The Disruptive Power of Second Life

Since the launch of Second Life we have witnessed how other meeting spaces have been impacted. Where are the chatrooms that were so abundant less than 10 years ago? They have given way to other forms of virtual communication, one of them Second Life (SL). On SL users, or residents can meet, socialize, work, shop, build, share and even get educated. The convenience of this latest one is immense and represents possibly one of the largest areas of possible growth and establishment of SL as an integral component of our everyday lives.

SL disrupted online meetings. Why would you sit and talk to strangers in a plain environment when you could build a space and socialize virtually in a multimedia rich environment that is multi sensory? Its potential is so big that several learning communities have been creating spaces and building facilities to hold educational meetings. Even medicine programs have been exploring with their interns practicing virtually. Learning in such an environment taps into the power of online environments and enriches the body of knowledge. It is when diverse opinions and ideas are shared and considered that human contributions become significant.

Second Life will be around for many years. Being open source and free empowers many users to join and explore. Having so many users necessarily means having a high percentage of developers finding how to improve the experience. The added economical opportunities makes for another motivating factor, where competition to be the next big product or service in SL drives the creativity of many. Other advancements such as holographic projection will take the experience to the next level, enabling resident to fell physically inside the environment, closer the the life presented or constructed. It should be expected that other environments might try to compete, and some may be effective. Still SL is established as the premier site currently and we are only starting to see that there are many possibilities with it beyond entertainment. Just to think that we can have virtual classrooms where students at all levels can meet and obtain content, guidance and expert advice is very promising...

Module 4 Responses:

Response 1 - Leasa -  http://lcodner.blogspot.com

Response 2 - Henry - http://7108-1.blogspot.com