Objective

Second Life is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab, launched in June 2003. It enables users, called "residents," to interact through customizable avatars within a shared, persistent environment. Residents can create, buy, and sell digital content, own virtual property, and participate in social, educational, and economic activities. The platform operates a virtual economy using its own currency, the Linden Dollar, which can be exchanged for real-world money. Over the years, Second Life has influenced the development of online communities, digital economies, and the broader concept of the metaverse. By 2013, Second Life had approximately one million regular users.

Subjective

John Zdanowski was the Chief Financial Officer of Second Life as it grew from $10m to $80m. In many ways, Second Life is similar to massively multiplayer online role-playing games; however, Linden Lab is emphatic that their creation is not a game: "There is no manufactured conflict, no set objective".

Reflections

"Anytime you created an object, you could put a price on it." ~ John Zdanowski

Contexts

• [2] How Real Money Works in Second Life, money.cnn.com

• #john-zdanowski