A whole new world

That's me flying without a magic carpet. No really, it is.

In the virtual community Second Life, everyone can fly (among other things). I first heard about this Web site two years ago in a new media class, but yesterday was my first time actually trying it out. When you are creating a new profile, you can select a first name and then choose from a list of last names. You also choose a base look for your avatar and can later personalize his or her physical appearance and clothes.

Not long after activating my account and arriving at the "starting point" called Help Island, I exchanged hellos with a fellow new member who approached me. Moments later, this person used this tasteful come-on: "can y fuck you?" (his exact words, not mine)

There are a lot of things wrong with this picture. Besides the missing "I" in that request (which he continued to misplace time and time again each time), it's such a direct, rude statement to say, especially to someone you don't even know. If he (I assume it's a "he") was in an equivalent place in real life (or first life, as it's known in this community), would he use the same approach and language with a woman who he has never met before? Would he use such language to her face? Would he really expect someone to fall for such a line? If so, then's he has really got to work on his game, not to mention his manners.

When I asked him why he wanted to do that, he replied that he wanted to know what it was like in this "game." Maybe that's a problem: Some people forget that on the receiving end of communication in this so-called game, or in the online world in general, there's a living, breathing, thinking, feeling person. Sometimes what people say to each other online shocks me.

In Second Life, there are preset gestures you can do such as laughing or blowing a kiss. If there was a gesture for hard slaps across the face, then I'd keep using against him because he kept following -- or should I say stalking -- me around with the same request. He was not long joined by another guy who said, "yes, give me your ass." What is wrong with people?! I was feeling very nervous and uncomfortable during all this, even making such audible gasps that my roommate wondered what was wrong.

My boyfriend, who recently started using Second Life for a class, saved me by teleporting (yes, teleporting) me to his location. Our avatars then ended up going to a club-like place called Dance Island, where we danced together for the first time ever -- fun times.

All in all, while I can see possible benefits to Second Life, such as real-time online communication through vivid imagery, I'm still getting use to it. My first impression of this second world was very awkward, but it improved from there.

Now, if only I could get my boyfriend to dance with me in real life, making that a reality. Borrowing a line from one of my favorite films, he would quote Mr. Darcy: "Not if I can help it."