Second life. What is this? The first time I heard of this Second Life, that was my initial reaction. Actually, the first time I heard of it was on a television show in which the shows sort of nerdy and quirky character was talking about his second life character. I didnt believe it at first, but after checking out the site myself and doing a little research, I realized it really was a legitimate site in which users were actively participating on a daily basis. My first reaction after reviewing what second life was all about, was that it was the most ridiculous and crazy idea I had ever seen online and to be honest, I felt pity for the people that used it and put money into. But now after looking into it further talking to some other people, I realized it is still the craziest most ridiculous site I have ever heard, and I still pity the people who use it.
But despite what I think, Second Life has been a successful model and has drawn in millions of users. To be honest, I kinda wish I had come up with the idea. Despite the sort of obvious doubts that many might have with the idea, Second Life has been responsible for fostering a lot of creativity in art, music, architecture, business. After all, the Second Life characters themselves are creatively generated. Sure there are going to be some controversial issues the will inevitably arise, but as for now, and as crazy as it may seem, Second Life appears to be staying around for awhile. After all, who am I to judge though. I have spent more hours than I care to remember playing Madden football on Playstation 2. So while I think second life users may be somewhat crazy, Im sure there are people that think I am just as crazy. People will always find ways to fill their time, and I see Second Life as another example of that. First was their was Sim City and then Grand Theft Auto, and now Second Life, so the natural question is, what’s next?
One Response to “Second Life: So Whats Next?”
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I wonder what it is that motivates people to put that kind of time and energy and creativity into this game but not necessarily into real life. To be honest, i guess i should admit that i used to spend hours on end on games like simcity and warcraftII. I guess the reason i invested myself into those games rather than into real-life stuff (like homework) is because i could do stuff in those games that i could’nt do in reality…like commanding armies or building cities.
The thing that intrigues me about all this, is it shows how much un-tapped potential there is in people. There are individuals who have all sorts of talents to offer and the best outlet they have for those abilities are games. I guess second life has already found certain ways to make good use of this pool of ability by allowing individuals to engage in commerce through the site.
I think there is some entrepreneurial potential here because sites like secondlife are in some ways big pools of un-tapped talent (or at the very least, people with lots of time on their hands).