Virtual Web

Second Life
Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, developed by Linden Research Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab), which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007. Entrepreneurs knew there was money to be made so they invested within the company and many are now millionaires. Anshechung was the very first person to make $1 million real life dollars by making and selling clothing, furniture and land. Many companies such as sony, reebok, calvin klein and nissan are using second life to advertise there products. Calvin Klein has its very own store where you can test fragrences then see how your avatar reacts to it, then you can get a free sample of the fragrence.

Second life's virtual currency is the Linden Dollar (Linden, or L$) and it is exchangeable for real world currencies in a marketplace consistng of residents. You interact with each other through motional avatars which provide an advanced level of social interaction.



The video above shows a good introduction to Second life.

While Second Life is sometimes referred to as a game, this description does not fit the standard definition. It does not have points, scores, winners or losers, levels, an end-strategy, or most of the other characteristics of games, though it can be thought of as a game on a more basic level because it is "played for fun".

When second life started out there were only 4 users, In all, more than 9.8 million accounts have been registered, although many are inactive, some Residents have multiple accounts, and there are no reliable figures for actual long term consistent usage.

Recently second life has been invested and reports have shown that second life is being used irresponsibly. The video below is a clip from sky news showing a town called "Wonderland" where little girls are abused and raped.



There are various advantages to Second Life and other virtual worlds such as socialising with friends, but its when fantasy and reality cross that Second Life's ruling should be questioned.