A Reflection on my use of Online Social Media

As a young adult in 2016, it is almost impossible to avoid using social media. For example, one of my favourite forms of communication is quickly becoming SnapChat. This app allows myself and my peers to send short videos and pictures with an extremely limited amount of text to one another within seconds. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is questionable. Although we are technically saying less to one another, the fact that we can send pictures and videos efficiently allows us to communicate much more in a short time than before. For example a clip from a holiday, a night out or a gig.
It is safe to say that without sites like Facebook, I would miss out on a lot of useful information. Particularly in regard to college. Not only do myself and my closest friends have a group chat in which we organise events, meeting up and discussion, my BACCI class have our own Facebook group chat (another incredibly useful aspect of Facebook). In this chat we share notes, useful information about classes, cancellations, updates on assignments and help for one another. It is easy to see how without subscribing to these social media and networking channels we would be left "out of the loop". Although I don't use Twitter and rarely post on Instagram, I often use them to see what others have posted. Social media is where I get the majority of my news, it's where I learn about fashion, culture, music and the world around me. Without using Facebook we may not learn about interesting cultural events or even relevant protests we may wish to attend for example. It allows us to create discourse around topics that are relevant to us. It allows young artists and musicians to get the word out about their events. We can get our art out there, into the public eye effectively and efficiently. I feel as though this will only progress with time as social media grows and becomes a more important aspect of our lives. Although there are of course negative aspects to this on-line, image orientated culture, the benefits and opportunities are endless in regards to expanding our knowledge and even our career options. This is particularly true for those of us contributing to the cultural industries.

My Experience of the Consumer Economy in SL.

It is easy enough to purchase items in Second Life by teleporting to shops or by searching the items we wish to purchase. Today I decided to treat myself. Fortunately I was given a gift of some Linden Dollars, from our Second Life tutor. As we know, Second Life is created by it's users. It is interesting to see how many things are available to purchase here. I have heard in the past about many people making a career out of designing things like clothing and properties to be placed on the Second Life market. It is nice that people are interested in using their creativity to provide cool experiences for those involved in the community, allowing them to enrich their Second Life experience. If I wished I could purchase items such as a car, to explore the world more conveniently. We can use items we buy in Second Life to express our individuality, for instance by choosing certain clothing or accessories. We may also have the chance to engage in role-play by purchasing the suitable items. While I may not be able to afford a new hairstyle, or to own a car, castle or swimming pool in real life, Second Life may make it a (virtual) reality. :)

Clubbing in Second Life

So this evening I had my first experience in a dance and electronic music club in Second Life. First I visited Ambrosia Club where there was a live DJ but it was empty. It seemed more like a store than a club as there were many shops selling clubbing attire. I then visited The Blok, which although attracted a friendly crowd was still pretty dead. I hope if I go clubbing again at a different time I will get to socialise more and make some Second Life friends. I then visited Opaque which was by far the coolest of the clubs. It was impressively large and there was live music and really cool remixes. I was able to click on the sound system and choose what kind of music I would like to listen to which was interesting. Other SL dj's had contributed their own playlists. I would highly recommend this club to SL friends. It's certainly a good way for DJ's and musicians to have the opportunity to get there music out there into the virtual world. I can also see how people who live in isolated scenarios such as those who are say disabled or those who live inconveniently far from civilisation to get a taste of what it may be like to be immersed in a social situation such as clubbing. I can see how if the place was busier it may be an appealing way to spend time socialising.
It is easy to see the benefits of using something like Second Life to explore our ability to share art, music and other things, particularly for those working in creative and cultural industries or new media jobs.

Meeting others in Second Life

So today I visited five locations in an attempt to talk to someone and make some friends. Ahern, London Mayfair Club and Rocket City didn't seem to have many chatty people hanging around, in fact there weren't many people there at all. People seemed reluctant to answer me. I told them that I am new to Second Life and asked about how long they had been on it and did they think it was fun and easy to make friends in Second Life. Eventually when I visited Social Island I had to opportunity to talk to many different people. A group were sitting on the couches having a conversation about artificial intelligence. They asked me about what Ireland is like and seemed very friendly.  Over all it was a positive experience.
One person stated that they love Second Life and spend all their time online. Others were having an argument with a person or more so a glowing ball of light (pictured below) who claimed to be an A.I. themselves.

Here is an example of the kind of responses I got, generally it seems people wanted to make friends and meet new people.

Has everyone been members of Second Life for a long time?
[11:39] Stephmeagher: What do people get up to on here for fun?
They do their own thing.
[11:39] KROKODIL Camel: That question has never crossed my mind before.
[11:39] KROKODIL Camel: I like to meet new people.

Below are two pictures I took on my visit to Social Island :)

First Assignment

In order to complete our second assignment, I had to meet my new Second Life friend Gary at the DIT meeting spot. We then travelled to three locations which we looked up and agreed on earlier that day.

The first place we visited was Portal Park 1. In the portal park you can teleport to different realms in Second Life.

The second location was Everwinter, an amusement/theme park that is centered around a apocalyptic theme. It was inspired by the Chernobyl disaster. You can walk around and see the remains of the town. With lots of weird characters appearing, this place gave me the creeps.

The third was Unia which was a place you could go and take part in a horror survival game with others by interacting with the objects that are available. This was another creepy location with a horror feel to it.

My First Second Life Experience

Last Thursday I visited Second Life for the first time. It was an interesting experience. I met my Virtual Environments class and tutor, which was strange since I have never met them in my "first life". Second Life seems to be relatively user friendly and besides a few issues with navigating myself, it was pretty great. We have been given an assignment that involves visiting three interesting locations that exist in our virtual world. I am looking forward to finding out about what life in second life involves and what kind of experiences it will provide. I can see how it may be useful for future interactions with clients and for maintaining long distance business relations. Hopefully when we have explored the locations I can upload some pictures of our findings. :)