An article in the Wall Street Journal today reports that some companies, not content with creating virtual "presences", are now even starting to do job interviews in Second Life.
The more I read about Second Life, the more I wonder what's wrong. On the one hand, Second Life gets great coverage in the press and seems to have good word of mouth. For example, whenever someone asks about Second Life over at LinkedIn Answers, the responses tend to be very positive. On the other hand, I don't know a single person in my real life who actually spends any time using Second Life. And my social circle, by and large, is in the consumer category that would be expected to at least try it out - comfortable online, "content creators," and actively involved in other online communities and activities. Yet -- I find Second Life utterly unappealing. And nobody I know talks about it. WoW, of course. LoTRO and CoH, yes. Even games like Star Wars Galaxies and Eve Online get some attention. But not Second Life.
My overall impression of Second Life, in fact, is that the vast majority of people who use it regularly are looking to get kinky in one form or another, or are there because they're trying to make a buck off it one way or another. Now, I could be completely wrong. If I am, I'd love to hear it. But right now, it seems like there's this significant dichotomy between what I'm reading and what I'm experiencing. Maybe it's just me. But maybe Second Life really is a lot more hype than actual trend.
You tell me.
Comments (5)
WoW *is* my second life. :)
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/#character-sheet.xml?r=Zul%27jin&n=Kanuordar
Now I'm waiting for Apple to allow Bootcamp instalation on multi-partition HD on Mac... no LOTRO until then since I've installed Leopard, and I must keep Tiger to debug Safari 2.
Posted by Rudi | June 20, 2007 4:12 PM
To get kinky or make a buck. That's how the United States started out isn't it?
Posted by Charles Edward Frith | June 21, 2007 12:07 PM
*laughs*
I don't know about the first, but definitely 'yes' to the second, Charles.
Posted by fiat lux | June 21, 2007 2:47 PM
I'm pretty much the same way. My circle of known associates runs very heavily into the Extreme Geek crowd, and all they have ever said about Second Life is that it is a mix between the Sims and MySpace.
Neither of which are compliments.
And, after my WoW subscription, I can't afford even one additional regular payment. And judging by my OWN Armory profile:
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/#character-sheet.xml?r=Elune&n=Amagaim
... I either have too much of a First Life, or not enough of a second. Or not much of a life whatsoever. The jury is still out on that count.
Posted by Off Colfax | June 21, 2007 6:22 PM
I had Second Life on my old system and didn't bother to DL it when I reinstalled everything. Tells you now much I used it. It reminded me too much of Myst ... not enough going on to make me waste my time. :-P
Posted by artistry | June 22, 2007 2:13 PM