How to get the life you really want

The Observer today says   Hundreds of thousands of people are seeking love, fortune and happiness through their 2D alter egos in Second Life, a new virtual world

American Apparel in Second Life

David Smith writes

A loft in New York City. The singer Regina Spektor is performing songs from her new album. People wander in, sit down and discuss the music. Everything seems normal. But then so did life for people in The Matrix

Like the world inside the hit Hollywood film, the loft is a 3D computer animation – but in this case it exists only on the internet. The audience is made up of virtual representations of real people.

Second Life has more than 300,000 residents

It is an internet community, where people can flirt, do business or go off and build their own virtual Las Vegas. Women make up 43 per cent of the residents, and the average age is 32.

When real is virtual and virtual is real

The premiere of X-Men 3: The Last Stand at the Cannes Film Festival was also streamed into Second Life. It is rumoured that a senior US politician – possibly Hillary Clinton – is planning to set up a campaign office within Second Life, using a virtual town hall to address young voters. There is now a virtual Camp Darfur aimed at raising awareness of the real genocide.

I can’t see George Bush with Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney setting up a campaign office in Second Life.

Maybe they would just nuke everyone that had not sent them a christmas card for the last 20 years

And finally Alayne Wartell, 42, of Harrogate, met her real-life husband in Second Life and now works full-time within it, earning a living from her virtual shoe and flower shop. I mean earning a living in a virtual world – that is where it has got too

In the beginning people got involved because they liked making things. But now it’s become very social, a place to hang out with your friends.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of second life is the exploration of identity. I can become female or male, I can explore ideologies, business dreams and evolve.

Where this takes us is not clear. But it signals a movement towards participatory democracy. It signals that virtual is real and vice versa. It demonstrates as we passionately believe that we are a “we species” It demonstrates that media is created by the people and that even the BBC have to come to Second Life, as do other major brands and businesses.

Maybe we all should get a Second Life? It could be more fun.

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Posted in: Culture, Engagement Civil Society, Engagement Marketing, Engagement Organisations, Generation C, Government & Politics, Participation, Second Life, Social Networks, Society, Trends, Virtual Worlds, Web/Tech

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