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Get a life (News, The Hindu)
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Sunday, 01 July 2007 |
In Second Life, the thriving online virtual world, you can be what you’ve always wanted to be and do things you’ve only dreamed of doing. Just make sure you have the cash. SHONALI MUTHALALY
Manufacturing realities: The Taj Mahal.
He wears Armani suits and linen shirts in one life; leather pants and biker jackets in the other. He has a sensible hair cut and stern glasses in one life; a shaved head and rude tattoos in the other. He’s a powerful vice-president of a respect ed company in one life; and a stylist for poodles in the other.
And there are more than 7,000,000 people like him in the world. Each living a regular everyday life, and then going online to live a Second Life.
However, unlike in the real world, in Second Life you can be whoever you want, and do whatever you dream up. “It’s not a game. It’s a platform. A place where real people come and lead virtual lives,” says Sebastian D. Marcu, a young German who works with Worlds Unlimited, a Second Life development company based in Cologne. “I work on strategies and concepts for companies, showing them how to use virtual worlds, Web 2.0 and communities as a tool to improve their business,” he says. Online, he works and socialises as a virtual character, called an “avatar”, called Enrico Visconti, an Italian.
Vital difference
“It’s an immersive world,” says Sebastian, adding that it appeals to people because it’s “not information driven, but heart driven. It’s not about being informed, it’s about participating.” Ironically, Second Life might be the refuge of breakaways and secret rebels, but it still follows basic societal norms. To really enjoy it, you need to build relationships. And eventually, you need to make, and spend money. On the bright side, you can accomplish both in ways you might never have dared to in the real world.
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