This particular article, found in The New York Times, parallels what we discussed in class, regarding Second Life. As many people may have a difficult time grasping why others spend hours upon hours of their 'real' lives to gain status, earn money, and make friends in a 'fake' life, this article follow one college student, in particular. Meet Janine Hawkins. Your average twenty-something who lives her life as a student by day and a French translator by night. What most people don't know about Janine, however, is that in the Virtual World, she is Iris Ophelia, the buxom brunette fashion editor of Second Life's fashion magazine. She spends hours of her day dedicated to her job as fashion editor of this virtual magazine, and one might ask why?
This article explores what we talked about in class as being the rise of the amateur, or the Pro-Am Revolution. As Janine wants to escape from her 'normal,' mundane life, she opts for something new and exciting. Second Life is where Janine can become an attractive, young fashion editor and no one will question her. Second Life is about giving people the chance to virtually recreate themselves, and upon completion of this article, I felt as though I understood the incentive to participate in something like this unknown, virtual realm.
1 comment:
At first I didn't grasp the motivation behind joining Second Life either. However, after learning more about and and after reading this article, I can also see why someone would want to "recreate" himself or herself in this virtual new world. I really think that Second Life is only the beginning of live, virtual worlds and I am very interested to see how this will all pan out and develop in the near future.
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