Signing up for an account was as easy as signing up for an eBay account. Actually, some might say that getting an eBay account is more difficult than obtaining a Second Life account. How strange that to create life, all it takes is your name, country, email, and a new password. I'm sure my mother would have preferred that over labor. After two hours of playing with the video game, I took some notes on my impressions.
First, as soon as I created my profile, the sign-up form prompted me to select an avatar. Some were funky for those funky people, and some were plain for those plain people. What did I do? I accidentally selected a female avatar. How silly of me, right? (I swear.. it was accidental!) Then the old internet concern hit me in the gut like I was fighting a boxer in the ring.. everybody around me in Second Life may not be what they represent. Their avatar is merely an image created by a computer. I may not be even interacting with a person of the same gender, let alone the same age or interest group.
That's life though, right? Who is to say that rich friend I go to for financial advice only has his Mercedes Benz as a facade? Or that happy smile my girlfriend has is actually a protective shield for her underlying depression? People are liars. To escape that would be to escape from people.
