wk 9: Immersive Effects: Communication and Second Life
‘Second Life’ is an on-line virtual world, an on-line community, in which any one can be anything they want to be. An ‘avatar’ of a person may not necessarily depict the characteristics in which they live in ‘real-life’ – in their ‘First Life’.
As it continues in popularity with now more than 2 million users, ‘Second Life’, for many of its participants, has given them another life, although surreal; consisting of perfection, control and anonymity. All of which seems unachievable in their real ‘First Life’.
‘Second Life’ is almost like a parallel world to ‘First Life’ according D. Toft (from Lecture 16/10/2008 “Second Life”). It is a world almost similar, but exaggerated, to reality (the outside world). It has a population consisting of various identities, cultures, backgrounds, beliefs and objectives, it has an economy (Linden dollars), it has the presence of corporate/business operations (product placement, marketing, advertising) and it encourages social building and interaction. ‘Second Life’ gives an opportunity for its users to communicate with others on-line without the disturbances, which may arise if given the same scenario in the outside life. It is also a channel for interaction between the inside and outside world.
As the world continues to become more digitalized, an increasing amount of immersive environments online are created everyday. However, the essence of communication in reality involves trust, honesty and is reliant on authentic information. Communication and social building is a major attraction for immersive online environments such as ‘Second Life’, but its characters and surroundings remain ‘false’ and simulated. Therefore, is it worth becoming so engaged in the environment if what is conquered or achieved on-line in ‘Second Life’ is not real? For entertainment purposes, ‘Second Life’ has succumbed anyone’s expectations with the countless possibilities that again are not achievable in reality. It has also become an easy conduit to unleash alter-egos. With this in mind, Marxists would add that immersive environments are “set to change our lives on the Internet and probably life in general” (Quaranta, 2007). The creation of a ‘perfect avatar’ becomes seductive that participants are enticed (at times obsessive) to choose to concentrate on their lives in ‘Second Life’ more so than their ‘First Life’. This brings the question, has society today become so fastidious, routine….boring, that many now resort to online spaces to represent themselves without the constant rejection and judgement? “Will the copy transcend the original?” (Toft)
Although ‘Second Life’ may give many of its participants an escape from reality, it remains just that – an escape- it will not replace the ‘real’ physical self. One can argue what is ‘real’ or what is ‘normal’? But, a digitalized form of oneself is not the person breathing oxygen from the air, not the person eating for energy, not the person making money to buy a computer or thinking to learn to use a computer, etc. – all of which are required to create ones avatar in the first place. Without the real ‘First Life’, there is no ‘Second Life’.
October 27th, 2008 at 5:52 am
So, essentially what you’re saying, is that no matter where you go to talk to people, they are still people, still acting like human beings. I have experienced real and authentic communication with some people I have met in Second Life; other people I have met in Second Life have been just like ‘that guy I met in a bar’ – full of stories and falsehood.
There are no body language cues visible in Second Life; most people rely on these to tell what sort of quality of information they are getting. It is possible to use other cues to tell when someone is being authentic – these often must be learned when relying on text-based interaction.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:58 am
this is exactly the post I needed to see!