A petite blonde woman walks down a brightly lit street in the community of "Diegoland." Replicas of the Gaslamp District, Balboa Park, even the Hotel del Coronado are visible. But this is not real life. It is "Second Life."
"If you could have a second life, why don't you?" asks Suzanne Aurilio. Aurilio studies "Second Life" at San Diego State University through a grant provided by Qualcomm.
"Second life is a 3-D online virtual environment," she explains.
Aurilio has three characters or "avatars" that she uses in the online community, which is populated by an increasing number of people in San Diego and across the globe.
"It's very similar to real life," offers Aurilio. "People own homes, yachts, helicopters," they go to clubs. "You go in there and have a social life. You establish relationships with people, people get married, and now people are having pregnancies. I went to a wedding for the first time."
Often the avatars chosen by Second Life residents are enhancements of their real-life selves, but others choose more creatively.
"I made myself an elf. Elsi is an elf," explains the woman, who in second life, is known as Elsibeth Pierterson. She's a club promoter in Second Life, Dublin.
"This is the Blarney Stone, it was replicated after a pub in Ireland." Pierterson points to a computer simulated graphic of a large, wood-paneled pub. Guinness posters cover the walls, along with a schedule of live music performers. In fact, Elsibeth landed in this club in 2005 because of a love of Celtic music. She now helps schedule the performers, which often stream live by real-life musicians several times a day.
"I do it also for my own enjoyment. It's kind of nice to go shopping and not spend my own money," she laughs. "Even if you can't wear the clothes in real life."
In real life, Elsibeth is a medical technician who lives in North County. She asked not to share her real name.
"I work, plus, I raise my children, plus I'm pretty active, but I kind of relax [in Second Life]. I go there to relax."
"It could be a terrific outlet, and it could be a terrific source of fun and entertainment," adds San Diego marriage family therapist Mark Kaupp. He specializes in online addiction, and warns moderation is key. Some residents live virtually full-time in Second Life, playing out fantasies they can't in real life.
"If it's an online affair, or whether it's a real life affair, the same kind of effect is going to happen. The same kind of devastation." He says it's a problem with a real-life partner thinks it's a problem.
"I think it's like with any hobby, there are always people who go overboard," defends Pierterson. But she has seen it start as a game for some, "I don't know if you call it an obsession, or just filling in a need that they have."
But for her, and thousands of others, Second Life has created unlimited professional networking.
"When I started Second Life, there was 20,000 people, and now there's pushing nine million, so there's something there. Nine million people can't just be obsessed."
Introduction to Second Life
Flythrough of Diegoland Under Construction
