20th August:

When I was a lad, there was a certain kind of person who was into role-playing games. This character was pretty easy to spot - he regularly wore a long dark coat and hat (even in Summer) and had a pasty complexion and a pony-tail. And often listened to Jethro Tull.

These days, however, it's all change. The Internet age has brought us Second Life, There and a whole host of virtual environments that allow you to ignore the cruel hand that Mother Nature has dealt you. Losing your hair? A few pounds overweight? Disappointed with your job and financial standing in society? No problem! Simply log on, create a suitably slim and good-looking avatar and get on with being yourself, only more so...

It's maybe a generational thing, but I am deeply suspicious of people who feel the need to immerse themselves in these games. Spending many hours a week logged into Second Life suggests to me that there is something serious awry with First Life, the original and still arguably best Massive Multi-player Role Playing Game out there. Literally.

In some senses, these on-line games are useful because they remove the need for people to live vicariously through their children. Which is good for everyone concerned, unless you happen to be a Psychotherapist. Although having said that, do people who feel the need to create and hide behind virtual characters in order to facilitate their social networking need a bit of professional help? Just a thought...

Exponents of MMORPG games talk about social revolution. They point to the fact that many companies (including Mercedes-Benz) now have a presence in Second Life and that it is becoming a genuinely important part of a company's new media marketing strategy. I, predictably, argue that it is more about jumping on a fashionable bandwagon and is only interesting to a company's PR department who are after favourable column inches. Let's see how long they hang around for once the fuss has died down.

About one year ago, I took the plunge and became a member of There. I spent a few hours one weekend creating a good-looking avatar and exploring the various virtual countries that make up the There world. I met lots of American teenagers, most of whom said "ROTFL" a lot. I quickly learned several things:

1. Doing anything other than wandering around aimlessly in There involves spending real money. Fuck that.
2. The majority of people you meet will be newbies who are very quickly realising what a waste of time this really is.
3. Everyone lies about their age, marital status and attractiveness.

At the last count, over 9 million people have signed up to Second Life. However, only 1.8 million of these accounts have actually been used in the last month. The other 7.2 million, I assume, have grown weary of saying "ROTFL" and wandering aimlessly around lying about their age, marital status and attractiveness and have gone outside to talk to some real people instead.

If you really want social networking, try Facebook, Flickr, Bebo or even good old-fashioned MySpace.

If you want to pretend you are someone or something you are not, I'd suggest clicking here and then here.

Get well soon.