3D Worlds and Socialising on the Internet

The idea behind a 3-Dimensional Instant Messaging client is to broaden and deepen the communication experience. I must admit that Second Life was something that caught my attention some time ago, when it was featured on Four Corners as the next evolution in online communication and the online community. To be fair, the focus of the article was upon the barter system featured within the ‘game’ and the potential to make serious money. But I’ll get into that later.

Logistically, the download was immense – especially on a primitive Broadband connection such as mine and the sign-up or Character creation was extensive. With expectations of ‘City of Heroes’ and 'World of Warcraft’ two ‘Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games’ – I dived in looking for some action. The first thing I noticed about this 3-Dimensional Online world was that it was not a video game, but more closely: a really dynamic chat room.

Like IM programs such as MSN, Yahoo Messenger or ICQ (going way back), the 3D World of Second Life retains the core messaging concept of typed messages. When someone types their message, it appears in the chat box, and also as a speech bubble above their ‘avatar’s’ head – personalising the experience while blurring the boundary between the virtual and the world. But the big difference was gestures. Actual, physical gestures like anger, frustration, happiness, confusion, boredom, violence, begging, waving and a host of tricks like handstands, back flips, twirls, rolls, hopping, skipping, dancing – the list goes on. What this means is that 3D Worlds, Social interaction and communication through this medium has become clearer, more effective and far more interesting.

IM works on a “Name” basis. In 3D Worlds, like Second Life, people have an appearance. Identity is a crucial aspect to Socialising on the internet and a significant qualitative difference to simple IM. Personalising your appearance helps to define who you are in your virtual world, just like in the normal one.

One of the largest innovations however, is interaction. Conversation isn’t the only key to communication – its actions like physical co-operation through dancing, having dinner, shopping together, sitting in the same car, exploring new locales and love (including sex) that really adds a new level of depth. But on top of this, interaction doesn’t necessarily require another person. As a 3D world, the environment is filed with things to do, buttons to press, ride’s to go on, mechanism to activate. So, if conversation tires you, go ahead and undertake an activity by yourself.

IM clients are based around existing relationships, where conversation is usually with people you already know. 3D World’s encourage you to seek out new relationships and interact with different people as a shared community.

The very concept of a 3D world is that it’s an environment in 3D. The major difference between IM and a program like 'Second Life' is that you can actually create and re-design the environments in which you socialise in. While MSN offers you the choice to change the colour of your chat window, a 3D world will offer you the potential-choice to build a house, a gazebo or a turret – anything that tickles your fancy.

The biggest qualitative differences with Second Life compared to IM clients is it’s currency. An actual, real-world, currency and barter system with reports User’s have made tens-of-thousands of dollars through property and rising land values. After giving the money making side of Second Life a go, I can reveal that making money isn’t by any means easy.

The biggest difference that a 3D world has upon actually socialising is that there is, on the whole, far less of it when compared to simple IM clients. The 3D world is both simultaneously immersive and distracting. There are so many places to see, so many things to do that often, the logistics of creating your character, logging on and finding a highly inhabited area results in far less of a focus on general socialising. In my experience, conversation and socialising is light – subject matter is normally relegated to “What country are you from?” and “What’s the weather like there?” Which answers the question that there are some things that are only possible in one space, and not the other.

I think 3D Worlds like Second Life is an indication of the direction we as “Social Media Experts” are heading in the future. It’s certainly not the easiest ways of communicating, but then it’s not meant to be. If Facebook is a quick an effective means of touching up one’s relationships, 3D worlds like 'Second Life', 'IMVU' and 'Active Worlds' are an effective way of creating new relationships, sustaining old one’s and meeting new people in a fun and immersive new way.