Ok, I have to admit that when I first read the topic of this week, I thought, hmmm, second life, what is second life?? The readings shock me a little bit. I had no idea the whole real, 3D, animated virtual world existed. I researched some more you tube videos and was surprised even more.
The whole idea of imagining and building anything you want seems to be great. As an individual, I can set up what I look like (not that I am not satisfied with my looks), and I can experiment in a some-real world like environments any thing I want. I can also setup places and designs and would only be limited by my imagination. I can even meet more people online to build my social network! What I wonder is why would I want to do that? I understand that some stores like Apple and Adidas would use it to get to the mass that is on second life, as a marketing tool but it would be interesting to see if there's a way to track the actual benefits these companies are having from using second life.
While writing this blog I read Carolyn's post, and thought well, I don't think I will be using it or sigining up for it. I mean what is the advantage of using second life? Is it something I really want to sink in? Instead of going virutally and wasting my time with this, can I be doing something more productive. The topic suddenly brought back the discussion from least week whether the internet is making us dump? I was so against the idea, but now I am not too sure. Are people running away from reality into a virtual world and is this going to affect the way people interact on a regular basis?
I guess as with anything new, only time will tell. What do you think?
Image from http://nanobugle.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/second_life-nanobugle.jpg
I agree, I find the concept weird and foreign to me. This could be because I haven't really experimented with it or perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I'm happy with my reality and I really enjoy interacting with people face to face. There are only 24 hrs. in a day of which I spend most hours both at work and school. I want to spend the few free hours I have with friends and family, not in a virtual world where I can purchase butterfly wings and fly. However, this doesn't mean that Second Life can't be appealing to other people, in fact, it makes sense that so many people enjoy this medium being that there is so much diversity in the world.
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