Second Life? I Barely Have Time for the First One!

I attended a course on social media yesterday, and came upon some interesting discoveries. The notion of "social" media, for anyone who isn't familiar with it, refers to the fact that the consumption of media today follows a more interactive path than the standard one-to-one experience. Sure, it can be argued that this was always the case, but the stakes have certainly changed.

Think about it: "back in the day", you could read a newspaper or magazine article and if you wanted to comment on something, you'd have to pull out a pad of paper and a pen (or a computer), compose your letter to the editor, fit it into an envelope, stick on a 35-cent stamp, and chuck it into the mailbox. Even just a few years ago, you could certainly send an e-mail to the publisher, but a quick hit of the "delete" button meant that your commentary was likely never heard by anyone but the recipient. Today, via blogs like this one and Website commenting features, one is able to give his two cents at the drop of a hat for literally the world to see! When it comes to TV, the viewing experience used to be 100% passive. Nowadays, we're constantly prompted to call (or text!) in a vote, questions, or even join in a game to win prizes...right from your couch!

The entire nature of media has changed. "Texting" has replaced what was known as "normal" conversation for the younger generation; and, taking things a step further, "virtual" worlds are constantly colliding with our real one. Part of the discussion yesterday was about Second Life, a virtual, online "world" where people can create avatars (likenesses) of themselves, and basically live a second life. Companies have built buildings and stores in Second Life; people buy and sell things with real money, join together for conferences, and pretty much do anything they can do in real life (and more). Supposedly people have made millions running "virtual" businesses in Second Life. Needless to say, we were all wide-eyed in awe that anyone would have the time to live a second life, and asked ourselves why would they even want to?

I took a step back and tried to think with an open mind. If computers and portable devices are replacing books and newspapers, and interactive TV is taking over the old passive, TV-viewing experience, what are virtual worlds replacing? Second Life is like a video game, and people use video games, and other similar activities, to somewhat escape from the real world, right? Then it dawned on me. Virtual worlds are like movies where you're the star. It's your own, interactive movie experience. But why would people want to control the outcome of a story? I'm not sure, but they obviously do: this got me thinking back to the old Choose Your Own Adventure series of books that let the reader flip to page X if he wanted the character to do one thing, or flip to page Y for an alternate course of action. This notion of control, and being involved in the media you're engaging in, has obviously been around longer than we realize.

Would I participate in a virtual world? Probably not. But then again, I did love those Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid because, to some degree, I could control the story.

There's always an underlying fear that all this "social" media could lead to a very anti-social community as people communicate more with their computers and less with real people. But then again, maybe this is just a different way of communicating, and not a way to replace the old methods.

People Still Read Books

It’s nice to know that even in the age of rapid technological innovation, people still long to curl up on the sofa with a good book. Indigo Books & Music Inc., which operates the Indigo, Chapters, The World's Biggest Bookstore, and Coles stores throughout Canada (as well as the http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/ Website), reported record numbers for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.

Net earnings were up 18.4 per cent over the previous year, reaching a whopping $30 million. Total revenue was $201.9 million, up $11.8 million (6.2 per cent) over the same quarter last year. That’s a lot of Harry Potter and Shopaholic Series books!

This just goes to show that technology doesn't always replace the traditional way of doing things: it simply helps to enhance activities that we’ve always loved engaging in. I don’t see myself reading an electronic book any time soon; but when I’m relaxing on a flight with the latest paperback novel, I’ve definitely got my noise-canceling headphones on, and my MP3 player geared up and ready to go once I've finished a few chapters.

Kudos to Indigo for keeping us entertained the old-fashioned way while we jump on the tech bandwagon to enhance our experiences.