Second life
Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world in 2003, developed by Linden Research, Inc, which came to international attention by the mainstream media in late 2006 and early 2007. A downloadable client program called Second Life viewer enables its users, which interact with each other motions by avatars to an advanced level of a social network service in conjunction with the general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore other residents, gregarious, participation in individual and group activities, the creation and the trade of goods and services from one another.
Second Life is one of several virtual worlds, inspired by the literary cyber-punk movement, and above all, by Neal Stephenson novel Snow Crash. The stated goal of Linden Lab is to create a world like the Metaverse Stephenson describes a user-defined world in which people can interact, play, do business and communicate differently. Second Life’s virtual currency is the Linden dollar, and is interchangeable for the currencies of the world in a real residence of local marketplace facilitated by Linden Lab.
While Second Life is sometimes referred to as a game that fits this description is not the standard definition. There are no points, scores, winners or losers, layers, an end-strategy, or most of the other characteristics of the games. There are, however, several games within Second Life, international football matches.
In all, more than 20 million accounts have been registered, although many are inactive, some people have multiple accounts, and there are no reliable figures for the actual use of long-term consistent. Despite its importance, Second Life has notable competitors, including IMVU, It, Active Worlds, Kaneva, and the adult-oriented Red Light Center.