Venturing into Second Life

Yesterday, I dove into the world of Second Life. It was the first time I have ever used a virtual social networking world that was like a video game. I use Facebook all the time and I have used MySpace (which I barely use now), but Second Life is totally different from those. I thought it was so much fun being able to choose my name (different from my own), what I looked like, and basically all the features about me. I was able to control my character, I was able to literally run into people, and fly!

I really think that people can be anyone they would like to be in this world. They can look how they want to look, wear clothes they dream of wearing, and create themselves to be someone else. It reminds me of the song “Online” by Brad Paisley:

I work down at the Pizza Pit
And I drive an old Hyundai
I still live with my mom and dad
I'm 5 foot 3 and overweight
I'm a scifi fanatic
A mild asthmatic
And I've never been to second base
But there's whole ‘nother me
That you need to see
Go checkout MySpace

Online I live in Malibu
I pose for Calvin Klein, I've been in GQ
I'm single and I'm rich
And I've got a set of six pack abs that would blow your mind
It turns girls on that I’m mysterious
I tell them I don't want nothing serious
'Cause even on a slow day
I could have a three way
Chat with two women at one time
I’m so much cooler online
Yeah, I'm cooler online

I went into the world before my class and it was interesting to talk to other people. Some like to approach and say not nice things; however, there are others who actually want to talk.

I think because there are people who say not nice things, I don’t think I would use it in a classroom. As a teacher it is always good to check out sites before you use them in the classroom to know what your students will run into. With Second Life, it seems to be unpredictable. Who knows who a student may run into while venturing into the world. Also, I work in a Catholic school and the idea of the avatars being able to take off their clothes would not go over very well with some parents.

For my own personal experience; however, I enjoyed being able to venture into different worlds including the Louvre, even though it didn’t have the Mona Lisa. I was also able to the play the piano! I enjoyed flying and finding different treasures along the way to pick up. What made it better, too, was knowing I knew people that were there at the same time as me. It was fun to have side chats and to see what they discovered as well. Working as a team made it so much better!

I think it will be interesting to go into the world at least one more time to try to find other islands that may have more people to meet other people and experience the rest of Second Life. I did enjoy the experience.