Intersplice Fieldtrip

Second Life (3D) VS MSN (2D?)

Some time ago, i signed up for second life as research for work. A client had asked for us to create a store for him inside the second life world, (we later advised them that it may not provide them with the adequate ROI that they were hoping for).

So, here I was, pessimistically entering this 3D world under the user name of 'Zahara Barsov'. My real name is Zoe Bruce, so I though that it was quite nice to have an exotic deviation of this. And once signed up, i have to say that i didn't really enjoy what it had to offer. Talking to people i didn't know was harder than i thought and reminded me of real life awkward conversations with relative strangers.

On the other hand, also for work i must use msn. It seems stupid to most of my friends that im online all the time and even stupid-er that its a work requirement. But i find it so very useful. My contact list only has people in it that i know and can carry out familiar conversation with, pretty much in binary opposition to the type of conversation in second life. So i guess that for me, the main difference between the two both stem from experiencing them in a work context. And from this context, the thing that strikes me most is my level of comfort when using them.

I must not like to leave my comfort zone as i found using msn and talking with people i know but cant see much more engaging than speaking with unknown people that i can kind of see...