JULY 17, 2009

Virtual Homelessness

I recently ran across Alice and Kev, a blog that chronicles the virtual existence of two characters in The Sims 3. Alice and Kev are a homeless father and daughter created by game design student Robin Burkinshaw. In Burkinshaw’s words:

I created two Sims, moved them in to a place made to look like an abandoned park, removed all of their remaining money, and then attempted to help them survive without taking any job promotions or easy cash routes. It’s based on the old ‘poverty challenge’ idea from The Sims 2, but it turned out to be a lot more interesting with The Sims 3’s living neighborhood features.

The results of this experiment went beyond expectations, with both characters developing fascinating habits and relationships that fuel a surprisingly poignant (and sometimes hilarious) narrative. Burkinshaw dutifully recounts their story through regular posts on the blog, which has attracted a very loyal readership and a fair amount of praise from other blogs. Alice and Kev’s popularity inspired Burkinshaw to add links to charity donations sites; many commenters have said that the story is an eye-opening experience, and that Alice’s selfless character has caused them to re-examine their own attitudes towards giving back to their communities.

The most intriguing aspect of this experiment is that Burkinshaw’s simple recounting of Alice and Kev’s story online has managed to go further than simply revealing some of the advanced game mechanics in The Sims 3.  It has actually captured the imaginations of a very diverse audience through dramatic narrative and subtle social commentary. The blog format is perfectly suited to this project, since the posts can be syndicated through RSS and readers can visit the site to comment and discuss amongst each other. Each post generally gets over 100 comments, and one of the most common remarks is how close the characters’ actions are to real life situations. As Alice and Kev’s following grows, so does its community of faithful readers.

Lately, it seems like microblogging and lifestreaming have taken over the attention of thought leaders in social media. However, Alice and Kev is a good reminder of how much impact a simple blog can have. It is a cross section of pop culture, technology, and social consciousness presented as a creative piece of work. Because of the thought and attention given to the presentation of this story, it has the potential to spread awareness about homelessness and inspire change in people’s attitudes - something that is much more difficult to do through platforms like Twitter, where it is much harder to maintain focus on a single topic.