So I’ve finally gone and checked out Second Life and I’m a little less than impressed. I get the model of interaction and a movement towards an online realm which is sort of the techno-dream of the early internet. But I have a problem with all these online worlds, whether they be Facebook, World of Warcraft, or Second Life. That is they don’t bring us closer together.
At least I don’t think so. Real human interaction is a rare and difficult thing. Well actually it shouldn’t be but it seems like it sometimes. It requires friendships and relationships that have been built slowly over time. I get concerned with things that feel like throw away culture or may promote loose or easily shifting allegiences.
To be fair, I know I am too much of a Luddite. I resisted cell phones at first and am now resisting the Google and iPhones. My thing is I want to know how a technology is directly useful. Cell phones have proven themselves useful not only in personal relationships but also in much broader areas as well. I don’t feel like there’s much contention in that. But Facebook I am still resistant to. Facebook to me feels like a stand in for real human interaction. In fact, I think too much reliance on Facebook would tend to leave one feeling more isolated and I know friends that resist it for this reason. Much has been written about the social impact of Facebook so I don’t want to go too much into it here. There are ways, I’m sure, Facebook can be useful but I’ve found it to be limiting and often annoying.
But there’s another thing about Second Life I don’t like, and that’s the avatar. Second Life clearly bills itself as the solution to whatever’s lacking in normal life. And yes, I think the avatars look like pseudo-porn. My spidey sense tells me this is just going to lead to people having a lower overall sense of self-worth. But oh well. I guess TV’s already doing this. Not that I watch much of it.
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