SubscribeIf you've never heard of second life, it is defined by Wikipedia as follows: Second Life (SL) is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab launched on June 23, 2003, and is accessible on the Internet. A free client program called the Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world (which residents refer to as "the grid").
This is the literal definition someone would give when trying to explain to someone what in the world Second Life is. While the former definition is very true, it is so much more than just that. But first let's talk about this so called "avatar" that people use to interact within the the grid.
A what?
My avatar in Second Life
An avatar is the medium by which players (members, or residents) interact with each other. An avatar is a fully customizable entity that allows your full creativity and allows you to express yourself in ways your actual body may be unable to. Piercings, Tattoos, gothic styling, and almost limitless other fashion statements are possible to make your avatar reflect the you that you want people to see. This is what i mean by being able to express yourself. No one see anything, except what you show them. It is literally an extension of your personality if you choose it to be. There are of course people who join SL for the sole purpose of ruining the "immersion" Second Life offers its members. But more on that later.
But why?
So you might ask, what about SL makes it so addicting for people? The answer is fairly simple. It allows you to live the life you want to live without constraints. You can be an architect and construct buildings and art where the only limit is your creativity. You can be a clothing designer, graphic designer, model, driver, sex icon, or literally anything else that you can think of. It's all at the tips of your fingers. All it takes is for you to want it bad enough to go get it. You can have a family via role playing within SL, have a house where you sit down with your significant other and watch movies, or even do the naughty after dark (Virtually, of course.) When i say you can do everything and more real life has to offer in Second Life, I'm not joking. You can even attend school and learn about stuff, just as you could in real life also.
How do you...?
Everyone plays Second Life a different way. Some are out seeking love and relationships, some seek to meet new people with similar interests from around the world, some go to show off their impressive DJing skills via live streaming, and others seek to start a business they don't have the funds to start in real life. There isn't a way i could explain to you every way or reason people are on SL, all I can tell you is that they simply are. Me? I'm on it to have fun, and meet interesting people, and listen to music. Unfortunately, as a gamer, it doesn't really hold my attention very well. I get bored easily, but that's just me! There is so much out there I don't do, that if i did, I'm sure I'd enjoy it more.
But it's just a game
It's not. I've been scolded by members who have been in SL far longer than I have for saying this. To casual users and people unfamiliar with it, it is indeed just a game. But for some people, it literally is a second life. The bonds they form with people are real, whether we admit it or not. Hearts are broken, love and relationships are formed not based on our appearance, but strictly by our personalities. They fall in love their real selves, not their fleshy posterior. You can reason with residents all day about the fallacy of their beliefs, but you'll never convince them, with good reason. If it feels real, acts real, and you love everything about it, why should you listen to a naysayer? Accept it for what it is, not what it is to you.
I hear horror stories all the time because of SL
I'm sure you do, as do I. I also hear of kids shooting up schools, airplane accidents, and stories where kids killed themselves because of these high stress situations in real life. The point is, these horror stories are outliers, they're not mainstream. Not every, or even a huge percent of people in Second Life leave their families to peruse a life on SL, just as not every kid in high school commits suicide. D&D is not the leading cause of depression and cultish behavior in the youth, and SL really isn't the leading cause of... well; anything. Take it with a grain of salt. Every time you step out of your front door you have a chance of not returning, but that doesn't mean you live in a bubble your whole life. You get out, you do things, and you have fun along the way (hopefully.)
This is probably the finest form of what I would consider to be a "proxy life." Don't be afraid of it, I have a feeling this will become a very real and normal thing in our future.
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