Practicum 4

For this post I am going to talk a little bit about some of the activities you can do in Second Life. I think I had mentioned earlier that you can go boating, jet skiing, kayaking, dancing etc. In my personal experience with these activities I really have yet to understand the purpose behind them. I was talking to someone I met on SecondLife and asked them what they like most about this virtual world and what their favorite thing to do is. He responded by saying that he has a lot of friends on Second Life and enjoys interacting with them. Then he said his one of his favorite things to do is go boating and dancing. This kind of caught me by surprise because I really didn't know how much fun you could have by going virtual boating. He offered to take me for a boat ride which I accepted because I thought I should at least try it before I judged it. Basically a boat ride entails a lot of lagging and absolutely zero excitement. It was very hard for me to understand how that could bring fun and enjoyment to someone but to each his own I guess. 

I also have met a lot of people who enjoy dancing and going to clubs in SecondLife. Basically what happens is your avatar is dancing on the dance floor while music plays and there is a large group chat going on. This made a little more sense to me than the whole boating experience because there was a lot of interaction among everyone there. It didn't take long before I realized that everyone there had been on Second Life a while and had gotten to know everyone pretty well. A lot of people plan ahead and they have certain dates where they get together and go to the club. It still puzzles me when I met people and they say there like going to clubs and dancing. Im not sure if they enjoy watching their avatar dance or they just enjoy interacting with people but that is something I hope to learn more about. Obviously people are drawn to Second Life because they have met friends on there and are looking to meet more friends so maybe going to clubs is the best way to do so.