Virtual Networks; the way forward...or not?

This week’s reading has brought to mind next week’s sojourn into Second life. Second life is a virtual world where people meet and share ideas and daily life activities. Anticipation is not a good enough word to describe my feeling at the moment. Creating my avatar and meeting up with Professor Melander and other classmates is likely to be the highlight of my third week in the American University, Washington DC. Social Networking as I read from the article More Internet users getting a virtual life by Ellen Lee, is now about communicating in the virtual world.

While talking with some folks back home in Nigeria, I got the feeling that most of them find the idea of virtual networks very creepy. The predominant question was; why would you want to go to a world so far away from the real world to meet people? Some of the answers to this question are the reason why I think that virtual networks like Second life, vside and Gaia are making progress in the realm of social networking.

One instance would be the use of Second life to train IBM’s new recruits. According to Chuck Hamilton, the director of the center for learning in IBM, this concept has helped to manage costs and to guide the incoming employees to perform more effectively. Also, learning has become much more fun and engaging.

Much as this notion of the virtual world is quite intriguing and interesting, the same issues from the last weeks’ reading comes up. In the first article mentioned, Raney who is a partner with Redpoint ventures says that “

It's inevitable there will be too many.”

This statement being about the expansion of networks. On the other hand, I think the pros seem to outweigh the cons in the sense that people tend to be themselves while in the virtual world than the real world coupled with the points made by Chuck Hamilton. I guess this counts for something; don’t you?

More Internet users getting a virtual life

Fast Talk: Getting A (Second) Life