Julieana Cannoli

I have had this question posed before and since I have been around second life since 2005, I think I can answer this honestly and clearly. Second life is whatever experience the user can imagine or plan to receive. Everyone goes into second life with a preconceived design plan and it is loosely based on the users real life needs, wants, mental facilities and expendable time. The user seeks out the things that are already of interest to them, people with like minds to share their time with, and personalities that complement their own. I do believe that none of us users engage in second life’s online setting by stepping completely out of our comfort zone of mental familiarity or moral standards. With that being said, I also believe that separating second life from the real world is rather illogical way of looking at a personal hobby, mode of work or social pursuit. When a person collects stamps as a hobby would any of us ask if their stamp collecting gets in the way of their real life? When your friend takes on a job that gives them great satisfaction and career success do you ask them if it interferes with their real life? When a friend chats with a total stranger they met while standing in a coffee line, do you consider their time “not real” and wasted? Second life is merely an extension of our current interests in our lives. For example I have always had an artistic nature and am a very social person. It was natural after joining second life that I began with building, create sim’s, and take on jobs for real businesses and colleges that used second life as a tool. I even went a step further and went back to college to pursue a degree in graphics and multimedia. Did second life change my first life? No, but like most successful hobbies I found a way to achieve a want, and give someone else what they needed. Does it feel any less real because my creativity was channeled virtually? NO. It would be like calling web designers, programmers and anyone doing business via the web/computer “playing at making a living”. Honestly, I would have found a creative outlet with or without second life, and the current impact is exactly what it started out to be. A tool for socializing, creating, making an impact on others and gaining work experience, but it does not affect my real life identity because my identity is carried over into second life just like everyone else’s. My family even uses second life, as a creative, social and work tool. I do believe people get what they want out of all life experiences, if you chose to do bad, destroy your marriage, harass other people then I am sure that’s exactly what you will find yourself doing in second life or in your other pursuits. Calling second life an “unreal” experience and “real” life what we are all supposed to achieve is rather naive since the two seem to always go hand and hand. You cannot have one without the other.