Wednesday, November 4, 2009

I'm tryna find the words to describe this world without being disrespectfullll...

I'm just going to say it: I was a skeptic. When I found out that I was in an English class that would be dealing with what I thought at the time was just a video game for grown-ups, I was extremely uneasy. The only image I had seen of SL previous to my English 103 class was the portrayal of the world on a crime scene investigation show. That show had made it seem like this dangerous and shady place, which made me feel a little less than secure. Now after having been through the world myself and exploring the different educational and recreational activities you can participate in I know that my initial assumptions were incorrect. However, the problem is still evident.

The biggest problem SL faces as a communications technology is the unappealing light it has been portrayed in in Hollywood and the resulting image "non-SLers" gain from these shows. I know first hand because I was one of them. I think a lot of people are hesitant to join worlds such as SL because they are afraid that they too will end up with a stalker or worse. There are a lot of skeptics out there, and I think that unless Linden Lab makes more effort to put SL in a more positive, less "serial-killer" type light then it will slowly begin to die out.

So please Linden Lab! Get on this! God forbid millions of successful 30 somethings lose their escape from the hectic business world! They NEED Second Life!!
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3 comments:

  1. Iggy ONovember 6, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    May I reprint this in my blog?

    Who ARE virtual worlds FOR, anyway?

    I love the tone, and the post relates to an ongoing debate about private versions of SL that businesses will soon be able to host (at a starting cost of $55,000). See:

    http://www.massively.com/2009/11/04/linden-lab-launches-second-life-enterprise-beta-second-life-wor/

    There's some confusion about what these places "want to be" when they "grow up." The CSI episode provides a great example of marketing that backfired on a company. It could be a case-study in a Marketing 101 class.

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  2. Big GurlNovember 10, 2009 at 12:04 PM

    Of course. I would be honored to be on your blog.

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  3. Mitchell JamesonNovember 19, 2009 at 1:00 PM

    I have been an over-acchiever and have read a few blogs about this topic. It seems to be one of the more popular problems with SL. I even wrote about it. One of my friends even said something like "Second Life, isn't that the game that 30 somethings play in their mom's basement". It is this negative image that is crippling SL.

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