Second Life

Second Life is a free, three-dimensional online world developed by San Francisco-based company Linden Lab and launched in 2003. As a user-guided, user-generated, and community-driven platform, Second Life originally came to represent the final frontier of a digital revolution radically transforming the ways users communicate, interact, and participate within online spaces.

As a medium for entertainment, socialisation, and digital escapism, Second Life represents a form of digital culture and an example of user-led innovation that has shaped contemporary societies through its highly interactive and immersive experiences. Its role within the mediated communication industry and in expanding ideas of community and identity above and beyond the traditional dichotomies of online versus off-line and material versus immaterial represents a key topic of discussion in this context. This entry ...