Virtual Society vs. Real World Society

Even though these two worlds are different, there is a lot of similarity in them as well. In the Virtual World there is a Freebie Store which allows anyone to have anything in the store for free. This is different because in the Real World nothing seems to be free anymore, especially not a whole store full of free items. In the Virtual World and avatar’s means of transportation consists of walking, flying, or teleporting. The Real World is similar in that both people and avatars walk, however the two other means of transportation are different. In the Real World people are able to fly, but through means of airplanes or even hot air balloons. Teleporting is something that is only available in “Pretend Worlds”. So far technology has not yet enabled the ability to teleport in the Real World. From my experiences in Second Life I have not come across a car, so I’m thinking that there are no cars in the Virtual World due to the simplicity of transportation such as teleporting. Another difference between the two worlds is the one-on-one interaction between people. Yeah, a person can talk to someone else by typing, but the experience is not the same. You can’t read other people’s expressions just from the text. People normally use facial expressions to really perceive another person’s emotion when talking to them. Body language also tells a person a lot and the experience is not the same through the Virtual World. Differences between these two worlds are at a minimal, there are many similarities besides the ones already mentioned. Avatars in the Virtual World can even own land just like in the Real World. Even though there are free items readily available to anyone, there are a lot of items that contain a monetary value. In the Virtual World the monetary system is based on “Linden Dollars” instead of US Dollars, which would be used in the United States. The way people act is even the same in both worlds. This is mainly due to the fact that an actual person is behind every avatar; but like in the Real World there are some extremely nice people and then there are others who you just can’t get away from fast enough. Also like the Real World, people have the freedom of speech. Overall, these two worlds are similar in many ways, however are different due to the fact of interaction (in person) experience of people.