As disturbing as Second Life initially appears, it has the potential to do wonders for the trades and businesses of the real world. I’m finding that it can be as real as one allows or it can be kept at a healthy distance. Based upon my minimal understanding of the site, I perceive it as almost a trial run for various entrepreneurial ideas. This can be extended to any novel endeavors people may wish to attempt. For example, an average Joe aspires to become a teacher. Having a lack of confidence in his tangible abilities, he tests the educational waters in his Second Life with great success, and later applies his experience to the real world. While this is more an example of personal advancement than business success, one could also test a new business idea in a Second Life situation. Second Life offers the opportunity to create anything, literally. Shopping is highly encouraged and rapidly executed with millions of Lindan dollars (official currency of Second Life) exchanged in 2007. I would be interested to see the results of a tested business idea from a grover Business Plan Competition participant.

While Second Life does provide a trial-run frontier for business idea, it can also skip the practice and go straight to the real deal. Second Life claims that some of its users make all of the real world income from the site. I’m still unsure as to how exactly this is done. However, a different approach to the realities of Second Life has been taken by several religious organizations. For example, church’s have taken the initiative to open virtual meeting places within Second Life. In early 2007, LifeChurch.tv, a Christian church headquarterred in Edmond, Oklahoma, and with 11 real world campuses in the USA, created “Experience Island” and opened its 12th campus in Second Life. The church has claimed success thus far with its members experiencing, ” a less-threatening environment where people are much more willing to explore and discuss spiritual things.” This very real, spiritual approach to Second Life gives it Life a whole new spin against the imaginary business world discussed above.

While Second Life seems to have a eary and onimous perception, could it bridge the lotfy gap between fiction and reality for struggling entrepreneurs and even missionaries?

Since Kiva is a non-profit organization, their focus is obviously self-sustainability. Kiva sends 100% of the loan to the Field Partner, so how are they able to sufficiently support themselves? According to Kiva’s website, they support themselves principally on “optional fees” their lenders voluntarily pay in addition to loans they make. However, as the company grows, will this method continue to to prosper? Kiva does have future plans to consider the possibility of partnership fees. Kiva also hopes to one day offer interest to individual lenders. Due to government regulations, the complexity of this process makes it infeasible. Kiva’s Field Partners also charges interest to the entrepreneur in order to maintain self-sustainability. However, these funds do not go to the individual lender. Even if their future profit plans come to fruition, at what point would the extra income detract from Kiva’s primary goal of fighting poverty? The difference between profit and greed must be clearly defined. 

Could Ebay be the best scam of this century? It is a place to sell junk, if that’s what we’re going to call it. The more ebay sellers get away with selling ridiculous items, the more creative such items get. Ebay basically started as an online flea market. While it still serves that primary purpose, the crazy side of Ebay has now escalated to a place where people can get away with selling an invisible engagement ring, a snowball from Texas, or advertising space on a human body. Not only do people get away with it, but they actually make an incredible profit. The world’s largest light-brite sold for something like $367,000. Who would pay ever that? Either the seller has unsurmountable brilliance, or the buyer has uncomparable stupidity. Scam or not? There has been complaints about the ethicality of such crazy Ebay auctions, but the seller can’t control the winning bid even if the auction itself may appear to take advantage of those buyers who hate their money so much. So more power to these sellers for cashing in on the vulnerability of unstable buyer minds that Ebay places at our fingertips.