The development of the internet is moving at light speed, and every day new business opportunities are explored and exploited in a myriad of ways. A long and fervent discussion about one of these new phenomena has led me to think more critically about the implications of this development: A Second Life.

The definition of A Second Life is well summed up in its title. It is a virtual reality where people, referred to as “residents,” can reinvent themselves and take on a completely new (and probably more exciting) identity than the one they currently have in their – um – first life. The game/social network/virtual world came to international attention by mid 2006 and currently has over 7 million registered accounts. People can interact with each other through motional avatars, who have many different forms determined by the user himself. The residents of Second Life can socialize, attend events, open up business, buy property, and much more. There are only two main rules for your second life: do not harm another resident and do not reveal his/her real identity. Other than that there are no limitations to your imagination.

A friend of mine told me about his cousin, who in first life is a rather boring forty-year-old, trapped in what seems to be a dull marriage, and a pretty unexciting life. In Second Life, this same cousin is a pimp. Not in the sense of a “cool dude” but in the sense of an actual pimp. He arranges escorts for business people and satisfies any other virtual desires of Second Life residents. This already seems quite mind-boggling to me and to be honest, if I were his wife, I would probably be just a little worried, even though the whole thing is completely virtual.

The issue that I am more concerned with, however, is the fact that people can actually make money in their second life. The currency is Linden Dollars, and as of February 2007 the exchange rate was 270 L$ to 1 US dollar. There are real estate agents who buy and sell property, sports events that require ticket purchases, and shops where the residents can buy anything to satisfy their wants and needs. (Reuters even installed a virtual news reporter there, who is keeping track of the current happenings of A Second Life.) Many of the residents make actual real profit off their business in A Second Life ranging from a hundred to many thousands of US dollars, and recently there was a first Second Life millionaire. Some residents even consider their second identity as their primary income source.

So this leads me to the question: if the aforementioned pimp makes actual money with virtual prostitution, where do we draw the line of morality and ethics in a virtual reality? Just because nobody is actually harmed in the Second Life prostitution business does this mean it is morally acceptable?

Personally, although I understand the fascination with A Second Life, I am worried about its evolution. If people consider their second life business (or other activities) to be more important, more fun or just more lucrative than their first life equivalent, we will soon get to a point where the limits between the two worlds are slowly vanishing. Transporting all our unfulfilled wishes, repressed desires, and unachievable dreams to a virtual reality is unnatural, because they will only be fulfilled virtually. How much pleasure can you get out of watching your avatar live your dream life while being trapped in the basement in front of computer screen? And if your husband tells you that he will pay the next rent with the money made in Second Life with his prostitution business, wouldn’t you be just a tiny bit worried?