The following is the ethnography that I wrote as my final paper in my last year of undergraduate studies for a Communications Across Cultures course. I hope you enjoy! Or that I at least didn't get it all wrong. Feel free to comment and share. The work is amateur at best but I hope someone will get *something* out of it! Also, I apologize if some of the formatting is off - I've done my best to edit it but blogger just isn't having it.
IMPORTANT: to view in GOOGLE DRIVE instead (perhaps more readable) click here.
SECOND LIFE: AN ETHNOGRAPHY ON FREEDOM IN A VIRTUAL WORLD
First life birth is
like the roll of a die. Every fundamental aspect of our lives on this
planet is chosen not by us, but occurs through the randomness of
chance. I do not know anyone who can say that they chose to be born
as a human, to be born as white, black, hispanic, asian, or any other
race, to be born to their specific parents and family, or to be born
into their particular socioeconomic class. All of these things are
beyond human control.
I
remember being asked on numerous occasions whether I would change
anything about my life, given the option. My answer, like the answer
of most people I know, has always been, “No.” We have a
conviction that whatever has happened to us in this life has formed
who we are fundamentally – that we are stronger because of our
pasts. But what if you truly had the chance to start over – to
begin anew in a world where you
are the one who makes the decisions only afforded to chance in your
first life? What if you could have a second life? For many second
life residents, this question is their reality.
What if you could
have a second life? You would think that with a title like “Second
Life” the importance of this question would be fairly obvious.
However, it took a while for this concept to click with me. I suppose
that, being a serial massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamer, for
some reason I was not really taking the title of the simulation to
heart. I assumed that, as in every other online “game” I have
ever played, there would be a set objective – that someone would
tell me what to do and where to go to do it. That is not really the
way that Second Life works.
Second Life is a place where anyone can go to “be different, be
yourself, free yourself, free your mind, change your mind, change
your look, love your look, love your life” (“What is second,”).
As one Second Life resident put it, “you just do what you wanna do,
you're not playing to anyone else's terms” (Elaine, 2012).
Second
Life was launched by Linden Labs in 2003 ("Your
second life," 2003).
It is a 3D
online virtual world designed in many aspects to mimic real life. In
Second Life, all content is user-created, from the shops clothes,
accessories, and household items can be bought in, right down to the
customizable skin of each avatar. In late 2002, CEO and founder of
Linden Labs, Philip Rosedale, said this about Second Life:
"Using
new technology to enable a dramatic leap forward in the
self-expression possible in a 3D online world, we have created a new
experience that is, in nearly every sense of the words, a Second Life
… Our residents create a new identity in a world that they shape --
whether vixen or villain, architect or explorer. With early creators
spending as much as 60 hours a week in-world, we believe Second Life
is poised to revolutionize the online experience"
("Linden
lab announces,").
What are the Scholars Saying about Second Life?
I
am not the first in academia to wonder exactly what Second Life, also
commonly referred to as “SL”, is and what implications it could
have for our futures. Many scholars have tried to define Second Life,
and although many may compare Second Life to MMO games, an
overwhelming majority of scholars seem to understand the same thing
as Second Life resident Cate: Second Life is not
a game. Throughout my readings and wanderings I have come across many
different words that might describe the Second Life universe. My
favorite, though, is perhaps a term that many SL residents use and
one L. D. Falvey (2011) mentions in her article called
“Reconstructing Power in Second Life: Controlling the Virtual
Mayhem”. The term is “metaverse”. A “metaverse” is an
electronic universe that mimics real life and is metaphorically real
– hence “meta” (metaphoric or 'beyond') “-verse”
(universe). I think this word perfectly describes the universe of
infinite possibilities contained within Second Life. Sometimes,
though, it may also be appropriate to refer to Second Life as a
simulation, as it is in many ways a simulation of real life.
Not
only do scholars come to Second Life wondering what it is, but,
often, why
it is. Why do people continue to go back to their second lives? What
about the digital metaverse of Second Life fulfills the needs of its
residents?
Hsiao-Cheng
Han (2011), author of the article “Second Life, a 3-D Animated
Virtual World: An Alternative Platform for (Art) Education”
explains that Second Life is a world where anything is possible –
where residents can be or do whatever they can imagine. Second Life
is also a place where identities can be reformed: some may choose to
assume the same identities as their real life (RL), while others
might prefer to assume a completely new one, perhaps as a different
gender or as a completely different species (Brookey & Cannon,
2009). Second Life appears to be a place where people flock to be who
they want to be. As a result, Second Life has become a type of “civil
society” that should be taken seriously by the real world – a
place where, if properly tapped in to, corporations and organizations
alike could find value (Adrian, 2009). Many corporations and
organizations have already realized this and have begun tapping into
the potential of Second Life in public, private, and non-profit
sectors.
For
some, however, Second Life is not a place solely for re-defining
oneself physically – it is a place where one's spirituality can be
explored as well. In her article “Art and Spirituality in Second
Life: A Participant Observation and Digital Quest for Meaning”,
Mary Stokrocki describes the spiritual and healing potential that
Second Life can offer through the in-world creation and sharing of
art (2010).
It
is important to note, however, that while Second Life may appear to
be a clean slate, fresh for the molding, often people reconstruct the
same societal norms as can be observed in their real lives. This is
most prevalent in the objectification
of women and the focus on avatar
appearance (Brookey & Cannon, 2009). To find evidence for this
claim, one need only browse the Second Life market place in the
avatar section. I, personally, have tried several times to find a
natural-looking avatar there, but it is like searching for a needle
in a haystack. Most of the female avatars available for purchase
accentuate the sexuality of the female body. Most of them have rather
large, well-defined breasts, round bottoms and curvy figures, and, as
Brookey & Cannon point out,
the sexual objectification of women is rampant in Second Life (2009).
In a majority of sexual scenarios in SL, the female is depicted as
the submissive party in the interaction – be it through pose balls
(used to animate your avatar in different ways) or simply through
advertisements in which females are depicted bound and gagged or in
generally submissive poses (Brookey & Cannon, 2009).
Another
way in which residents seem to project the “real world” onto
their second lives is through the venues they choose to frequent and
activities and institutions they (knowingly or not) play into. So
far, some of the most popular locations I have noticed are bars,
clubs, and strip/sex joints. This is not to say, however, that these
are the only types of locations frequented in Second Life – there
are many simulations within SL that are far more imaginative and
awe-inspiring.
The
appearance of RL structures in SL, though, seems to be inevitable. As
Adrian points out, many residents take the opportunity to have a
second life very seriously – so seriously, in fact, that they may
become full time residents with second life sometimes being their
only source of income (2009). David Bell suggests that perhaps
ethnography focusing only on the second lives of residents is not
sufficient enough to get to the bottom of Second Life culture (2009).
He suggests that, along side observing the in-world lives of SL
residents, it might be necessary to focus on their real lives as
well. Thus
far, however, I cannot completely agree with this point of view.
While I acknowledge that cultural aspects of real life may come into
play in the realm of Second Life, I do not believe that these make up
the essence of what Second Life really is. Second Life is so much
more that a replication of real life. It is a place where creativity
flourishes, where life on the moon is possible, and where traditional
societal boundaries are blurred.
Getting Into the World: Why Second Life, and What is Ethnography?
When
I first became interested in Second Life, I understandably had no
grasp of the true spirit of Second Life at all. I came into the
metaverse as what one might consider a “game snob”, with a low
tolerance for lag, sub-par graphics, and glitches or “bugs” in
the system. Unfortunately for Second Life, at that stage in its
development it had an abundance of all of those things in my eyes. As
the years have gone by, however, many improvements have been made and
Second Life has become a much more enjoyable experience, as many
residents will attest to.
Several things brought me back to Second Life over the years. One of
the most impressive developments that I noticed while attending
Georgia Gwinnett College in 2008 – 2009 is that many universities
have begun using Second Life as a space for conducting virtual
classes. I found this idea to be revolutionary, as I had long
believed that if tapped into Second Life could be a great space for
language learning given its diverse community.
More
recently, however, I stumbled across an article about a woman who
became a real life millionaire through managing real estate in Second
Life. That blew me away. I started to become curious about how Second
Life could be profitable and in what different ways. Needless to say,
I wanted to check it out again. That is where this ethnography comes
into play.
The purpose of
ethnography is to learn about and describe a certain culture. For the
purpose of studying Second Life, this method of research is perfect.
Second Life, however, is not just one culture – it is many cultures
thrown into a giant melting pot. People who use Second Life come from
all corners of the world and all walks of life. However, Second Life
is not only representative of many different real life cultures, but
of a global internet culture as well. Thus, I have studied the
general ground rules of culture in SL and the motivation of its
residents to continue investing time in the metaverse, as setting out
to study Second Life culture as a whole would be like setting out to
study American, Chinese, or German culture – it would be a long and
complex endeavor.
Methodology
To
conduct this ethnography I enlisted the aid of several informants who
agreed to let me interview them and in some cases showed me around.
Each of them are experienced Second
Life residents who have a good understanding of the workings of the
metaverse. Some interviews were conducted in text, through the
in-world chat system, while others were conducted and recorded via
Skype, according to the preference of each informant. In addition, I
collected information on Second Life culture through participant
observation and field notes written about my experiences in the
metaverse.
My
informants’ names were Cate, Caz, and Elaine. I met Cate in what
you might call a dance club for “newbies,” or inexperienced
Second Life residents, called The Shelter. She was more than helpful
in my first few days of exploring and gave me helpful insights as to
what Second Life means to her and other residents. Caz and I met at a
blues bar called Fogbound Blues. He, as with many other Second Life
residents, saw my profile, read that I was doing an ethnography on
Second Life culture, and became interested in my project. He quickly
became an excellent informant and conversation partner in-world. Last
but not least, I met Elaine at a discussion group called Thothica
that a passing resident had referred me to. Without knowing, she
provided me with a lot of interesting insights about the day to day
activities of Second Life residents and I quickly requested an
interview with her.
General
Ground Rules and Pointers for Getting Started
As
in all cultures, there are a couple of general ground rules that
should be followed in Second Life to obtain optimal results. While
there are not many, these should be observed and respected if one
wishes to become integrated into the Second Life community. In
addition. these are things that new residents can do to make getting
adjusted easier on themselves.
First
of all, it is important to note that Second Life, as previously
stated, is exactly that for many residents – a second life. New
residents should try to keep in mind at all times that “you have to
respect the avatar first” (Caz, 2012). Although one resident may
not take the separation of “first life” and “second life” as
seriously as the next, new residents can generally assume that,
unless otherwise indicated, first life should not be mentioned.
Elaine talks about this more in-depth. Keep in mind that the
transcript of this interview, and all of the other interview excerpts
you will see here, are raw and true to the speech of the informant.
Pauses and hesitations are signified by two periods (..), asides are
indicated by two long dashes on either end of the aside (– aside
–), sentence breaks are indicated by two dashes (--), and pieces
of the interview I have omitted are signified by ellipses (…). If
the interviewee put a specific emphasis on a word, it has been
italicized.
Elaine:
I object at times to people who come on like, well .. When I worked
in the club it was like .. you know, stupid questions from these guys
.. Do you look like this in real life? How old are you? Where do you
live? And I sort of try to step back from that and, you know,
depending on who I'm talking to it's like .. what time
zone
are you in? You know, I don't try to pin them down to say, you know,
oh, I live in this and that city and if they just want to come right
out with it, I don't-- I think some people find that sort of like ..
stalking
.. behavior, you know, they're trying to find out where I live and
all that. (laughs) There's this one guy – and I think he's Korean –
and every time he comes across me he asks, “May I ask your age?”
(laughs) And it's like .. I don't even know if I want to tell you
because you obviously don't remember who the hell I am. I've been
telling you this for two years now (laughs). So, I think, um .. and
of course you never ask, “Are you really a girl, are you really a
guy?” That's a big non .. thing to ask.
Me: … So you're definitely
saying that maybe it's a little inappropriate to ask too much about
someone first life?
Elaine:
Yes, um .. it kind of-- Well, like I read profiles .. and sometimes
you can kind of tell by what they say in their first life section.
You know, “second life and first life are like apples and oranges,
they don't mix” or .. you know, then you know .. I'm not gonna ask
them, y'know. And some people .. they just put their real life
picture up there and it's like .. oh, well, I think they're pretty
open, so, you can kind of get a feel for them through their profile.
As
you can tell from the excerpt above, profiles also play an important
role in Second Life interactions. When I first started exploring in
Second Life I found that not many people messaged or approached me
when I would sit around in clubs or bars. It seemed that everyone was
getting along and enjoying themselves and perhaps even that they all
knew each other. While it may be true that many residents may
frequent a certain space and come to know one another, it was brought
to my attention that an important factor in whether or not someone
may be approached in SL is their in-world profile.
The
in-world profile (see Figure 1) works a lot like Facebook and gives
other residents a basis for approaching each other. An excerpt from
an interview I had with Caz illustrates this point perfectly:
Caz: Y'know, when I .. when I
look at somebody, like anything, y'know .. I'm a profile pervert, so,
um .. y'know, I will read the profile. It's not just the pretty face
or the pretty body, but I wanna know if this is somebody I wanna talk
to, so, um .. And uh, you try to-- I mean I always try to if I
approach somebody, approach them from something that I see in their,
uh, profile. As opposed to just coming online, y'know.
Me: I've noticed that profiles
are very important in Second Life. One of the first pieces of advise
that I was given was to put something in my profile.
Caz: I
think you sh-- yes. I think people-- And what I've learned over time
is you, you uh .. you become more selective.
Figure 1
As
you might imagine, I started getting a lot more messages in-world
once I had filled out my profile a little. In fact, Caz himself
approached me based on what he saw in my profile.
Finally, a piece of advice that new Second Life residents might
follow is to leave your real world prejudices behind when you enter
Second Life.
Caz: … One thing I've learned
in here and I think maybe it's helped in real life is you – you
can't be judgmental of any body. I think you learn to be tolerant of
a lot.
Me: I think that's one of the
themes that I've definitely come across is, y'know, acceptance of
others, and, y'know, trying not to be judgmental.
Caz: 'Cause there are so many
weird things! Y'know, (laughs) and weird people! Um .. but, uh ..
y'know, so I think that you can't judge people, 'cause you don't
know! And um .. y'know, to each his own.
Keep an open mind in Second Life, and you can go far.
Freedom and Community in the Metaverse
Second Life, as
stated earlier, is marketed as a place to “be
different, be yourself, free yourself, free your mind, change your
mind, change your look, love your look, love your life” (“What is
second,”). It should not be surprising, then, that one of
the major themes I have observed in my wanderings through the
metaverse is freedom, and from that freedom sprout many sub-themes.
Here, the sub-themes that we will discuss are acceptance, fulfillment
and accomplishment, and healing (see
Taxonomy).
Taxonomy
Freedom
“this as my
chance to be who I never was in real life”
|
Acceptance
|
Accomplishment/Fulfillment
|
Healing
|
“...you
can't be judgmental of any body. I think you learn to be tolerant
of a lot.”
|
“The
feeling that it gives you to accomplish things in second life...”
|
“...people
noticed I laughed more at work, I became more open to other people
talking to me.”
|
“...you've
gotta respect other people...”
|
“...it
gives you an immediate feeling of accomplishment.”
|
|
“...it's
a huge accomplishment and it gives me a lot of feelings that are
much better than I used to have about myself.”
|
Another major theme I have noticed is that of community. While most
Second Life residents have different reasons for getting involved in
SL, most end up staying because of the people that they meet and the
relationships that they form. It is important, however, to note that
the ways that these themes play themselves out in any individual's
second life may vary greatly.
Freedom
To begin, let's
talk about why I chose to discuss “freedom” as a theme, whereas
some – even Second Life residents – might use the term
“escapism.” First of all, I believe that the term “escapism”
carries a negative connotation in our culture where we are expected
to adapt to and overcome our surroundings in real life. Second of
all, Second Life is not an escape for all of its residents, just as
alcohol is not a means of escape for every person who drinks it. For
some, Second Life is a hobby, whereas for others it is a place where
they can go to break loose and be themselves, and still for others it
is a place to conduct business and be entrepreneurs. These are the
major reasons why I chose “freedom” as a theme. It is true to the
spirit of Second Life, where you are free to be whoever, whatever,
however you want to be. Caz, an informant, likened Second Life to a
disco:
Y'know … I'm in my 50's so I
grew up in .. I grew up in disco, and I remember in, y'know, '75,
'76, before 1980, um .. y'know, discos were places where people would
go and they could-- it was kind of the same thing. I mean, it's
funny, but you look around, like say, look around Fogbound
and then you think of like .. The Village People. I mean, you've got
the guy sitting here with the cowboy hat on and the whole thing. Or
you get the guys that walk in every once in a while and they have the
uh-- I love the guys that come in with like the monster outfits on.
Yeah they dress, you know, and they have some kind of .. uh,
appearance it's just, y'know, it's just for the provocation. But um,
y'know, it's-- it's kinda like a disco. People would go to discos and
they'd dress up, y'know .. guys, cab drivers, factory workers would
dress to the nines or they would go and they'd dress-- Y’know
people would-- It .. it was an escape. So um I think this is just
another way for people to escape.
There are
many ways in which Second Life residents are free to be “whoever,
whatever, however” they want to be, as mentioned above. For
example, some residents find freedom in being able to choose their
appearance – be it human, humanoid, or not human at all. In being
able to choose and alter what they look like at any given time in the
metaverse, Second Life residents are freed from the first life game
of roulette that chose every physical characteristic about them. They
are free to make their appearance reflect who they truly are or
aspire to be.
I .. I look at, um .. this as my
chance to be who I never was in real life. So .. being .. older,
'cause I'm .. I'm sixty, um .. it's like .. a chance to-- you know, I
was .. I was a mom, I was overweight, I was all of those things when
I was, mm, say 30's, so. I don't wanna look like that (Elaine, 2012).
Second life
residents are also free to participate in activities they might
otherwise not feel free to participate in in their first lives. In
our society where an activity such as BDSM (bondage, discipline,
sadism, masochism) or having a transgendered sexuality is often
considered taboo people often feel pressured into conformity. Second
Life is a chance for its residents to truly express themselves by
whatever means they desire.
Live
and Let Live (Acceptance)
Understandably,
with such freedom must come acceptance – otherwise Second Life
residents would not feel so inclined to express themselves openly.
There seems to be a resounding theme within Second Life that although
some residents may not necessarily enjoy the same things that other
residents do, there is no need to pass judgment on them. This live
and let live attitude has fostered an atmosphere of acceptance for
just about anything anyone could be into, except for heinous
activities such as depicting or allowing child avatars in
pornographic material or simulations.
The following
excerpt is from an interview with Caz about the need to respect and
not be judgmental of other people:
I think it's um, you've gotta
respect other people for um...uh, y'know, for-- respect whatever
they're into. Um, it's really funny – I'll send you the note card –
I have this conversation I had with this woman (laughs) in this
place, y'know, and she was .. y'know, it was one of those BDSM places
.. at one time it was a very popular place, so, um, there were a lot
of people there. And this woman just came up to me and started
haranguing
me about politics and uh, y'know, finally I said to her, I said ..
Hey, Listen! I said, I'm standing
here and you come up and start yelling
at me, I said, you – you sit here and say that you'll be a slut,
y'know, bitch, for some some cartoon
dom, y'know, at night
.. and you have the temerity
to question my, y'know, my
politics? I mean,
that's pretty funny,
y'know, and um .. So, I think you've gotta respect people for what
they are and what they're trying to do, you just leave-- y'know ..
you don't judge. One thing I've learned in here and I think maybe
it's helped in real life is you – you can't be judgmental of any
body. I think you learn to be tolerant of a lot.
This excerpt is an excellent example of the approach that most
Second Life residents bring to the table. Everyone comes to Second
Life for different reasons and to escape the pressures of society and
that is something that I believe Second Life residents learn to
respect about one another. As Caz states (about BDSM, with a preface
that he is now 50 years old), it is a “way to be able to … do
some things that I've done in real life that … I don't get to do in
real life any more”.
Fulfillment
and Accomplishment
Because of the
freedom Second Life offers to its residents along with the atmosphere
of acceptance that freedom breeds, fulfillment is another important
theme within SL. There are many different ways in which this
fulfillment might present itself in the lives of different SL
residents. Some of these are fulfillment through self expression,
through creation (otherwise known as “building” in-world), and
through forming relationships with others. Elaine, for example, found
fulfillment in her relationship with her partner Sim, who she met
in-world, and through participating in intellectual discussion groups
such as Thothica where she meets “similar people, smart and funny
and not just into going to clubs and spouting gestures instead of
talking.”
Interwoven with
fulfillment is accomplishment. Many residents in SL find that they
get a sense of accomplishment in Second Life that they do not often
find in their first lives. This sense of accomplishment may stem from
many of the same things that also bring fulfillment to SL residents,
such as through building and creating relationships, communities, and
groups. For Elaine, the feeling of accomplishment was achieved
through building:
The feeling that it gives you to
accomplish things in second life-- I know (pheh) .. it's like trying
to show my mother what I do. I'm building a hospital, ma! .. She
doesn't get it. But for me it's a huge accomplishment and it gives me
a lot of feelings that are much better than I used to have about
myself. I used to think I couldn't do anything right, nothing was
working out, and here I can be a goddess and terraform land and make
trees spring up out of nothing, you know.
...
Not really a goddess complex or
anything but it .. it gives you an immediate feeling of
accomplishment.
Healing
Perhaps most
important from the themes springing from the freedom SL affords its
residents is healing. This theme is complex and may manifest in many
different forms and through different media. For some, art is a
powerful way to express oneself and thus heal one's pain. For others,
building and the sense of accomplishment they derive from it may have
healing effects. Still, for others, social interaction in the
metaverse, in such an accepting atmosphere, may prove a boon for
their first life social lives as well. Below, Elaine describes how
Second Life changed her life:
But you know I'm kind of stuck
at home alone .. isolated, angry, feeling cut off from the rest of
the world except when I was at work and that's not a good way to
feel, so .. I came in and became addicted almost immediately.
...
I used to be a dancer in a club
and I've-- (heh) I was always a fairly shy person. I spent about the
first week when I was working afraid to say anything and then after
I'd been there a year I'd say anything,
out in public,
out loud
(laughs) .. It just-- and people noticed I laughed more at work, I
became more open to other people talking to me. I mean, it's effected
me in my real life a lot.
For Elaine, freedom to be who she wants to be an look how she wants
to look greatly appreciated the quality of her interpersonal skills
and real life social experiences.
Community
Next to freedom,
community is arguably one of the most important themes that keeps
Second Life residents coming back. In an interview, I asked Caz what
kept him coming back to Second Life.
...the one thing I uh .. I
didn't expect um, was the .. was the fact that you do
make friends. I mean, two big things. Number one that you can make
friends and number two that there are people from all over the world
so you meet a very interesting group of people.
This description is true to my own experiences in Second Life as
well. When I first began exploring Second Life I just could not get
into it. I didn't understand how people could spend so much time
doing what I perceived to be nothing. Then, however, and largely due
to my ethnographic research, I began to make acquaintances and
friends. After that, I started wanting to log on – I wanted to talk
to the friends I had made and found it enjoyable to sit around with
them, listen to some music, and have a conversation. Things that had
seemed frivolous or ridiculous to me before that point, such as being
able to make your avatar drink a cup of tea or smoke a cigar as you
sit (see Figure 2), became more amusing to me. They made the
interaction seem more authentic.
Figure 2 – My avatar smoking a
cigar at Fogbound Blues.
Elaine shared a similar experience that I took as advice when I told
her that I couldn't seem to get my boyfriend interested in exploring
Second Life with me:
I ran into somebody right away,
you know, met some people that are still good friends of mine and we
go and hang out together sometimes, once in a while .. and uh, some
people I know in real life, we've not you know like .. met, face to
face, but we-- they're no longer in second life, but we're still
communicating in .. in ways outside second life.
This seemed to suggest to me that if you make an effort to meet more
people, Second Life becomes more interesting in the sense that you
can build lasting and meaningful relationships with other residents.
Conclusion
Second Life is a
teeming metaverse full of diversity. Each resident's reasons for
coming into SL may vary by degrees or by miles. However, what is
important to them is largely the same: freedom. The freedom that
Second Life offers its residents affords them an atmosphere of
general acceptance that helps them to build communities and
meaningful relationships amongst themselves, and in many cases to
overcome social obstacles they may have struggled with in “first
life.” All of these things and more make Second Life the ideal
retreat for those who feel excluded from or stigmatized by society –
a space where they are free to be themselves.
Before my
involvement in Second Life I considered myself to be a pretty
non-judgmental and accepting person. However, my adventures in and
wanderings through the SL metaverse have taught me a different kind
of understanding, one that is hard to describe but, for many, a
shared experience in Second Life. I learned to respect people for who
they aim and aspire to be, not for who they may be or appear to be
under their attire. I learned that while I may never know who the
person behind an avatar is, what is important is who they are trying
to be.
It
has been suggested that more inquiry into the first lives of Second
Life residents might be necessary for a more complete analysis of the
culture. However, as many residents and researchers have made clear,
Second Life is a medium through which individuals may recreate
themselves. It is a metaverse in which neither RL appearance, health,
nor physical condition matters. In the true spirit of Second Life, to
bring real lives into the picture seems to me to be
counter-intuitive. People come to Second Life to overcome RL
barriers, to celebrate creativity, and be whoever or whatever they
want to be – not to put their real lives on display. Perhaps to
truly appreciate Second Life that is exactly what needs to be
realized: Second Life is what its creators and residents say it is,
and what its name suggests – a second life, a fresh start.
References
Adrian,
A. (2009). Civil society in Second Life. International
Review Of Law, Computers & Technology, 23(3),
231-235.
Bell,
D. (2009). Learning from Second Life. British
Journal Of Educational Technology, 40(3),
515- 525.
Brookey,
R., & Cannon, K. L. (2009). Sex Lives in Second Life. Critical
Studies In Media Communication, 26(2),
145-164.
Cate.
(2012, March 10). Personal Communication.
Caz.
(2012, March 30). Personal Communication.
Elaine.
(2012, March 28). Personal Communication.
Falvey,
L. D. (2011). Reconstructing Power in Second Life®: Controlling the
Virtual Mayhem. Journal For
Cultural Research, 15(1),
55-74.
HSIAO-CHENG,
H. (2011). Second Life, a 3-D Animated Virtual World: An Alternative
Platform for (Art) Education. Art
Education, 64(4),
41-46.
Linden
lab announces name of new online world 'Second Life™' and
availability of beta program.
(2002, October 30). Retrieved from
http://lindenlab.com/press/releases/02_10_30
Stokrocki,
M. (2010). Art and Spirituality on Second Life: A Participant
Observation and Digital Quest for Meaning. Journal
Of Alternative Perspectives In The Social Sciences, 2(1),
182-197.
What
is Second Life?
.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://secondlife.com/whatis/?lang=en-US
Your
second life begins today
.
(2003, June 23). Retrieved from http://lindenlab.com/press/releases/03_06_23
