Don't forget your first life...

Sky News is broadcasting in Second Life today. One of the guests has said that it "fills a gap", that we don't have in the real life because people can connect with each other and can do things that they wouldn't do in reality. I've not got into Second Life yet, and I don't think I will. I can understand the use of Myspace and Facebook, but I think that the idea of a virtual world, where you spend time living out how you'd like to live out your own life is vastly unhelpful. I think it would breed frustration and even more discontent with the real world because you can't achieve in real life what you are acting out in this online community. Surely it's better to invest effort in doing what you want to in your first life than in your second? If not, people would be likely to spend more time online than developing relationships with family and friends. I believe that social networking sites should be an extension of your real world living, and not a replacement. Second Life seems too close for comfort here, but I may be wrong...