I logged into “Second Life” in the year 2018 A.D. It still exists, sort of.
Residents and businesses began fleeing for more popular social networks long ago. Vast acres of land are abandoned or sparsely populated by the few remaining diehard users. Its developer’s VR follow-up, Sansar, is currently in beta. Property values are dropping. It’s becoming a digital ghost town.
Which is why I was visiting — disaster tourism of dying software. I first warped to a boardwalk at Flotsam Beach, an idealized digital facsimile of Atlantic City, without the Syringe Tide. It was deserted, but remains in pristine condition. Digital worlds don’t typically rot or become overgrown with foliage, after all. They exist for a time, and then someone shuts them down. Right now, “Second Life” resembles a city swiftly evacuated following a radioactive threat.
I wandered around. Reggae music played for no one. Lights from a dance club flashed before an abandoned dance floor. Empty stores sold unwanted goods that would never collect dust. I flew to the top of a big slide — there was no line — and went down.
A little girl suddenly appeared on the boardwalk. She was holding a fishing rod. Two strangers, meeting in the void.
I typed a message: hi.
A minute later she responded: why are you messging me
I left the area.
“Second Life” is a 3D massively-multiplayer open-world game. It’s run by a software company called Linden Labs. The company was founded by entrepreneur and former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale, who was inspired to create the virtual world after a trip to Burning Man. Early investors in the company included Jeff Bezos and Pierre Omidyar.
“Game” is used loosely here, as one can’t “win” “Second Life” in any real sense, and there are no objectives. It provides a digital escapist fantasy, supposedly allowing users to be and do whatever they want, unbound by the restrictions of the “real” world. They can create custom avatars. They can use the game’s official currency (Linden Dollars) to purchase and sell in-game items, including land, which they can build houses on. They can fly. They can make friends, and have sex with them.
“Second Life” launched to the public in the summer of 2003, only three months after the start of the Iraq War. Roughly three years later, it reached a million users, impressive for a social network at the time. Magazines and blogs wrote glowing coverage of it. Universities built campuses in it. Brandsbuilt outposts. It became a nexus for some pretty impressive net art. It even got a shout out on an episode of “The Office” (“Local Ad,” S04E09, 2007).
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Source: Digg