Hi Christy and thanks for your input! I think the problem with SL is the lacking of audience (depending of the technical problems, too difficult to have more than 100 avatars in the same room connected at the same time) and it's reproductive character. For me, used to Neal Stephenson's metaverse and to Courtenay Grimwood's universes it's difficult to grasp why SL is now so mainstream and so flat. The censure exerced from the Linden Labs (owners and developers of SL) against all critical voices has been a strong issue for me and for others who want democracy and participation in cyberspace, as much we want it for real life and for "this world". SL should be an arena for experiment and transgression of barriers, a place where we can exerce Rosi Braidotti's "nomadic identities". But it's now instead a place for Ikea and IBM to advertize. Sex and gambling and virtual shopping of virtual furniture and clothes don't attract me. As a friend wrote : "Yes, SL is as a big mall, but where are the crowds?" To be elitistic is SL too rude and bad technical implemented and to be a massive entertainment arena, it's too boring for me.
Ana, a SL sceptic