Second Life is one of my favourite EVER subjects – I wrote an MSc dissertation on it after all. I don’t spent much time on Second Life (do it for a while for research purposes. . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]> So here’s a question that really worries me lately. What’s up with Second Life? What does the future hold?

Second Life is one of my favourite EVER subjects – I wrote an MSc dissertation on it after all. I don’t spent much time on Second Life (do it for a while for research purposes. it kinda spoils it for you) but I do admire the founding principles – the idea that Residents would take over and literally create and run this world.

Here is one of my favourite ideas in Second Life: Corporations and entrepreneurs have exactly the same opportunities because the Corporations do not get any unfair advantages. Not to mention that most corporations simply failed to ‘get’ what Second Life was all about. Real Life (RL) companies are simply struggling, at best, or just plain failing, at worst, in that world. (Here is an old blog post by yours trully on why)

It seemed to work. Residents took over, entrepreneurs flourished, creatives ruled the (Second Life) universe. The cult of the many, the cult of the amateur prevailed.

Now it seems each and every single one of the old guard over at Linden Lab is abandoning ship. Normally I wouldn’t worry. Companies change, people leave, new faces come. Yet – and this is the crucial bit – all of these founding members shared that revolutionary vision of Residents as creators and owners. And with any business model/ culture that is revolutionary it is very often the case that without the visionary the culture goes downhill. So here is what bugs me.

Have they actually built a system / culture that will keep going? Or – with them gone – is it a case of a new more corporate, rigid way of running things? In other worlds will the Residents prevail over the suits?

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Read On:
Second Life’s Second Act: Business Teleconferencing? by Eric Krangel on Silicon Alley Insider
Linden Lab Finally Cracks Down On Second Life Porn by Eric Krangel on Silicon Alley Insider
Quick Link: Will Wright Says Second Life is On the Right Track on Dusan Writer’s Metaverse
Teaching journalism with virtual worlds by Cory Doctorow on boing boing

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