Putting that on hold, I went back and viewed the videos we saw in class and I agree there are some things which are beneficial to Second Life and other things that are useless. I think for the sake of protests, 9/11 remembrance, and other awareness using Second Life would be useful. However as far as just using it to hang out and socialize I don't see the need for it except prohibiting people for meeting others in Real Life. It is hindering people social skills.
I am a firm believer that using Second Life for school purposes would be a great thing. Online classes are ideal to begin with but adding the aspect of Second Life would allow students to be able to have the idea of a classroom without actually being there. Amazing if you ask me!!!
After an hour of using or trying to use Second Life, I deleted my account since I had no real use nor joy to use the program. Maybe one day I will if Hunter professor decide to use "Second Life" for online classes, till then I see no need except awareness why people should use "Second Life."
I agree with you. As a virtual classroom or for a specific purpose that facilitates communication between people that cannot otherwise meet (eg Iranian kids talking to Californian kids), I think it has some great potential. Other than that it seems to be just another way to live in a fantasy world removed from the real one.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very limiting to say that constant interaction with others in Second Life would hinder one's social skills. You should consider that social skills are cultural and not essential, and therefore have to be re-learned wherever one goes. If one takes up extended stay in a new country, and is therefore faced with learning the social and interpersonal skills of that environment, will one's ability to operate socially in their original environment eventually become crippled? Whatever the answer to that, I don't think it would be too much of an assumption to state that the later scenario of adapting the culture of a new country is more accepted than adapting the culture of an online community, which is unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about Second Life is that, while the environment may be fantasy, the people are real. Though one may not be interacting with a body, there is a real person behind each avatar. Sure, people may take up looks and personalities that are not their own, but the same holds true in real life. Second Life has the potential for safe, low-cost interaction with individuals that one may have never had the opportunity to meet.
Just because the people that one interacts with in Second Life are intangible doesn't mean the interactions are worthless. And, conversely, tangibility doesn't always mean reality, including with people.
I love that you tried to use the program before you wrote about it. I did not have a chance to do so myself but I have got to see what it is about!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about using second life for educational purposes- there are many people out there who do not have the time to further their education and get stuck in entry-level jobs because of this. I think a lot more people would get a college degree if it was as simple as sitting at a computer screen when you have time (and getting a real degree, not one of those BS ones you see advertized all over the subway!).
In terms of what Curtis wrote, I couldn’t agree more with his statement "the people are real"- what is real about these people? I can be whoever I want to be and look however I want to look- there is nothing real about it, it is all a fantasy of how the person behind the avatar wants to project himself. In the real world sure there are facades that everyone puts on but generally we can see right through that while in 2nd life you can maintain this personality/look forever (or just until you get tired of it and want to create a new personality!)
I understand the point of there being a real person behind each avatar. As far as relating this to culture is far from a point, if one wants to learn culture I think going to the library and reading a book would be more useful then going on to "Second Life" and talking to someone, for all anyone knows that person who you may think is from Brazil and can speak 3 languages is just your next door neighbor who is just as bored as the next person. How can one tell what another is saying is real, is it then ok to compare "Second Life" to these online chats or online dating websites??? You can go to various parts of New York and within a day learn more about a culture then "Second Life" could ever put out there.
ReplyDeleteI am not trying to say the people you meet in "Second Life" are worthless, its just that with anything on the internet one can never be too sure who the other person is on the other side of the computer. So before one says "Second Life" is real, one has to take a closer look as to what is happening, before praising such things. I just think personally it is far from being praised!
I'm curious what scares us more about second life than other obsessive activities people participate in? something about it strikes this fear that users will necessarily detach from their real life -- is it something about the 3-d environment? I sort of think what we're afraid of is that it IS some sort of reality -- and that throws the reality we're living into question. Many people who are disturbed by second life are not equally disturbed by people who constantly play video games. Is it because we understand the point of a video game but not the point of second life? Just thoughts..
ReplyDelete@ Miriam: I see the divide that you're trying to build between individuals in reality and those in Second Life, but I'm not convinced your argument is sound. You can you can be whoever you want to be: how is this different in real life? Who one wants to be does not have to be a "fantasy" or a "facade." One has just as much of an ability to create a new personality for themselves in real life as they do in Second Life. Sure, Second Life might make it easer: you're interacting with others for limited amounts of time, and there are no vocal or physical signals to give away an act, so acting may happen much more often in Second Life. But how can you be sure that, just because you can see someone's body, that you "can see right through that [acting]?" And to what extent are we "acting" all the time? What does it say if one desires to portray themselves differently, in terms of personality, in Second Life than they do in real life? I find that what your argument is doing is judging the actions of the general user based on the medium: because it is easy to portray oneself differently, everyone will do it, and this Second Life is a world of false personalities and false people. Yet, Josh Levy not only showed how he entered Second Life with the same personality that he used in real life, but also introduced us to many other users who did the same.
ReplyDelete@zponton: I guess I wasn't clear about what I was talking about when I discussed learning culture. I wasn't referring to learning the culture of another (real) country through Second Life, I was talking about learning the culture of Second Life itself. Also, when I spoke about culture, I wasn't referring to the kind of information one would find in a textbook (types of food eaten, language spoken, etc); I was referring to things more intangible, like how far from one another you stand when talking to another, when you're allowed to interject in conversation and how to go about doing it, how loudly to speak, and other parts of interpersonal reaction that one can only master through constant interpersonal interaction (that's an opinion I guess, but that's not the discussion I want to get into). What I was arguing is that learning Second Life culture is the same as learning the culture of another country/group/etc, and that it is generally assumed that, while learning the culture of a real life environment is not only healthy and acceptable, but valuable, spending time learning internet culture is detrimental to one's ability to practice the culture one already knows. It is, again, an example of judging the general user based on the medium.
Sorry I write so much =\
@Miriam: ...the second sentence is supposed to start "You say you can be..." whoops =\
ReplyDelete