Second Life, to me, is a great way for people to learn, socially interact, and even conduct a little bit of business online. After discussing in class what it would take to bring SL to the next level and continue rapid expansion, I have thought about it a little bit. Great ideas from everyone, by the way.
I think that it will take a great deal of demonstration on the many benefits of SL to start. Possibly the most important factor in the expansion of SL will be perception. Even amidst the development of basically everything in going online, there is still a negative connotation associated with online worlds and/or gaming. Growing up, parents were always telling me and my friends to "go outside and stop playing video games." I thank them for that, because I think it has helped me develop into a better, more social person. Gamers and people who spend a tremendous amount of time online are often perceived as extremely introverted people, and sometimes it is even assumed that they cannot interact in a real-life environment.
What I am saying is that for SL to expand (especially to a younger audience), parents will need to be "won over." The best way to do this is to promote SL as a "healthy" online experience. If academic advances or other features that will appeal to parents are not made and marketed well, many children will not be given the option to use second life at all, much less on a regular basis...
2 comments:
Indeed Second Life opens doors for social, educational and even some financial experiences, but has yet to receive wide acceptance amongst the public. You said that because people perceive SL as being unhealthy and indecent, its expansion is lingering. I totally agree with you, but I believe it is more than that. One big problem with SL is that it is not easy to use and comprehend. I spoke to some of my techno savvy friends about SL, and they told me that they have experienced it, but never really got attached to it, mainly because they thought they needed a lot of time to fully grasp SL’s concept and technology. I spent more than 15 hours on SL last week, and I still feel completely lost in this virtual world. Being a person who is not really a gamer, if I didn’t have to be on SL for this class, I would not go back to it after having a hard time understanding its basics. What I want to say is that many new SL users are turned off by its difficulty. I just think that SL organizers have to do a better job in introducing SL’s concept and technology to new comers.
Eisa,
Is it a usability issue for you or just a matter of not being motivated to use it? Just wondering because I think a lot of what makes SL "sticky" to certain people is more motivation than usability. For example, it seems as if you are saying that you are motivated to be in SL because of our class, but without that motive would not be in world. And I am saying that others are "in world" because of relational, financial, etc. motivations, and would not be in SL without them.
Any thoughts?
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