Closing thoughts on Second Life and Video
September 28, 2009
The idea of knowing anything in Second Life is a bit of a tricky one. In many ways for me, I had to rethink how my experiences were being interpreted. Interaction, race, gender, and even time became completely flexible and interchangeable. People and places may share similar characteristics to their real world equivalents but when examined, they are completely different. For example, the A&M campus in Second Life may have Academic Plaza in it as well as a recreation of Fish Pond but then again the layout is different, not to mention the large amphitheater that doesn’t exist in the real life equivalent as well as a beach where one can swim with dolphins.
The very idea of appearance alone must be reevaluated because we are dealing with a medium of pixels that can be reshaped at any time, the “human” appearance especially can be reshaped as easily as it takes for one to throw on another pair of pants. When I first began, I had to “shop” around for a new appearance. Unfortunately, to really get an excellent looking skin you either had to really look around or pay for it and the idea of trading in real money for virtual money is one that has yet to really catch on for me and probably won’t till the rewards become more tangible. In Second Life, appearance and even gender become only two dimensional. I had once run across a girl who was sending out some pretty strong signals over the local text chat. Even at this stage I became uncomfortable but became even more so when she began speaking and a male voice issued out from her.
Learning almost becomes a sort of trial and error in Second Life. So as I began to interact with others in this world, I began to relearn everything, almost like a kid but the stipulation being that its completely virtual. As I continue to explore, I think of these experiences and how they relate to a real world perspective and realize that there probably isn’t a standard that they can be measured against and instead to just allow them to be in a new world unto themselves.
