JCOM 2160: Second Life

Wow. After reading about Second Life, the online virtual world, I don't really know what to say. I personally don't think I will ever get involved with something like that, but at the same time I see some positives that could come from having a avatar on Second Life.
There is potential to make actual money in the virtual world. You have licensing rights to anything you create in Second Life so if its a hit with other "residents" you could make a nice chunk of change, it was interesting to find out that there is a good number of participants that make an average of 20 thousand dollars a year. So it does make some sense for businesses to get involved in that area, lots of money can be earned in a new way. The other thing that seems attractive about Second Life is the ability to connect with people from all over the world and learn about their cultures. Many people don't have the time or money to travel the globe and experience new people and things, Second Life gives them this opportunity.
Of course using Second Life should come with some caution. If Second Life is used in place of ALL contact with real, physical human beings I think it is very dangerous. In the virtual world we live in people are connecting less and less face to face which I think is necessary and healthy. I worry that many people that use Second Life don't do much more interaction than what they get from Second Life. If that's the case they are missing out on a lot of REAL interaction.