The Comfortable Tree Stump

My Space in Second Life December 18, 2008

Today I decided to install the Second Life client and try it out. I didn’t really know what to expect, but once I’d got to grips with the controls and interface I was away. Problem is, it didn’t seem too exciting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty impressive, a 3D online world created by many users, with the ability to build your own buildings, objects, gestures, games, clothes and more. In some ways it has the characteristics of MySpace profiles – easily customisable and with the potential to create add-ons. However, this is in a very different context – that of a virtual world, rather than a web page. It is a 3D highly interactive visual reflection (all be it a fantasy one) of real life, as opposed to the 2D and less interactive images and text of a web page. Obviously the lines are somewhat blurred in this distinction – Second Life has textual elements, and MySpace has some interactivity.

That said, there are some similarities between the two. They both reflect real people’s interpretations of themselves, and leave the user completely in control about what they reveal about themselves, true or made up! But they both have their limitations too, they’re both run by companies who have made a lot of money from them, and are eager to continue to do so, so they are commercial tools. They both have numerous users and companies also trying to make money from them – in the virtual currency of Linden Dollars (in Second Life) or real money directly from MySpace. Often these users are the most obvious, but also the least creative, as once someone discovers a way to use a tool to make money, it’s never long before it is cloned across the network, with a monotonous originality.

Ultimately, MySpace will probably never truly be ‘my space’, it’s limited far beyond what I could create if I were given a real space and some creative tools. I wouldn’t put adverts in my space, but I might need a budget to incorporate any level of multimedia into an empty room, which of course is free and easily possible on a website. Second Life, I believe, is equally unlikely to become ‘first life’, not because graphics or connection speeds are an issue, and not even because it lacks the vibrancy or variety of people and services available in real life. Simply put, I don’t think it will ever be more interesting than real life because, well, it isn’t real life! I might be able to create and decorate my room (without adverts) in Second Life, but I can still only interact with it through a screen and keyboard. I can’t taste, smell or touch anything in it, and even if I could, I’d know it wasn’t real. Don’t get me wrong, I think the development and progress made with these networks is a great feat of technology, and invaluable in many scenarios, but if we’re talking about what it does for society? Well, I’d rather meet real people in real life than virtual characters on a screen, because virtual characters will always be limited in one way… their ability to be real.

So for now, I’ll stick with creating ‘my space’ in ‘first life’, although I will still talk to my ‘real’ friends on Facebook…