Second Life Real or Not Real?

Description of one of the pubs at Second Life

As part of our assignment for my CIS 120 class this week, we were to explore Second Life a virtual world. You can create a persona (called an avatar) to represent you in the world. Both you and the world around you can be quite accurate (wander around the streets of Paris) or can be pure fantasy (interact with a vampire). How real everything is is up to you.

The division between reality and fantasy can get blurry. For example, the use of real money to purchase property in Second Life.   Second Life: Real Money in a Virtual World.
I've heard of virtual worlds being created to help treat veteran's PTSD and to train Nuclear Inspectors.  It can also take on a more ominous tone, Virtual Murderess May Land in Real Jail. So,the virtual world can have a positive impact the real world. But, it can also have the opposite effect.

Before this assignment, I've had an very limited exposure to these virtual worlds.  Since I do not have unlimited time and funds to play around with, I would rather keep my focus on the world I actually live in and try to make a difference here.