Scare Stories & Telling Tales
Paedophiles Operating in Second Life
Oh - I hate this stuff. Both ways you care to look at it.
Were that the world be without these brain-warped people, since it is distressing to think they live amongst is - whether in the real or virtual world. Were too that we were not subjected to the likes of Murdock media that will sensationalise the trivial for the sake of market penetration and political favours. This is a story to rightly stir our emotions whilst giving creedence to a highly suspect campaign by government to continue their mass-surveillance agenda under the disguise of public interest. They have done before with the web and clearly don’t want to get left behind again - so they use the same ruse for the metaverse. It strikes a deeper chord than abstract threats like "terrorism" or the business of afterlife propaganda that is the lifeblood of organised religious interests.
But check out the link. "The Business" seem to have grasped the importance of virtual worlds and their commentary in providing their own link to Sky News at least offers some moderation. The fact is it is rare indeed for children to get into the adult grid of Second Life and almost impossible for any adult to get into what they call the "teen grid". For better or worse. The extraordinary coder, 15 year old Katherine berry, has become dejected with her world - one of the main reasons being that this highly intelligent "child" cannot enter the serious realm occupied by what are, to all extents and purposes, her peers. I have reservations about the behaviour of some adults in Second Life - I have little interest in "gaming" anyway, but some of the role-play enters the realm of absurdity. Yet then again, a non-creative person might apply similar criticism to some of the wonderful art installations and pioneering architecture found inworld. Each to their own.
I am all for a little policing - something democratically structured by and for the residents of the metaverse. They are the pioneers of what in effect will be a new kind of society with immensely powerful communication facilities and a non-circumscribed agenda. I believe the majority of people are good and will always see sense, regardless of whatever extent they use this virgin territory to play out their own fantasies. It is electronic life and need not be encumbered with the more nonesensical traditions and regressive bias of the real world. It augments reality and also offers a greater or lesser degree of immersion according to personal taste and circumstance. It is a work environment but also a leisure playground - were it not for the continuing task of supporting our organics it could almost be "another" life.
At the same time it can be sadly reflective of real world life. If the two grids ever merge then addressing the co-existence of adults and children will need to be addressed. So too if we see the linkage of Second Life with other present and future metaverses. But this is hardly an epic notion - they have existed side-by-side since the dawn of the human race and would seem to be the natural order of things. Of more immediate concern should be the realisation among adults that each and every avatar is representative of a real person and as such should be no more abused inworld than out. People will argue and may be forced to "agree to differ" as the saying goes - but that is half the fun and value of what is a highly social space.
I will mention no names, but two inworld personalities I like a lot have recently fallen out. They used to be a good mix - both following different agendas, but meeting and discussing on common ground. But then it all seems to have become uncomfortably serious - instead of "agreeing to differ" their separate agendas have become a barrier to discussion - a wall between them if you will. I don’t like to see it, but maybe it is symptomatic of how powerful this medium has become that it all too eaily reflects the kind of inter-personal conflicts which plague real life. Yet this need not be the case.
One extraordinary facet of Second Life is the general lack of any real predjudice amongst its inhabitants. People express themselves however they want - in both appearance and their articulation of themselves. However bizarre by real life standards, it does not seem to be the perceptual barrier that aspects of oneself create in reality. Even where behaviour seems contary to accepted notions of intelligence and conduct, it is often tolerated (even accepted) on the unstated understanding that we may be missing clues about that person that would in the real world be apparant. Instead we take them at face value and our new society is better for that. The image we create for ourselves means a lot, but most of us know better to assume what we see is the heart and soul behind the avatar. Despite incredibly powerful tools, we are still learning to communicate in any entirely new way and must make allowances for that.
If friends fall out over what is mere trivia in this world, it makes me worry about what is in store as virtuality rapidly expands and embraces the mainstream. The future will see all sorts of new invasions - some welcome and some less so. As the population increases, it will largely because we can demonstrate the metaverse is a compelling evolution of human-to-human interfacing, not just a digital one. It is almost our responsibility as those already living and working inworld that we adopt a fair and equal attitude to others. We will be the example - the foundation on which future online society is based.
It is no time for petty squabbles. It is a time to prove our collective ability to make the metaverse a peaceful and welcoming place in which the scare stories of the technologically-retarded can be buried in the archive of nonesense.
