Posted by Alden Chiu
Student at the University of Texas at Austin
Hopefully everyone has at least heard about the new and largest virtual world called Second Life.
This massive 3D world has accomplished so much since its creation on June 23, 2003.
Second Life has become a new channel or medium used by companies and organizations to communicate with a variety of different publics, it has become a playing field for cybersex, it has taken long strides in alternative education and so much more!
My question is how far is too far? It seems as if this rapid progression is blurring the lines of reality and imagination.
Just to help paint a better picture: The University of Texas at Austin has spent over $250,000 on Second Life "virtual land." Personally, that sounds a bit ridiculous to me granted that virtual land is in fact, virtually endless. Where are the lines drawn between real estate and virtual real estate?
Lets escalate: Ailin Graef was reported by Business Week and other sources as the first person to reportedly become a real-world millionaire from her virtual-world business. She has done this by buying, developing and selling virtual real estate.
As reported by Second Life, user-to-user transactions increased 54% since 2007 and were valued at approximately 361 million US dollars.
Another topic in virtual worlds is sex. Sex is all over Second Life and the extent at which people go to have it puzzles me further. Default avatars do not have genitalia, so you have to purchase it with real money. You can buy toys, costumes, gadgets and more to help fulfill virtual sexual fantasies.
There are actual brothels owned by real people - basically conducting businesses and generating real revenue.
"The sex is a sign that the virtual world is robust and thriving," said Philip Rosedale, founder and CEO of Linden Lab, the company that develops and operates Second Life.
I will leave this discussion with a question: What kind of possibilities will arise in the future in regards to virtual worlds? How will it affect us in 10 - 20 years?
Dude, Broseph Goebbels, it doesn't surprise me one bit that more and more people are turning to virtual worlds to fulfill their real-world fantasies. Following hand-in-hand with the trends of people remaining single longer, divorce rates increasing and monogamous relationships falling off the wayside, Second Life is a safe-enough-bet, and not quite real enough, to promote the dissonance or guilt that comes with truly engaging in fruitless, physical/sexual relationships. This whole thing makes perfect sense, and again I'm expecting that the number of users who engage in virtual sex is likely to increase.
ReplyDeleteLove, Peace, and Hair Grease- JErMz