Experiencing SecondLife

At the beginning of the semester when we got the syllabus, I immediately googled SecondLife.  After finding out a little more about the program, I realized that I really wasn't interested. It's nothing about the program, but the idea of being an avatar in an electronic world is something I have no interest in whatsoever.  Before we had our SecondLife assignment, I downloaded the program and tried to used it.  I consider myself a pretty tech savvy person, so when I got into the program and didn't understand anything, I became frustrated.  After about 10 minutes of confusion, I decided not to even open the program until the assignment was due.  Once we got the assignment, I first read some tutorials and messages boards to figure it out how the use the program correctly.  After logging into SecondLife for round two, I found it easier, but still not a 'user-friendly' program.

My use of SecondLife was limited to about two hours.  The first hour and a half were spent on trying to make my character look like me.  The last bit of time was spent meeting ProfessorMaryEmerald and teleporting and flying around SecondLife.  I did not find it difficult to use the navigation controls or gestures.  Overall, I just found the whole thing a little weird. 

I think one of the reasons I find SecondLife is just not for me is due to the idea of multiphrenia.  I like to know exactly who I'm chatting with and in SecondLife, that is far from the case.  I couldn't help but laugh when I heard that another student in class had a car as an avatar.  First of all, it would be strange to me to have a conversation with a car, and secondly, I'd naturally assume that it was a man that I was chatting with.  I also understand the individuals can pose as anything or anyone they would like to be online on other websites and programs.  For example, a man could make a more feminine username or vice versa, and we encounter the same issue.  But in SecondLife, you can give visual characteristics, which, at least for me, gives much more of a gender to a username.

One thing that I do praise SecondLife for is their use of voice, gestures and social cues in the program.  A character is able to do so many different combinations together.  It gives the avatars a much more lifelike sense when you're having conversations and mingling with other SecondLife users. While I was teleporting to different destinations, I met an avatar who was HUGE and was dressed like a missing member from the band KISS. He was dancing up a storm on the dance floor.  It was definitely fun to watch him and also to watch as other people joined in.  I didn't join in though.  My dance skills we're definitely not good enough to dance in 'public'.  Also, from a personal standpoint, I treat the digital world very similar to how I act and participate in reality.  If I know I can't dance, I'm not going to get in front of everyone and dance.

My overall experience with SecondLife was nothing spectacular. Although I think think the program is very interesting, it's just not for me. Like I've previously mentioned, I like the way that SecondLife uses social cues, gestures and voice to create a more realist atmosphere. I'm sure if I became more familiar with the program, I'm sure I'd be able to praise it more than I have in this blog post. But, it's something I would have never tried if it wasn't for the class, so I'm glad to have tried it out.