In June 2003, a new community appeared on the Internet. It wasn't a Web forum or a hot new blog. It was a fully 3D virtual world where people could create an avatar, buy a house, wear fancy clothes, fall in love, and fly. For context, this is months before the world would ever hear the word "Myspace."
Twenty years later, Second Life remains one of the most vibrant online spaces ever created. While small compared to other social juggernauts, Second Life is home to thousands of fascinating subcultures and creators - many of whom make a fantastic IRL living from selling their art, clothes, and animations in-world. The financial symbiosis between the platform and the players who make everything on it remains unique to this day, even in a world of endless MMOs and live service video games.
Alli and Lindsey speak with author and journalist Wagner James Au, who has been covering Second Life and other virtual worlds since their inception. They're also joined by Sparkle Skye, a Second Life creator who quit her job in finance to make virtual wedding gowns full-time. They discuss the legacy of Second Life, its unique place on the Internet, and what's next for the platform in a sea of new "metaverses."
Check out James' new book, Making a Metaverse That Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Metaverse-That-Matters-Fighting/dp/1394155816
See Sparkle's amazing designs: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sparkleskye/
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01 This Wildly Popular True Crime Podcaster Has a Secret Double Life | Jack Rhysider | Darknet Diaries
Introducing: INFLUENCE with Matt Silverman
Hiatus
282 3 GIRLS 1 PODCAST
281 How Medievalists Went From Dusty Libraries to Online Influencers
280 What Is the Best Christmas Movie? (Correct Answers Only)
279 How to Start a Fight in the "Golden Girls" Fandom
278 The Most DAY OFF Day of the Year
277 What President Biden's Executive Order on AI Means for the Internet's Future
276 A CAPTCHA for Ignorance
275 The Explosive Growth of Computer Keyboard Mod Culture (with Hipyo Tech)
274 Regular Dumb or Dangerous Dumb?
273 Will AI Supercharge or Destroy Wikipedia As We Know It?
272 In Which We Try Very Hard to Not Talk About the Middle East
271 Wikipedians Are at War Over the Inclusion of Roads and Highways
270 The Greatest TV Theme Song Ever Written, According to Science*
269 How "Bama Rush" TikTok Became a Bizarre Social Media Reality Show
Creating "Positive Peer Pressure" With Study Streamers [ENCORE]
268 How Virtual Worlds Became a Safe Space for Non-Human Identities (Toy Dragon)
267 A Big Announcement and the Independent Future of 2G1P!
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