Before I explored Second Life, I had a much harsher opinion about Keiko and her music career. From what I saw on Truelife, Keiko was addicted to playing her music in this weird, on-line cartoon website and she was afraid to play the songs that she wrote in real life. Because I had never even heard of the website, I almost discredited it instantly. After spending time on Second life, I now have much more respect for its’ users and their addictions.
After much contemplation about what to blog on this week, I found an article entitled “10 Sure Fire Signs That You’re Addicted to Second Life.” It is so much easier for me to decide if someone is addicted to this website because I am not. When I was asked to identity my own addiction to Facebook, the addiction concept is somewhat construed. I blame my Facebook usage on boredom and procrastination. I am confident that the Second Life users would say the same thing. They don’t need Second Life, they are not addicted, and they may claim that the websites absence would make no difference in their life. Much like in Alcohol Anonymous steps, admitting that you have a problem just may be the first sign to recovery for these addicts.
I will not discuss all of the ten signs but I must say that a few of them were especially interesting or stood out for me as a person not involved in this online world. The abbreviation for Second Life is SL and many of the users then refer to real life as RL. They talk about how SL users think about right clicking on people in RL to learn more about them. They talk about how they think about getting somewhere faster in RL by clicking up to fly there. They talk about their constant comparison of RL to SL. Is this so bizarre? Have I ever compared something in real life to something on Facebook? Is it easier to get to know someone when their entire life, interests, occupations, and pictures are laid out for me on a screen in front of me? Only if they are honest about it all, right? When put into a perspective like this it’s no wonder that on-line dating is so popular. It seems so much easier and quicker and less nerve racking.
Another one of the signs is if ”you believe that the tall leggy big-breasted blond chick you met last week in SL is actually tall or leggy or big-breasted or blond or a chick.” The difference between Facebook and SL is that in Facebook world, although it may be photoshopped or more flattering that in real life, you at least see a photograph of who you’re talking to. In SL you can make your avatar look however you want. It’s like a super photoshop. I think that addiction to Facebook and Second Life are similar in their form but it is easier to form a more intense addiction quickly to Second Life.
2 comments:
Kristen, I agree with the fact that it is much easier to say when people are addicted if you yourself are not addicted. However, it is just as hard to say when you are or or not addicted. You say you are not addicted to Facebook, but maybe the people from Second Life would consider you addicted, because they are not addicted to Facebook.
I also think that sure, you can be whoever you want on Second Life, but you can also be whoever you want on Facebook. It is very easy to be misleading on Facebook, especially because you do not have to have a picture up. So I think that both Second Life and Facebook have almost equal potential to being dangerous because people hide their real identities.
And I totally agree with you on the fact that it is just weird how Second Life users relate Second Life back to real life. I do not think I could ever do it, but I understand how easy it is to get addicted to it, just like it is easy to get addicted to drugs, alcohol, or even Facebook.
It seems like to me that these people who use Second Life are in fact addicted to it. I've read so many news articles about Second LIfe and most of them have been negative. It's weird to think that they even relate their real world relationships to second life relationships. You mentioned that in the article it said that people who use these sites sometimes wish in real life that they could right click on someone and find out information about them.
All of these online communities have the potential of being dangerous and deceiving. People can lie about who they are and what they look like. A person could post a fake picture of themselves but pass it off as themselves. I think the bottom line is to try your best not to become addicted to these online virtual communities because the potential is there.
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