A6: Second Life Exploration

I decided to go to many social areas of the Second Life web map to interview people why they engage in a virtual world and what they get out of it. I wandered about the map finding random people but didn't have much luck for finding people who were actually interested in conversing on the subject. A few users showed a great deal of embarrassment when I asked them personal questions. Most users I interviewed just explained that it is just a fun hobby that they do for an hour or so. Many users said that they spent quite a lot of time in the virtual world to escape problems and situations in the real world. Some actually argued that they learn how to be more social with interactions going on in the virtual world. I couldn't take a picture because the software fails over and over again on my computer but I managed to make some interviews last to get a few good insights.

"Their focus is experience," a random user explained. "It's whatever their individual perspective is. They come into Second Life trying to explore their ideas as they relate to a digital experience."

"I use Second Life to explore ideas about public space and what makes a good public space," she said. "Being in Second Life all of a sudden puts me in this different environment, which is similar but different, and it forces me to explore how I think about these things.... When you're in Second Life, because it's similar, but the physics are different, people react differently. And it makes them think more deeply about how one designs public spaces."