Wired's guide gave a well-rounded overview of Second Life, from its history to how to shop for your avatar. The guide was organized into four categories: Facts for the Visitor, Entertainment, Destinations, and Shopping. I particularly found the first category to be the most helpful, as it described the facts involving Second Life, from its history to how it functions. If you're completely unfamiliar to Second Life like I am, I think it's a very good idea to read "Facts for the Visitor." The other categories were helpful as well, as I now know the places I can visit, the games that I can play, and where I can go to shop.
In comparison to other similar online communities such as Habbo Hotel and Unichat, Second Life seems more...dimensional. Second Life has more dimension not o
nly in the visual sense (that it's 3D) but there is more to it than chatting with other users. Like how Wired's guide pointed out, Second Life is also a place where users can earn money, get involved in the many and various forms of entertainment, buy land/create a new location, and more. It is also a place for marketers and entrepreneurs to market to Second Life users.
After reading Wired's guide, I'm kind of eager to try out and explore Second Life. I think I'm going to try going shopping so my avatar will look good for our class meeting!
Discussion Questions
1. Have you tried out Second Life yet? What are your thoughts on it?
2. If you have tried out Second Life, do you feel like there is a strong sense of community?
3. If you haven't tried out Second Life, do you think you will find a strong community? Would you be interested in getting involved?
------------Edit 4/16/08--------------
After trying out Second Life with the Class, I think Second Life is pretty neat. The scavenger hunt was pretty fun, and I got to really experience some of the possiblities that Second Life offers. Here's one of my screenshots:
Riding the monorail
3 comments:
Honestly trying out second life makes me feel bored and lame. I'd rather work on my first life. I created an avator earlier in the semester to try it out. I don't know, second life kind of scares me because when I see another avator, I get a first impression of someone. But in reality, the avator most likely looks completely different then the actual person. It kind of makes me feel uncomfortable talking to other users on second life. At this moment I only know one of my real life friends who are on second life. I think maybe if more of my friends were on it I would have more of an incentive to use it too, since I don't care for meeting new people on it. Nevertheless, I would have to be pretty bored to get together on second life with some friends.
I tried encouraging some of my friends to get on second life, for the sake of my final project, but even then they were not keen on the idea, thinking it's a waste of time.
Nice screenshot. Kassandra put a bunch up on her USC page. I am trying to decide where to put the rest of them up (currently sitting in my email inbox).
Okay so second life wasn't that bad. :)
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