501derful.org
An article in Wired News today is about how some Second Lifers are beginning to make money by transacting business in the "community." Yeah, they don’t like to be know as a "game"; it’s a community of about 130,000 people carrying out many of the activities of RL (real life, aka, "meatspace"). Second Life has it’s own currency–Linden dollars–that can be cashed-out for US dollars.
Artists and designers, landowners and currency speculators, are turning the virtual environment of Second Life into a real-world profit center.
"It’s not just a game anymore," said online artisan Kimberly Rufer-Bach. "There are businesses, nonprofits and universities" taking advantage of the online world.
Nonprofits?? Hey, that would be us, the American Cancer Society, for one! Thanks to some SL insiders and staffer Randy Moss, we’ve had two Relay For Life events in Second Life. The last one netted $5,400. We’ll have more Realys and maybe a premanent presence there. It seems like a worthwhile experiment.
…any uncertainly within Second Life only seems to energize its entrepreneurs. "It’s growing, changing," De Louise said. "And in chaos, there are opportunities. That’s what Second Life is, it’s opportunity."
