Second Life?
The online world Second Life quite honestly disturbs me. I find it very strange that these avatars people create actually purchase items online for real money for their characters. In the videos we watched there was one guy who could no longer draw the line between his offline life and his second life because he has spent so much time and money on his avatar. He said that “I’ve been in second life so long that I’ve forgotten who I am.” This is a danger to people involved in such an online community. You can be anyone you want for a price, this is what is really disturbing. One of the biggest problems with society is the idea that material possessions symbolize who you are. The capitalist ideology is at work even when people innocently join a virtual community. I realize that these social networks are ways for people to live vicariously through their characters in ways that they do not feel they are capable of in real life, and this is where, as Paul says, makes it a difficult discourse to argue or support. I feel compassion for people like Simon who feel ‘free’ in this type of environment and can express themselves in new ways, however I also feel that we all need to accept our lot in life and work hard to acheive our goals. Second Life is excessive and a waste of money when it really has no bearing on real life challenges. Is almost real, real enough? Nope.
