The Anti-Second Life Brigade
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Written By Kate Zimmermann | December 28, 2006 | Share This
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Clay Shirky is finally gathering support for his crusade against Second Life. In Second Life: A Debunking in Five Acts Valleywag succinctly sums up Shirky’s grievances,
“At Valleywag, we’d long had an inchoate irritation with Second Life and, more specifically, with the uncritical press coverage that the virtual world enjoyed. Often, a company’s publicity can get ahead of mundane reality; it’s often more the fault of a credulous press than an over-eager PR operation. But, when a virtual land baroness in Linden Lab’s online game claimed she was now a millionaire, it was clear that Second Life was begging for a takedown…”
Apparently Shirky’s stab at the press coaxed a few more Second Life skeptics into the open. An IBM blogger admitteded that IBM (owner of 12 islands in Second Life, and notorious advocate of the virtual world’s business opportunities) will need to re-vist their participation in Second Life, and “ask tough questions” in 2007. Jeff Jarvis, popular blogger on BuzzMachine, echoed Shirky’s sentiments,
” Personally, I’m relieved. It was beginning to appear that everybody in the real world was moving to the virtual one…. except me. I tried hard but just couldn’t get into the thing or figure it out. Turns out, Clay says, they count me as a resident even though I moved out long ago. The question he asks: When will reporters catch up with the facts?”
Shirky and Jarvis’ main complaint is the inaccuracy of Second Life’s “2 million residents” and the eagerness with which the mainstream news media has trumpeted Second Life’s success. As Shirky writes, “Linden may be counting as Residents people who signed up and downloaded the client software, but who never logged in, or there may be some other reason for the mismatched figures, but whatever the case, Residents is remarkably inflated with regards to the published measure of use.” In response to Shirky’s analysis, Second Life Insider wrote an extensive post on the “given worth” of a resident in Second Life, and Gigagamez conceded, “Clay is right to call for the media to stop reporting that [”2 million”] number without caveat. Shirky is further correct to wonder if all the big companies recently promoting their brands in Second Life (NBC! American Apparel! Adidas and Toyota!, etc.) count as news, since it’s not clear if this is just a gimmick, or if they’re actually getting any measurable return from their promotion dollars.”
In addition to Shirky’s criticisms, Second Life is battling destructive robots that undermine the virtual community’s basic notion of property value. As the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, many Second Life retailers have been forced to close shop in fear of a “CopyBot” that steals virtual goods. Searchviews covered this story when if first broke, and has since questioned the entire notion of “property value” or intellectual property in a virtual, open-source world. We’re not the only ones to predict that robots will break down the economy of Second Life, Check out Fimoculous’ 2007 Prediction #17.
Regardless of negative press from bloggers, Second Life continues to get rave reviews from major news journals. InformationWeek calls it the “potential new web”, PCMagazine says “Second Life has struck a chord with a significant portion of the population”, and Business 2.0 points out that Microsoft’s new Vista will “run Second life like a dream.” Once the media gets over the whole sensational idea of Second Life, however, expect more mainstream journalists to resonate Shirky’s critical opinions.
Topics: Open Source |
In the early days of the internet, people figured that simply putting what amounted to their brochure on a home page would make them automatic .com millionaires. Hype drove that to work in some cases, but the bubble burst.
SL certainly has benefitted from overhyping, and there are certainly a lot of vacuous oversized buildings in SL. SL is simply an infrastructure that provides open access to a relatively sophisticated 3d engine. It will no more make your business a success than a bunch of boards and bricks will. Success in SL is entirely dependant on the ingenuity and creativity of its inhabitants. There are quite a few people benefitting from the efforts of the few in SL, as in real life, but the overall experience is slowly maturing as more and more people contribute. Sure the numbers are overhyped, but if it gets attention and helps encourage commitment to the group, why not? Who cares? The important thing is that SOME people are choosing to be creative and innovative, working to create better forum for global information sharing than HTML based web sites.
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SL is definitely a demon sent by Satan to take over the world. I lost my girlfriend to SL and I hate it with all my heart. I anxiously wait for the day SL falls and it gets burnt to the ground.
G’day.
I’m currently working on a large journalistic piece on the basic truths about Second Life (no-one is making money, everyone just uses it for e-sex etc.). Your group seem like just the kind of chaps I’d like to speak to, if you’d like to discuss some of your views on the game, please e-mail me at
theknightwhosaysni@hotmail.com
Regards
Martin
P.S. Keep up the good fight
I’m in the same boat as Eleniel, I have wondered why, in the past few years, that my wife has become distant and needs no emotional support from me. I finally figured out why, There and Second Life romances(e-sex) have grown out of control, it’s not just the internet
anymore, secret phone calls, erasing all calls on the cell phone, etc..
I feel bad for the spouses out there that can’t compete with an avatar!
I also fell victim to the evil wreckage that second life leaves behind.After all second life starts to become real life and real life is no longer important nor are the people who prefer to look you in the eyes instead of typing on a keyboard.
Eleniel and Siege: First of all you guys need THERAPY. The only reason why your wifes and girlfriends grew distant is that YOU didn’t bother making an effort. You probably watched your women getting bored with you (which is why thy turned to SL) and just numbly say “oh… they are so distant… that DAMN SecondLife!!”
Ok no GIVE ME A DAMN BRAKE will ya?? Jeez what a bunch of wimps!! All you need to do is grow a pair of balls and make an effort if you want your relationships to work. Do that and i can guarantee your women won’t spend so much time in front of a computer. For your information, spending too much time doing a sedentary activity voluntarily is a sign of DEPRESSION. Be aware, and stop talking out of your asses.
Oh and yes, i agree with everything else. SL is nothing but bricks and mortar with banners attached. The people who populate it and build in it are the ones that made SL what it is today… and such. YAWN.
I hate second life. My husband was told about the game and being curious he made an account. Next thing I know he is “married” on the game having e-sex and telling me he wants a divorce. We were so happy before he started playing and now he is a completely different person. He lost all his friends, his family and now I am left a single mom with a 3 month old and 2 year old because of a stupid internet game! I will never understand what the big deal is about this stupid internet game! Thanks second life for ruining my marriage of 7 happy years!
Second Life got Alliance canceled, ruined the life of milions and has the graphics of a toddler’s drawings, I thoroughly hate that piece of crap software.
i hate second life, i met a girl there and it was a big love also in real life, now i lost her in sl, i wish second life never existed and that it burns to the ground. second life is a psycological abuse to people. its a very bad mindgame, its has to stop. i wonder iff second life is legal, because i think a lot off people are going mad. its a psychologic mind terror game. thanks second life for destroying the love off my life.