Second Life

  I think Philp Rosendale's views on second life are incredibly distorted. I think that people will end up becoming more connected to the internet then they already are, if there is a imaginary utopia world that is  seemingly better than the real world available on the internet. Philip Rosendale was asked a question in the interview if  'people will prefer there avatar to their real self' I feel like he didn't really answer the question. He said that the Avatars will make us want to be better then our real selves. I disagree, It is so easy to make up an identity on the computer for yourself that you wish you were like, that people will prefer being there avatar on the computer than actually going out and being themselves in real life.  I fear that it will get out of control, and potentially people could lose all sense of physical contact with other people. 

Rosendale is aware that in the future these types of changes in human contact and interacting will occur, but thinks that the changes are for the better and they will allow people to communicate who other wise wouldn't get the chance. I disagree a couple weeks ago i was watching a reality  television show where they helped people overcome there fears of going out in public, reacting with people, being on stage, etc. One girl was so addicted to Second Life she didn't actually have any other friends in real life besides the people in the video game. Even her boyfriend was from Second Life. She was a musician and so used to playing her music over the computer into second life she was terrified of actually playing in-front of a real audience. As Second Life becomes more popular I fear that this situation will also become more common.

So I tried using Second Life  and I found it incredibly difficult to move around and to understand how everything in the program worked. I found it to be boring and frustrating, but I can see how it could appeal to a different type of people who aren't as comfortable in public or who don't have a Life.