Second Life: The next big thing on the internet?

At Barcamp London last weekend there was an interesting presentation on a new online digital world called Second Life.

Sounds like some sci-fi geek website? That’s what I thought.

“Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by 289,256 people from around the globe.

• From the moment you enter the World you’ll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you’ve explored a bit, perhaps you’ll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.

• You’ll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.

• The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world currency, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online currency exchanges.“

Our presenter at Barcamp told us Second Life was going to be the next big thing to hit the internet. I was quite sceptical, and still am. Are people really going want to spend more time behind a computer, creating a fantasy environment for their cyber-self to live in? Sounds rather far-fetched.

But then what was on BBC News this morning? Second Life. A BBC news correspondent interviewed one of the Second Life web designers in Second Life. The news correspondent and web designer had 3D models created of themselves and they walked and talked around one of the Second Life “islands”, they were then teleported to another “island” where “people” were dancing to Duran Duran music in a large concert stadium.The news is that Duran Duran, the real McCoy, will soon be performing to a universal crowd in the digital world of Second Life.

Me, the cool, slick, Mark Cruddas, just styling my hair!

So don’t waste any more time, go register, download and install the 25mb program file, and take a walk around cyberspace. Judge it for yourself.

That’s what I plan to do.