The Sim-ulacra- A Life Beyond Reality

Users all over the world are interacting, forming relationships and using their imagination in the virtual world like never before.  People interact in imaginary worlds to interact with others, form friendships, to gain satisfaction, to go on adventures , to escape real life stress,  and go into a whole new dream world to be ‘’someone else’’.   (Yee N 2006).

A 3D world phenomenon known as the ‘Second Life’ is a world where real life humans create ‘’digital personas’’ of themselves known as ‘’avatars’’ who resemble real life identity.  (Second Life , 2003)

It’s a whole new world where one can turn their dreams into a reality by creating a world they want to live in.  This particular world was launched in 2003 by a man named Philip Rosedale who wanted to create a virtual world for people to ‘’pursue their dreams  and interests’’. ( Rymaszewski R, Wagner J A, Wallace M, Winters C, Ondrejka C & Cunningham-Batstone B, 2007  p 13).

People who sign up can perform many functions such as :

•  attend  marketplaces to buy clothes.
• have endless fun by going to various entertainment events.
• transfer real money for virtual money known as ‘’Lindon’’.  
•   buy land and  property to build businesses.

Second life as a virtual world has definitely replicated real life to a whole new level.  A common example is a real Chinese lady named Ailen Graef known as ‘’Anshe Chung’’ in second life who is the first millionaire from this world. What she did that made her so huge was by investing  ‘’virtual shopping malls, store chains and stock market investments in Second Life''. (Johnson P 2010 p.63) . In November 2006 a press release was set out stating how her ‘’virtual operation had developed into a real-life company , specializing in applications for corporate and education sectors’’.  (Johnson P 2010 p.63)

Even the biggest consumers known as  AOL, ABCTV, Showtime, Reuters, Virgin Records, IBM , Coca Cola, Adidas, Mercedes, BMW, Mazda, even a Sydney based company known as ‘’Project Factory’’ (a marketing digtal company) have used second life to promote their companies  and ‘’seek innovative ways to achieve added value to their brand’’ by promoting their businesses. (Johnson P 2010 p.64)

This virtual world also accommodates forms of entertainment such as dancing.  A crystal clear example is that second life has a club titled ''People Pool''. This particular club possesses characteristics of hiring club hostesses to do shifts. Avatars are taken under the process of submitting job applications and having  an experience of going to a ‘’job interview’’ .  This   example exemplifies the way in which Second Life is ‘’changing how we spend time in reality’’  by having a super economy based on property, shopping dancing and education.  The virtual world is using characteristics within the real world . (Johnson P 2010 p.64).

Social theorist Jean Baudrillards has a theory known as ‘’hypereality’’ which states that ‘’media represents more than the real’’ and produces and defines a ‘’new reality’’. (Taylor E V, Winquist E C 2003) .  The use of Avatars in a virtual worlds are being created by real human beings. People are ‘’performing an identity that may or may not be similar to the way they see or want to see themselves in everyday life’’.    (Danielsen M J & Deutschmann M 2009,p.160)

Avatars are characterized by four different things  (Danielsen M J & Deutschmann M 2009,p.161)

•  explorers who want to seek an adventure or share a journey with others.
•    socalizers who want to extend their networks by forming groups and throwing parties.
•    achievers who have a goal set to increase wealth, power and reputation.
•    controllers who want to compete and dominate the world.

The future for what Second Life has in store is a soaring surprise, either people are interested , or they are not bothered by it. Either way the doors are open for people who live in the real world to come out and explore a world that is beyond reality.

References:

1)   Yee Nicholas 2006 , ‘The Psychology of Massively Multi-User Online Role-Playing Games: Motivation, Emotional Investment, Relationships and Problematic Usage’, Avatars at Work and Play: Collaboration and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments, viewed on 23^rd January 2013, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:0WPb5cfVhxYJ:www.hci.iastate.edu/REU09/pub/Main/723/yee-psychology-mmorpg.pdf+&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgBkDOHuCSGVvD9Hnlo0XAuHKqI218BAQx3j2P91d1Asxk_XptFhkDZeHI6TROCo159fNe4Gv-DPZy1TjY2R75KTPKqxgJ9bkFh6XZ0TOvDFNlKiAqvc2WUS0HZAr3z7xFphPCA&sig=AHIEtbREuG4GjvLiakmVqjTtGr9j5J6LsQ

2)  Second Life , 2003 , ‘What is Second Life’, Second Life, viewed on 23^rd January 2013, http://secondlife.com/whatis/?lang=en-US

3) Rymaszewski R, Wagner J A, Wallace M, Winters C, Ondrejka C & Cunningham-Batstone B, 2007 , ‘Second Life- The Original Guide’, Wiley Publishing, New Jersey. 

4)  Johnson P 2010, Second Life, Media, and the Other Society, Peter Lang Publishing, New York

5) Taylor E V, Winquist E C 2003, Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, , Taylor & Francis Book, New York

6) Danielsen M J & Deutschmann M 2009, ‘Learning and Teaching in the Virtual World of Second Life, Tapir Academic Press, Germany.