The Virtual Audience

Along with this almost “ideal” artistic medium brought forth by Second Life, the issue of attracting an audience is surely important in the minds of the artists. From our earlier interviews with our group, a common theme seemed to be the issue of expectance in a world where you can be anyone you want to be. In a world full of struggling artists today, along with the decline of many record companies, turning to something like Second Life would seem like a legitimate move for some. Second Life is full of very open members who could relate to a struggling artist searching for online acceptance. Just like the example we discussed in class a few weeks ago, people do attract a virtual following through this game. If you step back and think about it, is this audience really virtual? Or could someone actually be successful in making the transition from this “fake” life into the real world?

In my opinion, the minute your first Second Life fan is achieved, your fate is already sealed. If someone has to remain in this virtual world to seek acceptance of their art, they will be surely blown away when trying to get noticed in the real world. The issue lies in the fact that Second Life is nowhere close to representing our world. In the world we live in, one must persistently promote him/herself to a wide variety of audiences. One must also learn to take rejection and learn/improve from it, so that they can mold their art to the liking of a large audience. This takes lots of time and patience, which can never be fully encompassed by Second Life. That world is full of an audience who will offer little insight into the real world, as it is an audience who spends much of their life in front of a computer screen. It’s almost sad for me to try and take some of these artists seriously, because I know that the bounds of human imagination have been trapped into this bubble known as Second Life.