Culture Industry Continued

Another way SL can be situated within the culture industry debate is that people have trouble distinguishing what is “real” life and the lines are blurred between what is real and what is created by culture. As well, the participants in second life can be seen as targets of advertising and consumerism. However, this is highly debatable since participants are given options in what to look like and whether or not they want to buy things. So if an individual does what to go against the norms of appearance and entertainment they are able to do so. However, it is clear that a lot of the activities in SL involve shopping for items for your avatar or building things for your avatar. As well, although it is possible to enjoy activities for free – such as the cruise ship we explored – most things do cost money and you do have to become a consumer to access certain forms of entertainment.