Hello,
I'm Mervi Eskelinen!
An artist, nerd and sorcerer, dedicated to make world softer and better for everyone, and to get you to make more art. Make art, change the world!
Get a Second Life
Not that long ago I had a nice little chat with Richard MacManus, the Founder and Editor Emeritus of ReadWrite. He Tweeted an article about Second Life. In this article the writer was surprised of how many people still use SL.
I replied to Richard that I happen to rent an island in Second Life which sparked the conversation. He had briefly tried SL back in 2004 and asked me what a person does with and island. I tried to explain, but noticed soon it was like trying to explain what people do with Facebook to someone who has used Facebook briefly in 2004. That is pretty impossible.
First of all I know lots of people think nobody uses Second Life. In reality there's lots of people who actively log in to this virtual world, at least once a week if not more often. I know many SLers who aren't going to quit on SL any time soon. Hey, I'm one of them. What draws us in is another matter. As said, it's hard to explain. And there's no such thing as one reason. For most of us (I'm guessing here) SL is a sort of a hobby. It's a platform to meet people, do things you might not do in RL (real life) and a place where you can be who you want to be.
One of Bay's outfits showcased on Retail Bliss
My friend and fellow Finn known in Second Life as Bayberry Lilliehook is a SL fashionista. She has a pretty popular blog Retail Bliss in which she showcases Second Life fashion. Some of the items she showcases she has purchased herself from several different SL fashion brands and makers, some she gets from them as review copies. Bay has a distinguished style and makes many bold choices with her outfits. Besides of taking photos of herself Bay enjoys shopping and chatting in SL with her RL friends.
Like Bay there are many others who blog about Second Life fashion, "living", shopping and other aspects of their virtual lives. I myself have a blog, called Bastet in Second Life which I update in a very lazy pace. Blogging about Second Life is quite popular and fashion blogs are especially common amongst SLers. Many of us like to see the pretty avatars being pretty. Many Second Life blogs showcase fashion, yet there are also home and living blogs, blogs that look around different places in SL and of course tons of tutorials on how you can design and build things in Second Life and with 3D programs such as Blender.
There are those who consider SL as a job too. Some of the Second Life businesses make living or at least part of the living of their owners, designers and such. The most popular fashion creators, building and furniture builders, script writers and texture makers have managed to turn their hobby into income and there are those whose business is to rent land for their fellow avatars. While the RL economics have hurt many SL brands and other businesses there are still a few of those who are running their businesses more or less successfully. Anyone can create, design and build things for and in Second Life. You can make clothes, shoes, hair (kind of wigs) and other avatar accessories, build homes and other buildings, furniture, landscaping items such as plants, write scripts to make things more interesting, make textures and building components and everything your imagination can whip up.
When I first joined SL it was gaining interest in educational organisations. Many of the organisations later backed down after their efforts didn't seem to pay back and they weren't successful in luring the students in. Part of the reason may have been that they were very keen in bringing real life buildings in SL. When I found Faculty of Science, my old studying place in University of Helsinki from SL I knew there was a problem. They had build a replica of the faculty building called Exactum and it was uninspired and ugly. The corridors were impossibly narrow and the building itself was just a big grey box. It wasn't very impressive and it lacked of imagination. It was no wonder Second Life wasn't very impressive for the students, especially since there wasn't much to do in these boring buildings. The most imaginative ones are still around though. They have pretty settings for virtual learning and hopefully they are also utilising them.
Metaverstas is a Finnish virtual worlds expert and consultant company. It's run by long term Second Life user Annika Keskinen, known as Yolanda Hirvi in SL and Pekka Qvist, known as Case Dirval in SL. Yolanda is one of the people I met first as I signed in to SL the first times. We befriended pretty fast. When I met Yolanda she was already working in building spaces and things for educational organisations and she was the person who introduced me into building and designing in SL. Metaverstas is specialised in educational and pedagogical solutions. Yolanda is against big grey boxes and thrives in building something special and interesting rather than replying the reality. She has however built for instance a beautifully haunting space where you can dive into freezing and snowy Winter War (1939–1940) from a very Finnish point of view. Besides building Yolanda spends her time in SL meeting people, sometimes shopping, going to various concerts and art exhibitions, and taking part in other similar activities.
In Second Life you can be pretty much everything. There are many men who have female avatars. Some of them are openly men behind their avatars, some are working hard on being women. I don't know of any women who have male avatars, unless the various alts (alternative avatars) we all have are taken to count. There are of course animal avatars, furries, S/M people, robots, child avatars and other forms of existence, of which many aren't exactly my cup of tea. Not everyone in SL wants to be something they aren't. Some make their avatars look as their RL versions as much as possible. Myself and my friend Yolanda are pretty much the same in SL and RL, besides obvious enhancements to our appearances. We don't hide our real selves. I do know lots of people in SL who decide to keep their real lives very separate and even hidden. It's everyones own choice and SL does grant a way to be pretty anonymous.
Because Second Life's actual content is widely built and imagined by it's users it's more of a platform for chosen activities than a place to do one certain thing. There are many beautiful places you can teleport, walk, run, crawl, swim and fly around. Yes, in Second Life everyone can fly and dropping from sky without a parachute doesn't hurt. Some places are devoted to role playing, some are shopping areas, some are entertainment centres, strip clubs, dance halls, homes and anything else. There are haunted houses, magical forests, water worlds, abandoned towns and amusement parks. There are real places reimagined and there are places that only exist in our imaginations and Second Life.
This is a reader supported blog without paywalls and advertisement. If you appreciate my work and want to help me rewild the internet, please consider becoming a free or paid patron today. I can't do this without the support of readers like you. So if you can to contribute financially, I would really appreciate your help.
