SecondLife is the latest most contemporary virtual online game to date. It outshines its competetors such as 'The Sims' and predominates similar rivals such as 'There'.
It allows the consumer better referred to as 'residents' in the game to create and run their own virtual world.
Its refined detail and provision of an advanced level of a social network service combined with conventional characteristics of a metaverse, hands down towers above any other virtual online gaming product to date.
Consumers are able to create and mould their own avatar which they can then operate to their command, and interact with other gamers.
From a cinema allowing consumers to watch film previews and videos uploaded by fellow gamers, to the consumer's own virtual house complete with furnishings down to the colour of the walls, Second Life has it all.
It has the advantage of making gaming more of a social institution rather than an 'anti-social' activity which passively discourages one on one socialisation. It also actively encourages digital democracy as consumers are able to upload digital footage to share with whoever they wish.
Alternatively, the danger of Second Life lies with the controversial debate that society is fast becoming more and more dependant on digital software. Not only are consumers dealing with the stress and expense of their own lives, but Second Life is also a game where the consumer can make money; from designing and selling add-ons to other consumers, and acting as an outlet for advertisers. This could effectively lead to online virtual games such as Second Life completely taking over people's lives, possibly causing even more stress than needed!
In addition to this, there is also the controversial issue of the rise in obesity. With an easily accessible institution to socialise with friends and with the independance of controlling their own lives to their perfection, there is the risk of more and more of the population cutting out one on one socialisation and indulging in the stationary world of gaming, consequently increasing the level of obesity in society.
Second Life also allows 'residents' to "create weapons and do battle in special areas of Second Life", a factor identified by PC Magazine's review of the gaming product. Consequently, this further indicates the passive encouragement of violent behaviour in consumers. By conditioning the consumer with images of physical violence it can be argued that players will be encouraged to condone physical violence rather than provide an outlet for it.
Second Life is paid for monthly for less than £10 a month. With the millions of people predicted to join Second Life, the creators the gaming product will most likely begin to create updated versions of the game and explore new ways of making revenue from the game. This leads us to ask the question: is this exploitation of a vulnerable society, or compensation for society's apparant need for contemporary digital technology in their lives?
I personally predict that Second Life will be a huge success globally, however i also view this as a negative thing. As digital technology becomes increasingly defined more and more of society who remain information poor concerning digital technology will feel pressured to jump on the bandwagon. Before long, i predict masses of society will be information rich and therefore continually demand higher quality from digital technology. In my opinion, this will effectively lead to society becoming more and more socially withdrawn and 100 per cent consumption based rather than being a unit of production.
