Creativity and New Media
SecondLife
New media fosters creativity in numerous forms. It enables us to express ourselves in different and unique ways. For this assignment, I decided to join the SecondLife platform. SecondLife is an online virtual world which has approximately one million users regularly. SecondLife is available on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems. The widespread of platforms that SecondLife is made available on allows users from all around the world to join and take part in the virtual reality community. With SecondLife, it allowed me to create an avatar of myself which portrayed a visual representation of the person I would chose to display online. Below I have included screenshots of my avatar and the encounters I experienced. SecondLife allowed me to be in London city and walk in the streets of London city, a city I have desired to visit for quite some time now. As many of us can relate, in most of our realities we are in the middle of a stressful time period, Midterm season. While we are staying up late studying and not able to participate in activities we'd like to such as traveling the world, SecondLife allows us to at least imagine we are. I was able to meet other SecondLife users online, or residents, and engage in conversation. The experience made me feel like I was forming new relationships with other people which I was in fact doing, because every avatar represents an individual behind their screen. One of my hobbies are to go shopping, and in the virtual reality world I got to visit a little store called "The Shop Around The Corner." The virtual environment was very comforting because it made me feel at ease. The cute little coffee tables outside the shop looked very real and this platform allows residents to sit and engage with one another as well. The world looks very realistic on SecondLife and it is very easy to get sucked in. I will definitely be exploring more in this virtual world as an escape from the stressful times of reality.
Never thought you were a 'virtual world' game person! XD
ReplyDeleteI like your outfit tho!
After having a positive experience in Second Life, I was curious to see how other classmates experienced this social platform. From the posted screenshots, it looks like you had a good time traveling virtually to London. I actually had not even thought of traveling to London, and may travel there virtually when I have some free time. It is always fun to find and casually converse with other users who are at the same place. The purpose of Second Life is to bring individuals together over shared interests, and sharing one’s admiration for a place by traveling there virtually shows how far we have come in terms of being digitally connected. As long as one avoids the more inappropriate destinations on Second Life, I believe that online casual relationships can form and give us a greater sense of digital belonging as well. This connection on screen could translate to a sense of relaxation especially after tough days at work or school.
ReplyDeleteThis seems so cool! I haven't used Second Life, like a lot of our classmates seemed to have but it seems so fun and engaging. I don't get to travel often and London is a place thats on my list of cities to visit so I'd love to try out Second Life. I know forming these online friendships can be dangerous but like Andrew said, it can also give us a better sense of our digital belonging. I'm definitely going to use Second Life when I can now! From what I know so far, it seems like Second Life is similar to IMVU which is basically a 3d chatroom and a game that emphasizes socialization!
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