Second life to do anything. Well.... just about.
So if you haven't heard about this new thing called second life then its OK. Neither had I until earlier this year. Second Life was launched in June 2003 and the online virtual program allows users (known as residents) to interact with others through their avatars that they create. Residents can explore the world, meet other residents, socialize, have relationships and families, participate in activities, create property and do so much more. Currently there are over 1 million active users and a few hundred thousand more that have accounts but don't use it regularly. The whole idea is that you can escape your everyday life and go to second life instead and do almost anything you want. And if your willing to pay for some stuff, you can do even more.
So because Second life is an escape from reality and your normal life, then you can create yourself to however you want to look. No-one in the program is really going to know who you are or what you look like in real life unless you tell them so you can create yourself to however you desire. Some people make their avatars look as realistic as they are in real life or others will completely change themselves to be as different as possible. This may include changing hair colour, skin colour, age, race, facial features and sometimes even gender.
Crossing over with real life.
Sometimes the program may cross over with real life. This can happen in a number of ways. Players have the option of contacting those that they interact with in the online world and always have to option to interact with each other outside of the virtual community. This can be good for some people, and in other cases can be disastrous. There have been several cases where people have had relationships on Second life, and then met up in real life and the relationships continued even though in real life they were already in a relationship (and possibly married) to someone else!
Here in part of a blog from a addicted Second life player attempting to quit explaining her addiction.
"It took over my life. Second life became my first life. I couldn't turn the game off. Virtual shopping seemed to curb my taste for real life shopping. I stopped answering my phone and it doesn't ring anymore. I rarely answered my text messages and I have friends who I haven't seen in a long time. My best friend would complain to me about me living in my virtual world and I thought she didnt know what she was talking about. She barely speaks to me anymore. I had landed myself into trouble in real life but it was nice to escape into a world where no one knew what my real life issues were. I became obsessed with making lindens, having a sexy avatar, dating others, and having everything there, including sex. I spent so many hours in the game that i didnt want to leave my house. People log in, the get jobs and lives and get wrapped up in the game. It has been 3 days since i last logged in and my friends are texting me to make sure I am OK. Its a real struggle not to go back, but I cant let it ruin my life forever. Take it from an addict. Don't let this happen to you.
"It took over my life. Second life became my first life. I couldn't turn the game off. Virtual shopping seemed to curb my taste for real life shopping. I stopped answering my phone and it doesn't ring anymore. I rarely answered my text messages and I have friends who I haven't seen in a long time. My best friend would complain to me about me living in my virtual world and I thought she didnt know what she was talking about. She barely speaks to me anymore. I had landed myself into trouble in real life but it was nice to escape into a world where no one knew what my real life issues were. I became obsessed with making lindens, having a sexy avatar, dating others, and having everything there, including sex. I spent so many hours in the game that i didnt want to leave my house. People log in, the get jobs and lives and get wrapped up in the game. It has been 3 days since i last logged in and my friends are texting me to make sure I am OK. Its a real struggle not to go back, but I cant let it ruin my life forever. Take it from an addict. Don't let this happen to you.
This was a happily married couple in the Uk with their 8 month old son. What the wife didn't realise was that husband was already married.... on second life... and soon left his real wife to go of and be married in real life to his second life bride.
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But second life can also cross over with real life in other ways too. Now, music videos and movies are being uploaded to the program to view. Lady Gaga features in some of the new arenas available on Second life, promoting her music and you can go to her concert and see her.
Second life also gives business an opportunity to make money from it. People can choose to buy products in the game but here's the catch. A lot of them require you to spend real world money. Almost anything that you can think of to be built, bought and upgrade either your avatar or properties or the virtual world can be brought for a price. People are doing this everyday and spending thousands of dollars in real life for a virtual second life on the internet. But the real question is, is it worth it?
