June 29, 2009
New World Notes reports that a ceremony was held in Second Life last week to honor protesters killed by security forces during the post-election unrest in Iran:
Lasting longer than 90 minutes... about forty people ultimately showed up for the vigil. No one there was reportedly from Iran, but some have family members who are. It wasn't only a time for mourning, but coordinating and growing the nascent "Support Iran" group which organized the event.
What we're seeing here, then, is an immersive offshoot of the informal Internet community that has sprung up in the last couple weeks...
Comments
Re: Second Life Vigil For Slain Iranian Protesters
There have been a few of these events on the game. I went to one (not this one), but I found that while it was probably better than nothing (it let me pretend I was doing some good), it really lacked the power of a real vigil. I had the opportunity to attend such a real life vigil in my city, and I found that that was far more meaningful -- the crowed swelled to roughly 3000 people, most of them Iranian immigrants, and apparently more and more non-Iranians (like me!) were showing up at every event that they held. It was a great opportunity to show Iranians here and in Iran that you don't have to have family there to be horrified by what has been happening, and I think that message can only be effectively sent at a real life event. Events that happen online, especially on Second Life, are just too small, to private, and too... cold, I think, no matter how much warmth people try to put into them.
Re: Second Life Vigil For Slain Iranian Protesters
If I actually played SL, I'd have probably gone to this event. It's a good thing to see support and caring for citizens lost in a tyrannical government. Sure, it's kind of pointless to do it in SL, but hopefully some real work can be done outside of the internet to help escaping citizens or, in the event of a full-blown revolution, aiding Iranians directly. At the very least, internet support (and mourning) well help to show that there are people that care out there.
-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-
Re: Second Life Vigil For Slain Iranian Protesters
This is nice, right up until someone dickbombs the memorial.