Essay Outline

Is there a place for Second Life, the virtual world, in today’s society?
Morally:
Opened to public in 2003.
Each user has their own motional avatar which allows them to socialise and communicate.
Legally:
US dollars can be converted into Linden dollars.
Late 2006 and early 2007 through media and the news, this craze came to international attention.
End of March 2008, approximately 13million accounts were registered (some inactive).
Technically:
Can be described as the Metaverse where users can interact, play, do business and communicate in their world.
Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." It is also a subgenre of industrial rock music. The name is derived from cybernetics and punk and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983,[1] although the style was popularized well before its publication by editor Gardner Dozois. It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or a radical change in the social order.
Socially:
According to Lawrence Person,
“Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body”
It often expresses a sense of rebellion, suggesting that one could describe it as a type of culture revolution in science fiction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk
http://teen.secondlife.com/
http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=Second+Life&meta=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life
http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=utf8&rys=0&itag=crv&_sb_lang=pref&q=Second+Life&o=10
http://lindenlab.com/
http://www.secondlifeherald.com/
http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17538999/
http://trumpy.cs.elon.edu/metaverse/wiki/index.php/Second_Life