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Second
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Second
Life (abbreviated as SL) 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. A downloadable client
program called the Second Life Viewer enables its
users, called "Residents", to interact with
each other through motional avatars, providing an
advanced level of a social network service combined
with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can
explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate
in individual and group activities, create and trade
items (virtual property) and services from one another.
Second
Life is one of several virtual worlds that have been
inspired by the cyberpunk literary movement, and particularly
by Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash. The stated
goal of Linden Lab is to create a world like the Metaverse
described by Stephenson, a user-defined world in which
people can interact, play, do business, and otherwise
communicate. Second Life's virtual currency is the
Linden Dollar (Linden, or L$) and is exchangeable
for real world currencies in a resident to resident
marketplace facilitated by Linden Lab. There is no
fee for registering an account or participating in
Second Life, however registration of "payment
information" (i.e. a credit card) is mandatory
in order to participate in some functions, such as
owning land or islands, as well as to access certain
support features such as Second Life's support portal
and online forums.
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. There are, however, several games within
Second Life, e.g., international football (soccer)
matches.
In
all, approximately 13 million accounts have been registered,
although a large percentage of these are inactive,
some Residents have multiple accounts, and there are
no reliable figures for actual long term consistent
usage. Despite its prominence, Second Life has notable
competitors, including IMVU, There, Active Worlds,
Kaneva, and the erotic-oriented Red Light Center.
(Credit:
Wikipedia).
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