Second Life: The Virtual World Beckons

Virtual worlds on the Internet are nothing new. Mostly, like Worlds of Warcraft, these worlds are virtual games in which a player creates a character and plays a role playing game. However, three years ago, a company called Linden Lab, based in San Francisco, created a virtual world called Second Life. The fascinating thing about Second Life is that, unlike other virtual worlds, it is not prefabricated. It has been built and is owned entirely by the participants. Second Life is a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. It even has an economy that has made several of the participants a good living in the real world as well as the virtual world. As of mid summer, 2006, over a third of a million people world wide are participants in Second Life.

The first thing one does when participating in Second Life for the first time is to create an avatar, or virtual character. Simple tools are available to build your avatar’s appearance down to the closest detail, from height, weight, body shape, skin tint, gender, hair color, eye color, and so on. One can also design the kind of clothes your avatar wears.

Next, let us suppose one wants to meet other people in the virtual world of Second Life. There is a tool called the Map that shows information on upcoming events in the virtual world. Then one can view more detailed information on the event. These events can consist of everything from a party at a virtual club to a game tournament to the opening of a virtual art exhibit. If any suits ones fancy, one can instantly teleport to the event.

One can find out about anyone else’s avatar by right clicking on the image and choosing the “View Profile” option. Very shortly, one will find oneself interacting with other avatars and finding people with similar interests to ones own. Participants in Second Life have formed interest groups ranging from neighborhood associations to Science Fiction Fan Clubs.