The Man’s Opinion
So yesterday on the Daily Show, John Stewart did a segment on Congress’ recent debate over virtual worlds, highlighting Second Life. The video itself is funny. There’s no denying that. The part I find funny is people’s reactions to virtual worlds. We all know it may be a little odd at times. Taking away the human style avatars I’ve seen dragons, robots, cubes, and of course furrys running around Second Life, still are people that closed minded? Virtual Worlds have so many fantastic uses. The education system alone could benefit tremendously from virtual worlds. The benefits even for politicians should be obvious. Raise your hand if you watch C-SPAN on a regular basis. Think of the millions of people that would be more inclined to learn about our government through a comfortable interesting medium.
I think I’ve made my point. *sarah steps down from soap box
Here is the video from the Daily Show and an article from the Washington post. Enjoy!
Congress Goes Virtual in Online World Hearing
A Linden Lab worker put on her nicest black suit and her most formal pair of wings this morning, to help run a Congressional subcomittee hearing about online virtual worlds that was broadcast simultaneously in the company’s own virtual world, Second Life.
Okay, this might be a little confusing, but here goes: A virtual depiction of the Rayburn House Office Building meeting room was projected on television screens on the wall, so that real-world attendees could take a look at the small virtual crowd that logged on for the event. Attendees logging in from Second Life, meanwhile, could watch the proceedings in a video screen projected on the wall of the virtual room. The real-world guests included executives from Linden Lab, IBM and a tech firm that helps nonprofit organizations take advantage of virtual worlds.
Sen. Ed Markey’s avatar. (Courtsey of Rep. Ed Markey’s staff)
A self-admitted group of virtual-world newbies, the politicians, led by Rep. Ed Markey (D - Mass.), asked a wide-ranging group of questions. In an era where technologies can catch on and become mainstream quickly, the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet wanted to know some basics. Could Second Life be used as a place to launder money? Are children safe in online worlds? Are there churches in there? Are you making any money?
“We have never seen any evidence of such activity going on in Second Life,” said Linden CEO Philip Rosedale, on the matter of whether criminals could use his company’s online world as a place to launder money. Rosedale argued that Second Life is a self-policing community, and that users would likely be quick to report any online behavior that seemed to indicate users posed any real-world threats.
Second Life audience. (Courtsey of Rep. Ed Markey’s staff)
As the politicians and the witnesses discussed the potentials of the online virtual world, the online visitors logged on in Second Life chatted away on the screen in conversations that ranged from the topic at hand and beyond:
“I think senators are superdelegates but not all reps.”
“I love flip4mac.”
“They should really move the x and the c away from each other on the keyboard.” (this following a warning that the video might freeze for “just a sex.”)
On the real-world end, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) probably got the best quips out, joking that some people already think Congress is a virtual world, and that Markey was throwing the event merely to learn how to get to the next level in World of Warcraft.
The invite-only event was a bit less chaotic than the time, a couple of years ago, when Mark Warner, the former governor of Virginia, made a Second Life appearance and virtual participants floated across the room, apparently unable to control their avatars.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I thought that the Congressional hearing was like listening to a teenager explain rap music to his or her parents. This made it frustrating, funny, and really cool all at the same time… if that makes any sense.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
It definitely does make sense. The point I was trying to make was that it seems so benefical for a lot of people if the government were to use virtual worlds as a medium to get to the demographics that use it. If that makes sense? haha. Thanks for commenting Rory.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
[…] Metaversatility Blogs Jon Stewarts Second Life Congress Satire If you haven’t had the chance to see The Daily Show’s Second Life coverage of Philip Rosedale’s hearing in front of congress, Metaversatility has put it up on our blog along with a report from Ronnie Musgrove, which is incorrect. He refers to Susan Tenby in a black suit who works for Linden Lab which is not true, she works for TechSoup. Sad when the Daily show delivers better news than The New York Times. Check it out by clicking here. […]
April 9th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Thanks for the correction. Needless to say, this has turned me off from the Washington Post.