Disruptive Powers of Second Life

The disruptive powers of Second Life, a 3-dimensional virtual world reality where through the use of free client programs or viewers, second life users (residents) create avatars to interact with each other, have impacted the lives of people worldwide.  Dr. Thornburg (2009) posited that new technologies are always susceptible to unanticipated ‘wild card’ disruptive technologies.  Dr. Thornburg further opined that Second Life is disruptive technology to real life.   However, keep in mind that it is not the technology that makes it disruptive but the impact that the technology makes.   Businesses and universities are using Second Life to attract younger students and younger clientele.   The reason why people are claiming that Second Life has such potential at being a disruptive technology is that it radically shifts how and where people can interact socially.

Second Life replaced traditional environment such as Game Cube, Sega Genesis, and Atari that people interacted in. Through Second Life world people attend classes, meetings, visit stores, colleges, universities, and parties.    To answer the question, how many years before Second Life will be replaced by another disruptive technology or emerging technology, look at its track record.   Linden Lab released Second Life in 2003, “while other worlds, including open source environments have launched since then, Second Life remains the largest general-purpose virtual world--with its own currency, Linden dollars, which can be used to buy, rent, or trade land and goods” (Campus Technology, 2011).  Over 1 million people log into Second Life, generating nearly $75 million annually.   As long as Second Life provides its residents with endless imagination and unexpected surprises, it most likely will continue to be enhanced and improved with newer features instead of being replaced.  

 The social benefits of Second Life are visible in higher learning institutes use of virtual worlds to provide signage and marketing material that showcase their campuses and disseminate recruiting information to students and parents.    University of Delaware, Montclair State University (NJ),  and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, are just a few examples of schools that use Second Life for automated/virtual tours and faculty projects that teaches concepts and engages students in the process.  As a social 3D media, Second Life also enhances the social skills among its participants.

 tags: disruptive technology, virtual worlds, Linden Labs, second life, virtual reality,

 

Sarah D.

Reference:

 Campus Technology  (2009).  Second Life: Engaging Virtual Campuses.  Retrieved from http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/03/04/Second-Life-Engaging-Virtual-Campuses.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=3#

 Rosedale, P. (2008).  Philip Rosedale on Second Life [Video].  Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html   

 

 Thornburg, D. (2009).  Disruptive Technologies,  Laureate Education Inc.