---
title: "Second Life: A 3-D Space for Virtual Meetups and Instruction?"
date: 2007-03-09
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $("
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2007/03/09/second-life-a-3-d-space-for-virtual-meetups-and-instruction/
---
# Second Life: A 3-D Space for Virtual Meetups and Instruction?
[![Second Life](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/secondlife.gif)](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/2007/03/secondlife.gif)

Bryan Person and Jay Moonah at Podcamp Toronto presented enthusiastically about Second Life (see "[It Isn't Just a Video Game: Second Life for Event](http://http://podcamptoronto.pbwiki.com/MediaArchive)"), and they included a graphical [slideshow with scenes of Second Life.](http://podcamptoronto.pbwiki.com/f/podcamp-to-sl-slides.pdf) Person and Moonan say they used Second Life for a virtual podcasting meetup, and it went well. Many other groups have meetups in Second Life, and regular events are held, some with live audio. Businesses even have space to present their products.

After my [virtual chat experience](https://idratherbewriting.com/2007/03/01/chapter-chat-results/)with the Suncoast chapter, I started wondering if Second Life might provide a better venue for virtual meetups, even for virtual seminars and webinars. Second Life is certainly cooler looking, and more exciting than a regular chat room. But ...

Second Life is also lame. The objective is ambiguous, and it's littered with gambling and adult content. Lots of people stand around doing nothing, and others make their avatars dance endlessly. If you dance in some areas, you can receive pay in Linden dollars, which have actual buying power. The whole project is created by Linden Labs in Seattle.

Darren Barefoot has [written about Second Life](http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2006/07/im-going-to-try-second-life-again.html)a bit. In one post he says,

> Like all MMPORGs (though several people have asserted to me that Second Life isn't a game), I found its lack of clear objectives frustrating and got bored pretty quickly. Also, and this will be an unpopular opinion, it was ugly, cluttered and incredibly laggy.

MMPORGs stands for "massive multiplayer online role-playing game." Some educators think if they can spin their classes as games, making them as appealing as World of Warcraft, students will actually do their homework.

If your e-learning courses are virtual worlds that users can explore as games, users might be more engaged with the instruction. Still, my thoughts toward Second Life are mixed. It consists of a lot of standing around, wondering where to go, what to do.