Second Life: The Future of the Internet?
Jenna Kelly
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Commentary
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Think of Second World as a combination of a chat room, The Sims and an online shopping site. Avatars can socialize in unprecedented levels in Second Life because not only can you chat in the typical sense; but you also experience an element of physical interactions through the avatars. One man earns sixty-thousand dollars a year because he invented a program that allows avatars to cuddle.
In 2003 Linden Research, Inc. or Linden Lab as it is popularly referred to, developed Second Life. They introduced, in a single program, what some have called the new frontier of the internet. Websites are not just going to be two-dimensional pages, but interactive forums for people to communicate all over the world. Not only can residents of Second Life chat traditionally by typing, but they can even use a headset and communicate using voice technology. To date, nearly thirteen million people have joined.
At this point we have covered how residents can utilize Second Life socially, but how does it relate to The Sims and our wallets? To best describe the connection to the Sims, I will tell of a Second Life event that a professor of mine told our class. A man began seeing another avatar in Second Life and married it. His real-life wife divorced him.
Much like how The Sims has houses and locations that players can venture to, Second Life has countless locations and events that avatars can teleport to. Examples include Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, the beach, the "Red Light District" and various speakers and events. So in Second Life you can take a new friend (avatar) and meet in any one of the thousands of locations - maybe this is how the married man became so close with the other woman…or man…or furry, actually. Instead of being a human of either sex, a new resident can choose to be an animal as its avatar.
On top of all of this, Second Life has the economy of a small country. The "Linden" dollar (L$) has an actual exchange rate of about two hundred sixty six linden dollars to the dollar. People have made millions and six people have made billions of dollars from developing "land" on Second Life. Unlike The Sims where you can use a shortcut key to get inundated with money and build a swanky house, in Second Life you have to whip out a credit card. To go to a virtual bar in Second Life you have to actually spend money on a drink that you cannot even consume!
I was very quick to point out how strange Second Life seems. I maintained that you cant live through a computer program. How could someone consider it to be an extension of reality? Or even as a venue to create a new identity?
But, with all of that said, I think I may have prematurely cast judgement for two reasons. First, maybe I am just not as technologically forward as other people. I am content with email and Facebook, but maybe those are not enough for others. Who am I to hold technology back? Second, I am sure there are cases where Second Life has opened doors for some people. The same professor who introduced me to Second Life told stories of paraplegics who walked on a beach in Second Life because they couldn't in real life and of a mother who experienced through a simulation what it was like to be a schizophrenic because her son was one.
It is hard to conceptualize an online world that can replace reality, but perhaps for some it can provide a needed escape. If Second Life is the "new frontier," then I need to catch up.
Kelly is Commentary editor and a Government sophomore.
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