The Public Diplomacy and Virtual Worlds project is a research project examining one aspect of new technology and public diplomacy: the role of video games, specifically Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), in public diplomacy.

The study explores the role of MMOGs in the following ways:

* For U.S. games, as extensions of the U.S. brand and their role in shaping how the world sees the U.S. (for non-U.S. games their role as extensions of identity, image and brand of their respective country);
* As online venues (or virtual worlds) in which people from different cultures come together and shape or form ideas about each other and their respective cultures;
* The unique role that 'localization' plays in public diplomacy (How does framing a game for a community outside the game's country of origin play a role in its impact?);
* Game Design: As public policy play tools that can be used to educate (not train) people about how different cultures work and/or function (e.g. Roleplay Kofi Annan or the President of Russia, etc.).

Why Virtual Worlds?

Virtual worlds, mainly constructed through massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), function as communication networks in three different ways:

* As one-to-many networks (developer to community). Virtual worlds, in other words, are created by a team of developers and include assumptions, values and beliefs in the structure, design, and art of the game.
* As many-to-many networks. Virtual worlds are networked communication systems, which allow for interactive chat, internal email, and private and public messaging. Communication can occur among and between any of the online participants in a multitude of configurations.
* As one-to-many networks (player to community). Virtual worlds also offer individual players increasing access to a new form of 'broadcast' from things as basic as avatar appearance and selection to the ability to create and display objects or messages in public forums or virtual space.

Each of these spaces provides us with research questions that can help us to better understand the role of virtual worlds in public diplomacy.

Early research has confirmed that within these spaces, there is a unique opportunity to create, foster and sustain intercultural dialogue and that perception of national values, ideals, and character are both reinforced and altered by the real time interactions that occur in these spaces.
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Principal Investigators

Douglas Thomas
Associate Professor
USC Annenberg School for Communication

Joshua Fouts
Executive Director
USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Source: USC Center on Public Diplomacy