This article about Second Life is a year old, but I came across it and it's a very interesting and entertaining read. Laugh as we may, it's fulfilling an obvious human need for community and intimacy in the age of the net:
Leading a Double Life
10/25/06, Boston Globe
Parts that relate to our class:
- interactivity
- content "created almost entirely by users"
- spontaneity & "stepping-into-Wonderland quality" of the platform
- companies joining in to create buzz or sell their image/products
- Harvard and other universities using it to engage distance-ed students more (!)
Oh, and btw, this is Hana.
1 comment:
I had heard about Second Life and its utility to distance ed before, but I had not realized the capacity that users had to lead a second life in so many virtual ways. The Linden Lab rep mentions that there is an "emotional bandwidth" and then in the next part they go on to mention how people are getting busy in the "mature" areas and attending virtual funerals. Is real life not emotional enough that we have to engage in an emotional virtual life, as well? I find my emotional bandwidth in real life keeps me plenty busy....
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