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My AVATAR, My Self

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FINDING YOUR UNIQUE STYLE IN SECOND LIFE
By Lauren Isaacson, TheAdnostic.com, for Fashiontribes.com

You may be able to change your hair color every day, but that would get expensive. You could change your eye color too, but how many pairs of colored contacts can you possibly have? But what if you felt like giving yourself a tail and cat ears? What about fairy wings to match your tutu, even if it’s not Halloween? You can. Virtually anyway, in Second Life.

Second Life is a virtual, open-source world built by users for users with a population exceeding 100,000 regulars. Users create digital representations of themselves, called avatars, and venture out onto a digital continent teeming with malls, nightclubs, theaters, islands, and pretty much anything one can imagine – and interact with other avatars in the game at the same time.

Getting there is as easy as sitting down at your computer and downloading a program from SecondLife.com. Once installed, you launch the program, invest a few American dollars in exchange for Linden dollars (which can be exchanged back to real money), choose the look of your avatar, and then visit the welcome center where volunteer residents (users) show you the ropes of their digital world. From there you can walk, run, swim, and even fly (yes, FLY) to any location in SL.

In Second Life you can change your appearance, your sex, or your species as easily as you would change your shirt. For complicated looks, like becoming a cat or wearing specific clothing from American Apparel, you can go through professionals and get it done right for a small Linden dollar fee. You can do this any time, during any visit, on any day. In fact it is encouraged that users uniquely customize their look because just going for the basics will single you out as a newbie.

So give yourself that bright blue mohawk you wanted in high school but never had the guts to actually do. You deserve it. Besides, it’s just an avatar.



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