Brett, a member of Colin McEnroe's class on blogging wrote this blog entry. About Second Life, he writes, "I think it contributes to people's lack of personal correspondence in the real world".

I wrote two comments to his blog entry, which I have combined below:

I must admit, I don't play Second Life. It requires a computer running fairly recent versions of operating systems and fairly powerful graphics cards, both of which I lack.

However, if I had a better machine, I would probably be playing Second Life. I have a different view of Second Life. It is a community. Some people join Rotary, others join Second Life. Based on other virtual communities I've been part of, I suspect that they get together face to face as well.

For the blogging side of things, I would encourage you to read Second Life Herald. It brings a whole new perspective to blogs and to journalism.

I would also encourage you to read my blog entry, Random Observations.

One of the things that I talk about is the outbreak of a plague in World of Warcraft. People are now studying the reaction to the outbreak as people think about how to prepare for an outbreak like the Bird Flu.

As a follow up on the community aspects of Second Life, check out Second Life Community Convention.

Perhaps more importantly take a look at Brigadoon, An innovative online community for people dealing with Asperger's Syndrome and Autism and live2give, An innovative online community for people dealing with Cerebral Palsy and similar conditions.