AFTER a long day of classes and work, I usually follow the same routine. I grab a snack, catch up with my roommates, check my e-mail, and finally, peruse Facebook. Yes, I admit, Facebook-ing has become a part of my everyday routine, and I would be more ashamed to admit it if this were not the case for so many of my friends as well. But whether we like to acknowledge it or not, the online worlds of sites like Facebook and MySpace have collided with our "real" lives here at the University. Many of us have come to rely on this collision for even the most basic human contact, whether that be keeping in touch with friends from home, staying connected with the social scene, making new friends or trying to remember the ones we met last night. While undeniably valuable for some things, this virtual world is also potentially threatening to our lives outside of the computer screen.
What prompted this concern for me was a glance at Google's list of top "googled" sites of 2007. One of these sites in particular caught my eye, an online community called Second Life. From its Web site, Second Life is described as a "3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents." Created in 2003, it now has millions of users, all of whom "retain the rights to their digital creations" and have the ability to "buy, sell and trade with other Residents." In other words, this virtual world operates on a very real economy, with its own currency and business practices that actually relate to the real world. The "Linden Dollar" has real value, and businesses can thrive and fail. In fact, one of the virtual banks collapsed recently, causing anyone who had invested in the establishment to lose a combined $750,000.
And if you think that's strange, then think about this. Second Life is also home to copyright lawsuits. Kevin Alderman, owner of SexGen, is suing the man behind one of the virtual characters in Second Life (called avatars) for changing his character into an anatomically correct model with genitals. Alderman claims that this genital creating software was copyrighted and the man behind the avatar sold illegal copies of the SexGen software.
And not only is it strange to find economic decline and lawsuits in a virtual world, but Second Life is also home to a new form of sexual education, as the University of Plymouth in Britain has started an in-game zone to educate members about sexual health and contraception. Avatars can read literature about sex and actually bring home free (virtual) condoms.
What is so disturbing about a site like Second Life is what it replaces in real life. While people are so busy building their perfect avatar, changing everything "from the tip of your nose to the tint of your skin," they are escaping from their own insecurities in real life. While people are busy buying property and starting businesses with Linden Dollars, they are avoiding outlets for their ambition in the real world. While people are busy meeting other avatars and starting relationships, they are avoiding the people around them in real life. These online communities provide one thing: an escape. Sure, some will argue they are merely entertaining, and lots of people enjoy playing harmless games like the Sims. But when a site takes itself so seriously that money and sexual health are at stake, there is something seriously wrong.
All of the hours spent perfecting your profile so it describes you (but better) and trying to find the right picture that looks like you (but better) could be spent actually doing something with the people around you, the people who exist outside of your virtual world. Facebook and MySpace are not serious distractions unless you let them become serious distractions, but on a whole, our generation is becoming less and less reliant on human contact. We e-mail more than we write letters. We text message more than we call. We send Facebook messages more than we personally invite friends to parties. And in many ways, this is a great step in terms of time and efficiency.
But we must be careful with what we sacrifice in order to take advantage of the ease of online communication. There is still nothing better than an old-fashioned letter in the mail or an hour-long phone call from an old friend. Virtual communities are really just that: virtual. And they should stay that way.
Lindsay Huggins's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at lhuggins@cavalierdaily.com.
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