Second Life.
Second life is a virtual world, a metaverse*, created by Linden Labs in San Francisco. In the beginning in 2002, the site had only four residents*. Now, almost six years later, they have over 3,000,000 residents and a GDP worth between $5million and $6million. The difference between this virtual world and others is it can make residents real money by selling virtual products for the virtual currency, Linden Dollars (L$). This makes it incredibly interactive and part of the new age of the internet- Web 2.0. This, as mentioned in the previous blog, is a platform that can connect hundreds of users to share information, files, data and anything else so creating a much more versatile and up-to date supply of information.
Second life is a virtual world, a metaverse*, created by Linden Labs in San Francisco. In the beginning in 2002, the site had only four residents*. Now, almost six years later, they have over 3,000,000 residents and a GDP worth between $5million and $6million. The difference between this virtual world and others is it can make residents real money by selling virtual products for the virtual currency, Linden Dollars (L$). This makes it incredibly interactive and part of the new age of the internet- Web 2.0. This, as mentioned in the previous blog, is a platform that can connect hundreds of users to share information, files, data and anything else so creating a much more versatile and up-to date supply of information.
On the social side, Second Life gives users the ability to virtually meet residents from all over the world without having to leave their seat. One man even met his wife online!
The audience benefits incredibly from this as they can develop a wide social network reaching right across the planet, live in a way they do not have access to in reality (e.g. looking a certain way or living in a certain place- an ugly person in Second Life is a rare sight...!) and also become exposed to hundreds of different brands, products and businesses which have bought into the virtual worlds idea in a big way.
Residents of Second Life can purchase Linden Dollars (which have an actual exchange rate in the real world- L$1000 coming in at roughly £4.84- and are bought and sold regularly on unassociated sites such as Ebay) and buy virtual products and, in some cases, real life products. Brand names such as Calvin Klein and Reebok have all bought into the idea by creating virtual shops and products for residents to browse and buy. A classic example of this is Reeboks "blank shoe." This plain white shoe can be bought from a Reebok shop, customised by using one of the virtual machines in the shop, and then worn by your avatar. If you then decide you like the shoes, you can even buy them for your real life feet too! This new level of interactivity is spreading with brands such as Nissan marketing their new Nissan Sentra by letting avatars test drive the car around a race track and receive a free car from "a gigantic vending machine".
Another advantage for businesses setting up in the virtual world, is that it is easy to do. One resident, Debs Butler, bought herself a virtual Knightsbridge (a copy of the knightsbridge in London) for roughly £800 worth of Linden Dollars. She then began renting out apartments, offices and plots of land in her version of knightsbridge and makes an average of £250 a month (yes- real money!). Others have take similar steps in the world of virtual business and one Anshe Chung became the sites first millionaire. Anshe Chung (an alias for Ailin Graef) began buying, developing and selling land two and a half years ago and has since made over $1million in real money from the site.
This metaverse and others like it are beginning to blur the boundaries between the virtual world and reality- what will happen next...
* The word metaverse comes from an idea in a novel called Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and refers to fully immersive 3D virtual spaces.
* The word metaverse comes from an idea in a novel called Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and refers to fully immersive 3D virtual spaces.
*a resident is the name given to someone who has a login to the site.
