Materialism and Cultural Value in a Virtual Economy - 275 Words

Materialism and Cultural Value in a Virtual Economy (Essay Sample) Content: Materialism and Cultural Value in a Virtual Economy In most case, we only give value on the visible and tangible good and forget about the intangible. This means that we are unable to give a good measure of what is not in our senses. A material thing is a commodity that can be seen and touched using our sensory feature. This means that we have been used to some products which we are socialized in their perspectives. We have accepted and held some values on the material goods only. A virtual economy can be described as an economy which does not involve papers or files for transactions but the whole process is carried out in the computer through programs which have been created for that purpose. The issue of materialism is first eliminated in this economy. In many cases virtual economy relies on the trustworthy and honesty of the parties involved as there is minimal control (Harris, 2001). As the globalization of the world market and economy increases at a high rate, the issue of virtual economy becomes a major topic. The number of virtual property also keep on increasing, these are resources that are controlled by power like virtual objects, avatars and users accounts. The market place for virtual goods is the internet where many companies have opened virtual market which deals with real money. Professional customer services are also offered in these virtual markets. This means the cultural values of a given society can be exchange for real money in the virtual market. (Shin, (2008). These may include games which could be played online for a charge in real money. Globalization has been the cause of virtual economy where prices can be compared, transactions gets taxed, inv...