Ahead of our times.

The virtual world is growing to be a major  and huge part of the internet’s future. In Second Life the users create their own story. Second life constitutes  of almost 2 million people where they avatar and can meet and chat with other users. Surprisingly when I heard in my COM125 class that users can do a number of things to earn money in Second Life, I was taken by surprise and wanted to further research on this topic. Designers, Landowners, etc are turning the virtual environment into a real world profit podium. They are business and non-profits taking advantage of the virtual world.

Every user in Second Life gets a weekly salary of a few hundred Linden dollars ($L).Linden dollars can be converted into US dollars at around 250 to 1. This means that 1 Linden dollar is worth about a half cent in real money. The main question however are the types of job offered in the virtual world. The jobs required are divided into four categories- “ Unskilled jobs”, “ Skilled jobs”, “ Freelancers and Entrepreneurs”, and “ Unclassified Jobs”.

·     Unskilled jobs- For performing these jobs one doesn’t need proficient skills to be hired. They aren’t many unskilled jobs in the virtual world of the second life and the pay isn’t too good. For example the job of a model in the virtual world, one needs a gorgeous avatar with special skin, good make up techniques, and cat walking animation

    Skilled jobs- include making use of one of the real life skills towards an activity in the virtual world of the second life. For example Fashion Designers where clothes are designed for the second life avatars.

·     Freelancers and Entrepreneurs- incorporate using skills which are not related to the practical and general things in world, but they can be shockingly used to help a user make a living. For example real estate agents and  renting of lands. Anshe Chung has become Second’s life first billionaire. She has virtual property and holdings worth over $250 million Linden which translates into $1 million dollars in the real world.

Anshe Chung 

·     Unclassified jobs- People in this category include those who use their advertising or marketing skill in the world. For example- Lawyers, economists, etc. Advertising products in the virtual world is one of the problems commonly faced in Second Life

This new business does have its own fears and drawbacks. Veronica Brown performs the skilled job of a successful clothing designer . Her clothing sells widely in the virtual world. However she faces the problem of finding reliable employees to work in her shops. Most second-life users do not take their virtual jobs seriously. "The players are going to do exactly that: They're going to play," said Brown. 

Sheffie Conchran is a virtual banker with over $20,000 in her second life vault. She has never worked as a banker in the real world, but as a virtual character known as Lindsay Druart , she runs the L&L banking trust , providing loads and savings accounts for 400 people. "I've never worked at a bank in my life! I had to pull out Business Week and all kinds of books to learn what to do," said Cochran. She said she earns $500 a month on "Second Life," enough to pay her rent in Augusta, Ga ." Even though the Linden Dollars can be exchanged for real U.S. dollars, her business does not include any contract implementation. She doesn't have the full contact information for many people she lends the money to. At the end it depends all on Trust.  

From the examples of  Veronica Brown and Sheffie Conchran, one can deduct that nothing is impossible. There are always drawbacks and limitation while trying to achieve something. The fear of failure, fear of distrust will always be a hindrance but one has to make their fears their strength and move forward. As earlier mentioned by Conchran, she became a virtual banker with no experience at all. She had the fear within her if she would be able to complete the task at hand and so far she has been successful in performing her job well. The strong presence of second life is moving at a fast speed adapting the techniques and bringing in the tricks of the trade of the real world into the virtual world. 








References: 
http://www.chickjunk.com/make-money-in-second-life/
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Guide_to_Jobs_in_Second_Life
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3527537&page=1#.T0pn-YcgeuI