MCPC 2007

Christopher Colosi is responsible for Second Life: Colossus Linden Business Development, at Linden Lab Boston.

Second Life is an internet-based virtual world developed by Linden Research and was launched in 2003. Since then this 3-D world has been growing enormously and is occupied by around 9,800,000 people from all over the world.

The users of this online program are called residents who interact with each other through so called avatars. An avatar is human in appearance, but may be of either sex. It has a wide range of physical attributes and can be customized to humanoid and other forms.

This digital world is build and owned by its residents. They act and live their lives like in reality by purchasing and trading with goods and services and making their own decisions by retaining special rights. As soon as people enter this world, they have the opportunity to explore this digital continent, which is crowded with people, entertainment, experiences and adventures. People can choose a place where they want to live, build a house or set up a business. Furthermore they can meet other residents, communicate, socialize and participate in individual and group activities as well.

The virtual currency is the Linden Dollar, which is exchangeable for real US dollars in a marketplace consisting of residents, Linden Lab and real life companies. Currently millions of US dollars are supported in monthly transactions.

“A journey into a place in cyberspace where thousands of people have imaginary lives.” – BusinessWeek, 2006