nixsight

Warren Ellis today launched a new column, called Second Life Sketches, at the Reuters website. The first is extremely illuminating, concerning itself with a recent clash between the two dominant perceptions of Second Life; the first, that it is a phenomenally successful, intensely fast-growing leap into the future of the internet; “… a snowballing Internet application that gains speed by the moment.“, and the second, that it is a den of perverse sexual deviations lived free of the moral restraints of the real world.

Ellis’ column is here: http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/01/05/second-life-sketches- two-worlds-fame-and-infamy/

It’s an interesting story, and as with all of Ellis’ work, it’s well written. I find this particularly intriguing… Virtual worlds are a fascinating subject, and further, may actually significantly affect the way we interact online, and Second Life is certainly the most recognisable example of one, due to a fierce PR attitude to capitalising on any attention the platform gets, as well as an increase in that attention from the nervous media, twitchy about the idea that this might be “The Future” (capital “T”, capital “F”), and they’ll be caught napping while their competitors will get the scoop on it.

However, as I’ve mentioned before, I have major problems with the actual strength of the Second Life product itself, despite the hype. The thing is, Ellis is a hardcore futurist, and in the years that I’ve followed his writing and his online presence, he’s always shown great intuition and imagination when it came to spotting trends and seperating the nonsense advances from the genuine steps forward. And he had, in recent months, almost seamlessly, taken on the role of Second Life “on-the-spot” historian in addition to his other work.

What I’m most curious about is trying to find clues as to whether Ellis’ interest in SL is enthusiastic and optimistic, and he’s seen something in it that I’ve missed, or whether he is there because he (quite rightly) sees SL as a brave and colourful social and technological experiment, and he wants to be there to chronicle it’s growth and eventual dissipation.

It should be interesting, either way.