Auto ethonography
Today in Second Life I explored a lot of new terrain. First off I tried to make money at this one store. By clicking on these ATM it took me to different Web sites, it had me physically leave Second Life to go take surveys on this Web site. The surveys didn’t work, I didn’t get the money and then I was bombarded with pop-up ads. I didn’t realize in Second Life that you could link to other Web sites. This makes Second Life feel a little more ‘real’ by taking you other sites. Also I discovered careerbuilder.com has a place in Second Life where you can apply for real life and Second Life jobs. Currently, there were no Second Life job opportunities there or I would’ve taken a job to help me understand the economics of Second Life. Seeing this place on Second Life made this ‘virtual world’ appear more connected to the ‘real world’ by finding real jobs for people. The idea of having a real job and Second Life job that also pays is interesting as well. People can work two jobs or just a Second Life job and make a living virtually that impacts in ‘real life’ financially. I also went to a place where there was a basketball court, I added a basketball to my inventory but could not figure out how to use it. There were a lot of interesting people at the court, one guy had a really cool low rider motorcycle that he said he built in Second Life. That made me realize that this world reflects what ‘real people’ want. ‘Real people’ are making everything in this virtual world, it is not a game where everything is already pre-created for you. The fact that someone takes time out of their day to design and create the clothing, cars, and objects in Second Life shows that people in Second LIfe really treat this life as a ‘real life’.