The real life or The Second Life?

Around the world, there are millions of people who are unsatisfied with their day-to-day lives and yearn for an escape - an escape into a different life. Technology is what these people tend to look towards to satisfy this craving, and as ITGS students, we must understand the overall effect that it has on these individuals. Through the use of technology, it is easy for the average person to gain access to websites that allow them to, in a way, create their ideal life. Websites such as MovieStarPlanet, the now defunct Zwinky and Second Life offer them an escape in the form of an online virtual world. Although they do well in performing their respective functions, there are always cons attached to these online havens. This post will look at how IT influences these various effects and the general consequences on our society.

During our ITGS class, we watched and discussed a documentary about one of these virtual worlds - Second Life. This particular documentary shed more light on the social issue of People and Machines - why so many people turn to IT to help them with their lives. From watching the documentary, it became evident why IT is often seen as the solution to the real life's problem. With the rapid development of virtual worlds as well as the affordable prices of computers and internet connection, it is not surprising that people choose this option, as opposed to spending even more money in real life to gain what they want. Simply, IT provides them with an affordable way of achieving what they could never do in real life.

IT, in this scenario, also provides them with a legitimate way of making money. In this case, Second Life has its own economy and virtual currency, which can be redeemed for real life currency. It is almost unbelievable that having a Second Life could possibly bring income, simply by just sitting in front of a computer. However, no software is immune to bugs - one major con of IT. In this situation, bugs within the software could be very costly for users, as it is possible to lose one's only source of income. This highlights the constant risk of using IT and these virtual worlds for business and therefore is the responsibility of the companies that develop these worlds, to constantly update them.

Consequently, it is these updates that repeatedly increase the appeal of these virtual worlds. Due to this, it is far likelier for a person to be tempted and eventually become addicted to the benefits provided by this IT system. Such is the issue of people and machines. It is through this addiction of IT that people can become alienated from society - alienated from the real world. This is always the problem with IT, especially virtual worlds. Instead of serving as an alternative to the real life, the second life could potentially isolate users, posing as a risk to their physical and mental health.

In spite of these drawbacks, the advantages of such an IT system are quite evident. In order to reduce the impact of its cons, it is up to both the developer as well as the users themselves. We are at the center of most of these consequences and is therefore our responsibility as stakeholders to manage how much we make use of these sites. Although the appeal of IT may be great, it is always the user that makes the choice and thus, should be the one to determine its overall benefit to their wellbeing.

Gianna T.