3. What about virtual worlds?

An average internet user has probably heard of Second Life at least once in their life. A virtual world which gives you a second life to live. But why would people want to use something like Second Life?

First of all, these virtual worlds basically let you be whoever or whatever you want inside them. They let you be as creative as you want to, create your own worlds in the metaverse. People feel more freedom in expressing themselves because they are not tied by the constraints they had in real world and finding people to connect with is a lot easier. Virtual worlds are very different from well known chat rooms or social networks. While the latter let you communicate with people all other the world through internet, virtual worlds give you the opportunity to create a new self and explore a whole new world.

Aside from that, virtual worlds can be used as an addition to the real world. People can hold meetings, be it business related or just a friends meetup, exhibitions or musical performances that could gather visitors from all over the world. Even schools can use virtual worlds for their advantage.

In addition to all that, with the gradual increase in popularity of Virtual Reality headsets in consumer market, the experience of virtual worlds can be enhanced even further. AltspaceVR, VRChat and NeosVR are just a few examples of virtual worlds that let you use VR headsets and interactions with other users can feel almost real in them.

However, it would be too optimistic to mention only the good aspects that virtual worlds brought to us. There are quite a few problems with virtual worlds. No matter how you look at it, virtual worlds are a great form of escapism. While it is not necessarily a bad thing(it helps to forget about your problems for a bit and recharge), it's really easy to get lost in there which could lead to neglecting real life. The other big problem is that virtual worlds give you anonymity and that brings people with all sorts of bad intentions that can damage the experience of using virtual worlds.

I believe virtual worlds will soon grow to be a bigger part of our lives, considering how fast everything is being developed, and have a larger impact in the future.