Do you keep a photo album in your virtual world?
I have less than limited experience in Second Life, so anything that I might write
about it is totally speculation. Having written that, however, it's hard not to
let my speculations run wild and to ask what to me are fascinating questions.
Is there any logical reason that within a virtual, purposefully non-physical,
environment we'd choose to imitate the physical world? In a world where people
aren't compelled to comply to the laws of physics, why do they apparently choose to do so anyway?
A well-known YouTube video
presents a funeral held within the Worlds of Warcraft game. The funeral was held
for an actual person, a participant in a tribe in that game, who had died. The video
shows a warring tribe, perhaps unaware that the funeral reflected an actual event
in "real life", attacking it and breaking it up. That in itself is a
fascinating story, but it would seem to raise additional questions. When events
such as a funeral or a wedding take place within Second Life, are there "photographers"
who take photos of those events? If there are, do they sell them to the participants
who can then keep them and view them in virtual photo albums? Would residents
of Second Life occupy part of their time there reminiscing about their experiences
while sitting on virtual sofas and turning the pages of those albums?
Go to: To hold in our hands.