Do you have a SecondLife?

Lately I've been hearing a lot about SecondLife, so I decided to try it. If you haven't heard about it yet, it's an online world where users create that world. More or less.

It has big implications for marketing and advertising, as well as for governments, because in the SecondLife virtual world people spend real money on virtual goods and services. And the people who make those virtual goods and services make virtual money that can be exchanged for real money. Marketers and advertisers are trying to figure out how to get their products placed or sold in the virtual world and governments are trying to figure out how to tax people who make real income in a virtual economy.

It makes my head hurt.

But it also makes my pulse race. So far I've created my avatar, learned how to walk, pick things up, change my appearance, fly (yes, fly!), zoom in and out on things, and talk to others. I've met people from Italy, Belgium, and Denmark. But all of this has been done within the safety of the Orientation and Help Islands (the geography of the SecondLife world is that of many user-built, theme-based islands). I have yet to step out into the "real" world.

If you already have a SecondLife, I hope to see you there!