Saturday, January 20, 2007

Blogpost#1: Second Life

After reading the article in Time Magazine "My So-Called Second Life" and viewing a little in class on Sunday, I am amazed! It seems extremely creative that a person can create characters and meet other people that they probably never would have met or have a conversation. Another, positive point would be that virtual games can teach various skills that we are able to apply to everyday real life, such as buying property and running a business. Some people are making lots of money which adds to consumerism in real life, and this is a good thing for them.

On the negative side, people should interact more in life than in a "virtual world." I am not sure I understand all of this! Money is being spent on virtual things that are intangible. People create characters who they would like to be in real life, it seems so unreal! Instead, shouldn't we try to change our own behavior, in real life? Is this an escape? I am not sure about any of this, however, I would like to explore this more. It has peeked my curiosity. It was interesting in class to see the look a like characters and how they move across a screen. Lots of room for thought!

4 comments:

Stacie said...

Mary,
Did you know that CPS's Department of Libraries has an office at second city? Lisa Perez has set it up as another way to spread information. You can even read book virtually in the office.

Stacie

Michael Stephens said...

Exploration and thought are two of the best things we could do in relation to SL. Who know where it will go or what the next systems will be like!

You bring up a good point about real life and the virtual...what's the blanace?

childlib1 said...
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childlib1 said...

I agree on your reservations about spending a lot of time in a virtual world. It does seem a bit like pretending.
However, the library parts are, at least, quite focused on reality - sharing information.