People in the present society have adopted the modern information system technology in carrying out various operations. The introduction of the internet has introduced a virtual society changing the focus of the society’s culture leading to significant effects. In addition, the virtual society has changed the physical behavior into functional type through the use of telecommunications and computing technologies. The virtual society has brought about the issue of second life that has affected most people especially the youth. Second life is a form of internet based virtual world focusing on technological development in the present and near future. It comes in the form of 3D that can be used for entertainment and education. In general, second life uses three primary types of online media: social media, gaming, and simulation and training. The introduction of second life has created a significant impact on the cultural sector (Geser 3).
The use of social media has improved with the introduction of World Wide Web (WWW) in terms of digital divine and public participation. The process has resulted into disrespect of people’s culture, diminished personal level of customer services, and disorientation of cultural believes. However, the presence of virtual society has made communication easier because of the emergence of virtual offices, virtual companies and virtual teams. Social media has introduced many channels of communication such as, FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and Skype. Moreover, the introduction of virtual society has led to growth and development of organizations due to improved management, design, culture, and leadership control. Combination of organizational management with the present information science increases chances of overcoming stiff competition and encouraging innovations. The use of traditional methods has been overtaken by the virtual society in all manners of production and growth (Geser 8-10).
On the other hand, the effect of second life to the society has positively introduced evolutionary movements. The different change initiatives aimed at improving the living standards of people in the society have been introduced that brings together people from all corners of the world together. The cultural sector has benefited from the introduction of second life since people can share blogs, and other crucial information about their culture through the internet. In addition, it has introduced various business opportunities through improved communication systems. Most people post songs and dances from their culture in the internet for other to watch at a certain pay. The importance of culture component in the present society has raised an attention to the virtual society. The virtual society through the use of second life has developed advanced and presentable ways of presenting cultural sector in a manner that generates income (Hinds and Weisband 59–86).
The online media are currently in a state of enormous growth that has provided the cultural sector with opportunities to use second life and establish businesses. The use of the internet has totally reshaped social lives within a span of years. The society has lured into the virtual world by forgetting traditional interactions and acquiring the new internet protocols. The high rate at which the world is growing requires the society to adopt into the second life for easier understanding with the outside environment. Second life contributes more in changing the cultural sector by introducing an integrated economy made up of residents and real life companies. Residents can now create their own websites where people from all corners of the world can watch and comment of a certain culture and their artifacts. Moreover, second life presents culture more because it possesses a functional dimension capable of creating knowledge that better adapts to the environment (Geser 12-15).
Second life effect has increased interactions among children from one culture to the next. The introduction of online games enables children to play with their opponents from various countries all over the world. In addition, the gaming industry increases the intellectual capacity of a child and avoids idleness. Technological experts are capable of designing any type of game irrespective of age and the culture that could be played using computers. People find it relaxing staying at home and sharing information with their friends online. The benefits brought about by second life in increase cultural interaction and engage people with friends through the social media. For example, visitors from all parts of the world make use of the virtual world in observing animals from San Diego Zoo online. The Zoo management has introduced a website where all activities taking place are recorded and posted on the net for customers to watch (Benkler 515).
The introduction of the virtual society that has created second life has benefited the cultural sector a lot. Most cultural attractive sites have adopted the new technology due to the business opportunities coming through the virtual society. The management of such sites has used the comments from visitors in improving their presentation and attracting more visitors to their websites. On the other hand, the following effect has changed the living standards of people in societies and reduced dependence on media for information and news. The social and economic forces are the crucial factors that determine the essential outcome of a second life adaptation.
Works cited
Benkler, Y. The Wealth of Networks: how social production transforms markets and
Freedom, New Haven and London, Yale University Press. 2006.
Hinds, P. J. and Weisband, S. P. ‘Knowledge Sharing and Shared Understandings in
Virtual Teams’, in C.B. Gibson and S.G. Cohen (eds) Virtual Teams that Work: Creating Conditions for Virtual Team Effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2003.
Geser, H. A real virtual society. Some macrosociological aspects of "Second Life". 2007. Web;
http://socio,ch/intcom/t_hgeser18.pdf
