My second life is far different than the life that I lead before close friends and family. I’ve changed my clothes, my attitude and even my name. Nobody knows who I really am, and that’s the way that I like it.

Consider a life in which you are in control of every aspect of your existence at any second – from your age, your job, right down to your god-given bone structure. Where you are paid to go dancing with friends, to lounge for hours in a big comfortable chair. Oh, and did I mention that I can fly? I’m speaking, of course, about my Second Life.

Second Life is a three-dimensional interactive chat program designed by the engineers at Linden Research, Inc which was launched on June 23rd of 2003. A user creates an account on the Second Life website and then downloads the Second Life client program onto their computer. Second Life is set up precisely like real-life cities, complete with stores, restaurants, dance clubs, strip clubs, and even gives its users the ability to buy and live in virtual homes. Users of Second Life, called residents, are able to walk and fly freely around the cyberworld, socialize, buy and sell property and even acquire jobs. Residents can set up profiles that will tell other users more about themselves and can choose what information they would like to include. I like to think of it as “The Sims meets Myspace.”

I first started experimenting with Second Life in November of 2007 after one of my communications-study professors introduced us to it. She suggested that we explore Second Life and keep a mental log of our experiences over the course of a few weeks, and I’ve got to say that was one of the best assignments I’ve ever been given. I must say, it was quite a shock to the system and is one of the most fascinating communication related programs I’ve seen to date. What will follow will be my findings in Second Life throughout my first days as a newbie, an almost diary-like account of my thoughts as I ventured through the vast virtual world for the first time.

Getting myself started, I looked up some blogs and websites of people who were already members of Second Life in order to get a better idea of what I would be getting myself into. I found several positive reviews, and many screenshots of virtual 3D stores, clubs and office buildings filled with people. This thrilled me. Having been a member of PalaceChat for years before Second Life was developed, I knew that the more people are around you, the more fun you tend to have. Convinced now and genuinely interested, I visited the Second Life site, registered myself with a brand new name and quickly downloaded the client program.