Second Life/ Phillip Rosdale

I first experienced Second Life in my Visual Language 1 class, freshman year at Mass Art. My professor believed that the program had amazing opportunities for people in the art world and wanted my class to experience those possibilities. So, we each created our own avatar and were given class time to explore the digital universe. My twenty or so classmates and I sat around the perimeter of the classroom, laughing at the characters we had created. It was fun for us to style our own digital selves however we so chose. I couldn’t help but think, however, that talking to each other’s avatars while we were in the same room was a bit strange. Why should we communicate over the internet when we sat only inches from one another?
My professor continued some lessons using Second Life throughout the semester. We had both critiques and assignments using digital representation. One class meeting in particular, my professor communicated with us from another state, where she was conducting a conference about the program. She referred to my class as a live example of what students could produce using Second Life. I have to admit we were all having a good time with it. To experience a college level course in (what felt like) a game was something I never expected. That being said, I did not continue any exploration of the site outside of the assignments given in that class, until now.
After watching Phillip Rosdale discuss the digital universe he had created, I do have a clearer sense of the intentions of the site. I, like Rosdale, have felt limited by the possibilities of the physical world to carry out all of my exciting ideas and creations. It is exciting to know that build my dream house/car shop/art school/../… for only a fraction of the price it would cost in real life, and to also experience those ideas in three dimensional form. I also agree with Rosdale that the diverse community in the program is extremely refreshing, as a girl that was raised in a town whose Caucasian population exceeds 90%. An easy, not to mention entertaining source of communication to individuals all over the globe is quite appealing.
There is one aspect of Rosdale’s program that truly concerns me, however. I am sure many people will agree that technology has drastically diminished the need for personal interaction. Video games, online shopping, text messaging, and so much more have quickly taken place of physical communication. I fear that Second Life, for many people, will become one more reason to disregard or even avoid real life experiences. One audience member questioned the possibility that users might prefer his/her digital characters to him/herself. Rosdale confidently replied that “being present in the virtual world challenges one’s own self to be more creative...” But creativity, I believe is most strongly influenced when faced with the same challenges Second Life's creator strove to eliminate. One such example might be, not having the funds to build a dream house/car shop/art school…