Second Life (SL) is the only virtual environment in which I have spent a considerable time observing how things work, traveling to countless locations, learning how to build and find things, and finally gathering the courage to interact with residents. Sometimes I spend so much time here that it gets confusing, just for a sec, what world I am in.
As a good example of an emerging virtual community, SL does two things simultaneously. It reflects real life as users try to recreate or simulate existing environments. For example – a college campus, an office building, a retail business, a famous landmark. And it serves as an incubator for vivid imagineers who now have the freedom to unleash the full range of their creativity to produce worlds that once only existed in their mind.
Anything is possible here
This virtual world is a product of computer technology which has freed us from physical boundaries and redefined freedom of expression and autonomy. As a SL resident, you’re like a super hero. You can fly. You have the power to move heavy objects. You can travel at the speed of your broadband. And you never age (unless you want to). And not even kryptonite can kill you.
You definitely have more control in SL. What you look like, what you wear (or don’t in some cases), where you travel, how you spend your time. It’s a user-created environment and you’re in charge. So very unlike real life…and maybe that’s the primary attraction. It’s the ability to start fresh, to create something (if even in pixels) that you can call your own. A virtual king in a virtual kingdom. It’s easy to see why people could immerse themselves here.
While all this fantasy is enticing, it can also be distracting. Distracting in the sense that the longer you remain in this world (of your own volition) the dividing line between real and imaginary begins to blend.
You start to believe that SL could be real, and maybe for a brief time, your imagination gets the best of you. But snap out of it……
So what’s real and what’s made up?
That’s the beauty of this place. It doesn’t really matter. As long as you don’t take it too seriously, you can enjoy the real/unreal aspects of this constantly evolving virtual environment.
Just as in real life, you find people you like meeting and places you enjoy visiting. After spending some time in Second Life, you begin to open up and talk to other residents. Most, like in real life, are helpful. Some you would like to meet. But like in real life, you’ve got to remember that all is not what it appears to be. Really, it’s virtual common sense.
