My RootsCamp activities have unfortunately ground to a halt, due to a heavily scheduled semester and an unfortunate conflict with the weekly meeting time. A group of progressive activists are still meeting at 3p Eastern every Thursday in Second Life on Progressive Island, a new home they are trying to fill with meaningful content. Too bad, especially since January 27 will mark a very interesting event.
For the past month, the RootsCamp group has been meeting to discuss how the March for Peach in Washington, DC tomorrow can be supported online. Some of the ideas include a club-hosted party with a DJ (Doubledown Tandino), a peace poster gallery and a march on virtual Capitol Hill — a Second Life version launched by Clear Ink on January 5 to welcome the new Congress (check out the RocketBoom video blog on the subject). The Virtual March is slated to begin at 5p Eastern (2p SL time) on Monday, January 29.
The use of Second Life has sparked other interesting ideas () to make the young medium a political soapbox. Last month, actress Mia Farrow was avatarized for a “speaking” tour about Darfur, and the Save the Children foundation culminated a six-month sale of Yaks that raised money for the STC Wishlist project to improve the lives of children around the world. One of the most interesting mixes of politics and virtual is MensajerosDeLaPaz Jubilee, a homeless kid. This avatar of a young man roams Second Life without land or properties to bring awareness to homelessness and how it affects global youth. The only objects Jubilee posessess are a cardboard box, some newspapers and a sign: “Help a child have a second oportunity in his First Life.”
I’ve got about 30-40 minutes, in between the end of an HCI talk and my kids’ swimming lessons at the SRSC on campus, to participate in the virtual march on Monday. In a way, I hope the event brings down Second Life. Good for the event, but probably bad for the medium. If it happens, I wonder what angle the media coverage will take when reporting it.
