Second Life, a virtual world developed by Linden Labs, was launched in June of 2003 and has since been rapidly expanding. It has surpassed any expectations that Philip Rosedale, creator of Second Life and chairman of Linden Labs, ever imagined. Members who sign up for Second Life create avatars that can take on the form of a human, animal, vegetable, mineral, or a combination. These avatars have the ability to love, learn, work, travel, and socialize; identical to humans in reality.
From a young age, we are told to love who we are despite what others believe and not to change. Then why is it that once we’re old enough to make our own decisions, some decide to do just the opposite and create a Second Life online? I believe that any opportunities available in Second Life are also available in real life and one should not have to go online to achieve their goals. In 2006, it was announced that Second Life’s population was at 518, 524 residents and growing by 36% a month. It seems as though users of Second Life are unhappy with a certain aspect of their real life; whether it is status, occupation, love, relationships, or location, they seek an easy escape from their unfavourable situation. In January of 2007, the population of second life was at an astonishing 769, 000 residents, and on average they spent a total of 28, 274, 505 hours ‘in world’ throughout the year. That’s 28, 274, 505 hours that could have been spent in the real world improving their circumstances. From an outsider’s point of view, such as my own, I consider Second Life to be an excessive component to ones real life.
If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.” ~Mary Engelbreit
In terms of the medium being the message, without the internet, Second Life would not exist and people would not have the option of escaping their problems in a virtual world. However, there still exists Role Play clubs around the world where people gather to act out various scenes developed by their imaginations and take on an alternate personality. The internet merely allows the idea of having a ‘second life’ convenient. The existence of the virtual world Second Life promotes the idea of a global village by connecting people from all over the world and providing an account to anyone over the age of sixteen.
Most residents of second life log on to socialize with other avatars and generate an income in some way. Second life has its very own currency, the Linden Dollar, which has the exchange rate of L$309 for every US$1. There is a transaction volume of nearly L$ 2 billion a month! Linden Dollars can be spent on anything from homes to clothing however; to me it’s ironic that a game with the slogan ‘often the best things in life are free’ charges for items available in the game and for premium accounts. Another expression commonly used to promote the game is ‘a place to be different-be yourself, free yourself, free your mind, love your life.’ To me, it is unrealistic to have to create an alternate ‘you’ to be happy. Some will argue that their real lives simply cannot be changed. But “when we are no longer able to change the situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~ Victor Frankl.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life
http://secondlife.com/
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/slfacts.html
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