Second Life, New Identity, and the Queer-Philosophical Implications of Virtual Environments

I just discovered the virtual environment known as Second Life (secondlife.com). It seems to me that such environments, as they become more and more "real" (we've moved beyond text-only environments...), and as they partially merge themselves into the real world (second life has its own currency that can be traded with USD)... there are amazing queer-philosophical implications. Think about this... you can have the identity you always wanted and live on a queer-only island. (Take a look at some "gay neighborhoods", click here.)

I can't try this out now because my laptop is too slow. But when I get home next week I'll be sure to give it a try ... it looks like a lot of fun :). I can see how people take these things very seriously... living out their virtual lives as seriously as their physical lives. That may seem silly to some at this point, but imagine this technology getting more and more advanced. Perhaps involving virtual reality systems, etc. that more tightly integrate your physical self with your virtual self. (Or, taking this to an extreme, a matrix(movie)-style integration with the environment). Already there is real money being made by virtual businesses on Second Life. There are virtual spaces being created to be explicitly queer-friendly environments. You could live for some time in this virtual environment, as whatever sex/gender/physical appearance you wish, in whatever virtual space you wish (like a queer-utopia).

Exciting stuff, certainly, but with some potentially negative implications as well. What will become of the physical world when where we live our lives (virtually) is defined less by our physical location than who we want to be with (and therefore the virtual space we choose to occupy?) Could this polarize thought by actually grouping physically diverse communities in like-minded virtual environments? (Similar to the way more left-politically minded individuals might flock to the cities because that's where the more left-politically minded people are...)

What about our ability to live as another gender/sex in a virtual environment? How would this affect how we feel about our physical bodies/selves? Or what about friends found in virtual environments? Might be become less satisfied the friends we interact with in a physical space?

Will we ever lose the need for the physical space altogether? What then?

Just some thoughts. I know I'm taking things a little far at this point but the internet and online communities have influenced my life (and queer-life) enough to appreciate that these virtual environments are not inconsequential. Read this for more queer-philosophical implications of second life.

mekyla.