users who are operating the characters are not.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hevra.haifa.ac.il/~soc/lecturers/talmud/files/547.htm|title=Virtuality and Its Discontents|last=Turkle |first=Sherry|date=11 July 2010|work=The American Prospect|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726150252/http://hevra.haifa.ac.il/~soc/lecturers/talmud/files/547.htm|archive-date=26 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Second Life]]'' is one of the most popular virtual worlds on the Internet. [[Whyville]] offers an alternative for younger audiences where safety and privacy are a concern. In Whyville, players use the virtual world's simulation aspect to experiment and learn about various phenomena.

Another use for virtual worlds has been in business communications. Benefits from virtual world technology such as photo realistic avatars and positional sound create an atmosphere for participants that provides a less fatiguing sense of presence. Enterprise controls that allow the meeting host to dictate the permissions of the attendees such as who can speak, or who can move about allow the host to control the meeting environment. [[Zoom (software)|Zoom]], is a popular platform that has grown over the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Where those who host meetings on this platform, can dictate who can or cannot speak, by muting or unmuting them, along with who is able to join. Several companies are creating business based virtual worlds including ''Second Life''. These business based worlds have stricter controls and allow functionality such as muting individual participants, desktop sharing, or access lists to provide a highly interactive and controlled virtual world to a specific business or group. Business based virtual worlds also may provide various enterprise features such as Single Sign on with third party providers, or Content Encryption.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

{{See also|Metaverse}}