Second Life, Webkinz & This World

A name keeps cropping up that just sort of sits out there, with a few words surrounding it that tweak the curiosity just enough for you to remember it, until finally you are curious enough that you say, hum mm, let me take a look at this. So you surf, and bingo it comes up, and you find that it is a virtual world that countless people are starting to gravitate to where they can build a fantasy life and live and be whomever they chose. That one is called Second Life.

Then, the other day, one of our local stations asked the question about how many of us knew anything about Webkinz? They thought we should because local stores could not keep them on their shelf! It seems they have become the new "to die for" toy, the must have gift, the 2007 Beanie Babies!




Well, I certainly didn't know that. I'd never heard of it, but when they started to report I realized that I'd seen a few of the cute, cuddly toys nestled tightly in the arms of little ones in our family, or little cuties strolling through the mall with their parents, but I had no idea that they, too, had a virtual world of their own! Webkinz is a virtual, social world for children! Per a parent that was interviews on our local station, her young ones are learning about the responsibilities of pet ownership, property ownership, and money management through the Webkinz website!

If there are youngsters in your life you might want to ask them about this new phenomena, find out what type of a social impact it is having in their life. You might also want to find about a bit more about social worlds as a whole. As tough as times are in the real one, it might be very tempting to opt for a virtual one where you rule, but I'm not yet convinced.