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ShareA young, smart and pretty thing was explaining Second Life to me. Since it is quite well known among my acquaintances that I am not at the cutting edge of technology --don't have a Black Berry yet -- needless to say that my knowledge of the latest 'happening' thing on the Internet was inadequate.
"It's a virtual life and allows you to be what you want to be," she said. "I am fine with what I am. Why should I want to be something else," I replied. "But it helps you build an alter-ego, meet virtual friends and explore a virtual world," she patiently explained. "I have enough, even too many friends, and there is much in the real world that I haven't seen."
By now it was clear that I was a difficult customer, so she said she would text me the hyperlink and I could check it out myself. The website told me that if I joined Second
Life, I would enter 'The World' and discover a "vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity." Maybe I would also find a 'perfect parcel' of land to build a house or business.
This is obviously a tempting idea, given how expensive real estate in real life is, but alas, one cannot live in such a house, only pretend to do so.
In fact, the whole thing is one big fantasy, allowing the Second Lifer to pretend being all those things he or she wants to be, with little or no inhibitions. At another time, it would be called day dreaming, but apparently there are over 5.7 million such day dreamers who have signed up and are having a merry old time.
Some refer to it as a mere game, others claim it is more significant than that. Wikipedia tells us it was inspired by a cyberpunk literary movement and has deeper philosophical meanings.
The appearance of the residents is called their 'avatar', a neat little allusion to Hindu thought that imbues the activity with mystical references and separates it from mere commercialism on the Internet.
To some, who may not be that technologically savvy, or are less credulous, Second Life is just another fun activity as long as it lasts, allowing you to be a bit of a Walter Mitty till you get back to the mundane issues of real life. But apparently, many Residents spend a lot of time exploring the world and meeting interesting people, or so they say, and prefer it to their corporeal existence.
Second Life is not the only virtual world website -- several competitors are also proving to be reasonably successful. Success, on the Internet at least, lies in numbers because it allows marketers to capture large audiences round the world at one go.
There might be many great websites on the web, but unless million users come to you, the money ain't going to follow.
To become hugely popular, the site must touch one aspect of our lives that we need to fulfill over and over again -- asking questions (Google), buying books (Amazon), or sending out e-mail (Hotmail).
That much is obvious. What the new successes are now doing is connecting at a deeper, more subliminal level in which we want to either expose ourselves to the world, in real or imaginary terms, or peer into their lives or just connect with complete strangers.
Check out the videos on YouTube -- many of them show people doing the most silly things for no particular reason but vanity or maybe to let the world know of their existence.
In the early days of the Internet, the idea of chatting with strangers was so thrilling that perfectly sane people spent hours indulging in their wildest fantasies, with the sure knowledge that they would not be found out.
Today, chat is seen as an activity for perverts or losers; the sophisticated ones have moved on.
In time psychologists will try and unravel why people want to stare at an electronic screen and either pour their hearts out or hear others doing so. Is it just a simple escape from the drudgery of normal life, or something more complex?
Are we turning into voyeurs, while allowing others to peep into our souls? Is the world going to become full of sad, lonely and socially dysfunctional people who just cannot manage real relationships and need that electronic connection?
I don't have any answers, maybe because I come from a Jurassic past where these things do not exist. Or maybe I am enjoying my First Life a bit too much.
Email: sidharth01@dnaindia.net
