Not so sure about 2nd Life

Well, this week was one of those weeks where I had absolutely no free time and was expected to be in several different places at the same time. So I didn't get a chance to attend the Second Life webcast - instead I watched the archived version which, although I was sorry I missed it live, was nice because it gave me the chance to pause the dialog and replay sections over again when I needed to. I have to admit first off that I was never a video game player (they were not allowed in my house) and therefore have some kind of prejudice and a lack of understanding about computer games of any sort. So I was happy to learn quite a bit about what really is involved in the various types of MMOG's.

Matt talking about a couple of books that might aid in understanding of things such as Second Life really opened my eyes to how some people argue in support of these games - young people using it as an outlet, emotional power gained by role-playing, how games help kids figure out their world. All of these were points I can agree with and support. In "Everything Bad is Good for You" the point about games being more interactive and social whereas books are more isolating and passive is one that I have mixed feelings about - there definitely has to be a balance of reading and game playing, I still think reading is one of the best activities for children as it makes them use their imagination without the aid of pre-made visuals that are just fed to them. I think that in this day and age there is an overload of stimuli in the form of video graphics and television and I wonder how this has affected the imaginations of children?

The world is definitely a different place than when I was growing up - and the screen shot near the end of the webcast showing the complexity of these online games and how kids are used to this kind of heavily graphic and multi-tasking kind of interface makes me realize even more just how different the world today is. I am still not sure how I feel about things like video games and Second Life in libraries - or in peoples homes for that matter, but I am open to getting more used to these things and definitely feel that after seeing this webcast I have a much wider view of how these  types of games can be a good thing for children and libraries alike.