should i be nervous?

 
The Week 8 task of visiting various interactive web sites such as www.secondlife.com and www.imvu.comi was a little nervous. What kind of people join these forums/chat-rooms/second lives? Is it people who live in cold climates and can not go outside due to the driving snow and frigid temperatures? Or is people who feel disenfranchised from the rest of the present, living world that they need to go else where to fill a void in their Psyche? After venturing to all of the sites suggested by Professor Stockwell I decided to talk about second-life. The web site was the most advanced graphically and what it could offer you in the way of possessions.   

Searching through second life (SL) a couple of things become obvious. Everyone has long legs, a great rack and a rocking ass and no wrinkles/buck teeth or deformities. Searching in the photo album on display are a large variety of second life photo’s of people who are obviously live out fantasies like the women wearing nothing but a g-string, a smile and holding a very large sword. You can see a photo of the actual person who posted the photos, I think it is a man dressed as a women.

On searching SL a few things became apparent. It is not cheap to live here. Land use fees can range from $5  to $195 per month. You can buy an island priced at $1675.00 with a monthly maintenance fee of $295. All prices are in US. There is an in house media page and great excitement is brewing with the anticipated music concert of susan vegar. Items relating to cutomizing an avator are the biggest sellers on SL.

The best way to have an understanding of SL is to explore it for yourself. After reading the below article taken fron Women’s Wear Daily it is becoming apparent how the present life is slowly starting to take notice of what a great marketing and money making tool the cyber life can be. Why not? A company can have a double sale of one product, in there and out here. Soon films and musicians will appear in SL and various cyber livfes. You would want to listen to your favourite song not only in SL but also in the car, your ipod, lounge room and tell a friend about it.

Whilst exporing the web for other articles on second life I read a great piece on www.wwd.com Women Wear Daily which is the fashion bible. Please read below for the attached extract.

Brave New (Virtual) Worlds

Monday, April 30, 2007

Such sites have become incredibly influential, since they reach a wide demographic.

In South Korea, for instance, 90% of the population under the age of 20 uses Cyworld, a 3-D social networking site, according to Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner Inc. tracking firm.

These new worlds serve a multitude of purposes. Candidates running for office in France, for example, opened cyber headquarters and held election rallies there, while some couples have even hosted “wedding” ceremonies. Beauty and fashion brands are also catching on to the medium’s power to create buzz about real-world products. Virtual (and real) merchandise is traded regularly, as well.

 When you open any magazine-from technology to fashion to lifestyle-they’re all talking about Second Life,” said Justin Bovington, chief executive officer of Rivers Run Red, a Londonbased “immersive spaces” agency established in Second Life since 2003. The company has engineered launches there for brands, such as Calvin Klein and Reebok.

So true-to-life are these alternative web worlds, in fact, that American Apparel fashion label opened a store in Second Life in June 2006. And L’Oreal Paris held a Miss Second Life beauty contest in March, where the event’s 250 participating avatars received virtual powder compacts and lipsticks. The company will hold similar promotions every two months to promote its color-cosmetics collections.

When Coty Inc. introduced its youth-oriented Calvin Klein ckIN2U fragrance masterbrand in March, for example, avatars in Second Life liked to people in the U.K. could access an especially created site to obtain samples for their counterparts in the real world.

“Second Life is like the web was 10 years ago,” said Capman. “People are asking: ‘What is it? Is it dangerous?’