SunOS man pages: A womanwriter's Perspective

Back in February, I met my first Second Life entrepreneur. I blogged about him in my entry, An Unlikely Encounter.

This man was a genius at the Apple Computer Store, and while he was in college, he worked in Second Life as a graphic designer. Judging from what I read in this past weekend's Wall Street Journal, the person whom I met on that day was not only a genius, he was also on the leading edge of a hot, new trend.

Summer jobs are in short supply and more than a handful of young people are pursuing summer employment in virtual worlds. According to the Wall Street Journal's article, My Virtual Summer Job, money-making opportunities in virtual worlds have expanded as such sites go mainstream.

Some points from the article:

• Gartner Media estimates that by 2011, 80% of Internet users will have an avatar.
• On a typical day, Second Life players spend close to $1.5 million on virtual clothes, jewelry, homes, cars and real estate.

As it happens, and we know, some avatars have needs.

Sensing the needs of those avatars, some tech-savvy young people have honed their computer skills for the virtual marketplace. Rest assured, these folks aren't flipping virtual burgers, waiting virtual tables, or babysitting baby avatars. They are architects, inventors, clothing and avatar designers, filmmakers, and property developers. Among other things, you've got to admire the creativity and vision of these real life young people. More than a few of them are profiled in the Wall Street Journal article. It makes for fascinating reading.

Virtual world employment pays serious real world cash, with some of the young people profiled in the article earning as much as 4000 real world dollars per month. That's certainly more than any real world young folks that I know made as life guards, babysitters, camp counselors, research assistants, or retail clerks.

Once again, here I sit, puzzled. Never mind the fact that the economy sucks. These folks have checked out of real life to find employment in a fantasy land. Is that a good thing? I just don't know.

On the other hand, their jobs in fantasy land pay real world money. And the fantasy land economy is driven by real world people.

The boundaries are, oh so blurry and confused. It's like a giant puppet show.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I continue to struggle to make sense of it all.

Then again, some of my real world friends remind me that I can't be that old fashioned. One of their main reasons: I have an avatar. If that is the case, whatever is the real world coming to?