The one from the metaverse is a ditty that, luckily or unfortunately for all of us who are already somewhat tired of the idea, is not new to us. That of having virtual avatars earning virtual money to pay virtual mortgages comes from very far.
And as Second Life has already demonstrated since its launch in 2003, virtual worlds are often just an even darker, twisted and ruthless reflection of everything bad we already have in the real world. From megacorporations to politics.
Everything bad from the real world in a virtual world
Religion, advertising, exorbitant prices, elitism, affiliations… The idea of a second life in a virtual world it didn’t take long for it to be filled with all the good and bad that we already had in the real world.
Surprisingly, despite this, the rise of the idea and the growth of its user base continue to this day, 20 years after its launch, with peaks of about 50,000 concurrent users.
With figures that from Second Life last year were around 70 million accountsIt is not surprising that many wanted to get a slice of that virtual universe when it was in full swing.
From clothing brands to lecturing gurus, everyone wanted their little piece of fame in Second Life and, with the need to get closer to young people to get votes, soon the political parties also decided to join this alternative reality.
Not only the Anglo-Saxons join this type of madness, eye, in Spain there were also those who wanted to look at the possibility of approaching another type of public through places and virtual avatars. The problem is that things came out regular.
When politics went virtual and came out scalded
We are in 2007 and the regional and municipal election campaign has led to PP and PSOE to create their own offices in the world of Second Life. The idea is to be able to organize rallies and debates both between political rivals and with the community.
But what should have been a meeting and information place for members and sympathizers of both parties soon turned into complete chaos with demonstrationsconcentrations with virtual hunger strikes and until the fire of the venues.
A grotesque caused by the tension that the electoral agents themselves in charge of ensuring the security of the sites collected with statements how are you:
“They have thrown bombs, they have entered with machine guns, even a tank inside the headquarters, a fire around it, anything you can imagine.” “Yesterday they tried to burn her, but she was protected and they started several fires in the nearby land. We have reported the terrorist to the Second Life commission.”
When political parties and other personalities saw how difficult it was to put doors and security in the field, harassing avatars and boycotted interviews because of flying penises, the idea of taking advantage of the pull of the virtual world to make a profit in the real world faded until little by little everyone abandoned the attempt. The filias, on the other hand, seem to be still there.