Like Dwight says on The Office, Second Life is a ‘multi-user virtual environment’. Basically what that means is that Second Life is a place where many different people can interact together through the internet using a computer. There are many ways for people to interact with each other over the web but this way offers a unique way to do so. Second Life allows you to create an avatar to represent yourself in this online world. Second Life is named such because it really is like a second life, one that you live online instead of in reality. The potential to waste time in this game or ‘multi-user virtual environment’ is endless. I will right off the back allow for the idea that second life is also used as a tool for some companies to connect and communicate, but other than that it is mostly used for an escape from this life. Perhaps there are a few people in the world, who like Dwight, have such an amazing life that they could add more living to life by having a Second Life, but more likely people are on this program for other reasons.
To get the full experience of Second Life and to not judge too quickly, I signed up for a Second Life account and spent some time exploring the virtual world. There are so many aspects of Second Life that you can change and manipulate; it astounds me. You can fully customize your life, self, environment and pretty much anything else in the program. You can interact with other people in a variety of ways. There is a whole economy of Second Life that immediately comes apparent. The currency that people use on Second Life can actually be exchanged for U.S. currency. People own stores, restaurants, markets, and all kinds of other businesses. I attended a horse auction and a bunny sale. People pay actual money to buy these things. Check out the following website on Second Life’s quarterly sales:
I go into this much detail to illustrate the point that Second Life has gone so much further beyond wasting time that it is nearing the edge of wasting life. A person could get lost in this game and not even realize it. It scares me that our society partakes in things like this. What is so bad about life that people won’t live it, but choose to live in another? People are so willing and so ready to jump at the opportunity to escape this world and reality that is before us. Second Life is such a perfect example of this desire because it allows people a life that is free from all of the undesirable things that are a part of this life. However, these problems are always waiting for them as soon as they leave the computer.
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