It's an Anti-Social, Virtual World

What do you say in a world where millions live a virtual second life, where video games are the leading entertainment medium, where mobile, always-on communicators keep us connected ... but isolated in our own bubble.

Take the typical home environment ... individuals plugged in to different devices, participating with different screens, and not communicating directly. Today's teens form and break relationships online, they have plethora of social networking services available, and they communicate with an increasing variety of electronic mediums - text messaging, instant messaging, and now a virtual world, Second Life and Teen Second Life.

Organizations are using Second Life as a virtual meeting place - watch out WebEx - but, what does it say on a societal level that people are so unhappy with their day-to-day, that they need to spend hard-earned $$$ on a virtual existence?

HMR is first to admit - we haven't spent too much time in SL or playing MMO (massively multi-player online games) - so perhaps we're speaking out of turn. Perhaps today's realities of Middle Eastern strife, genocide, and American political unrest demand a new form of escape. But if society is moving toward a virtual lifestyle, what happens to 'real' issues?