Response to "Leading a Double Life" by Irene Sege

“Leading a Double Life” by Irene Sege opened my eyes to a world that I didn’t even know existed. The article focused on Second Life which I would describe as another whole world—a virtual world. It is a place where humans create an avatar for themselves, which to me seems much like an alter ego, which they live through online. I was actually really disturbed by the article. In my opinion, I think places out there like Second Life are creepy. There was one man in the article where his cyber-friend died and he held a virtual funeral for her. How well did he really know this person? They were dating in the Second Life world but I feel like their whole “relationship” could have been a lie; they had never actually met each other in person! Second Life is giving people a chance to portray themselves as something they are not. It takes away from the personal experience of knowing someone. Even with blogs like MySpace, you don’t necessarily know everyone you are friends with. People can know things about you without actually knowing you. I am very hesitant about the whole cyber-world of communication.