Creating a New Self on 'Second Life'

Aug. 31, 2007 — -- In the virtual, 3-D world known as Second Life, improving the way you look doesn't require plastic surgery. You can become your ideal self with just a click of a mouse.

Once you log onto Second Life, one of your first steps is to create an avatar of yourself — a visual representation of you. Users, or "residents" as they're called in Second Life, who spoke to ABC News, said they felt altering their images in the virtual world made them feel happier in the real one.

Established four years ago in San Francisco by Linden Lab, Second Life has fast become an online phenomenon. According to data supplied by Linden Labs, there are more than 40,000 users on Second Life's Web site at any given time and millions of people have tried it.

Kirsty Hawkshaw, for example, a British musician who goes by the avatar KFH Pooraka in Second Life, said, "When the kids are asleep, the diva comes out in me."

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You can often find her dancing up a storm at her Second Life nightclub, though in the real world her life is more subdued.

For some people, the advantages of having a Second Life avatar are even more pronounced. Bonnie Lasser-Nadeau, who lives near Memphis, Tenn., developed a thyroid condition and her health took a turn for the worse. Going into Second Life as the sexy avatar Wisteria Wilds lifted Lasser-Nadeau's spirits.

"Wisteria is my muse," she said. "She's my vision board. She is what I am bringing back into my life. Good friends. Solid friendships. Mobility. … She's leading me there. She's brought back my creative side again — which is just wonderful."

Lasser-Nadeau, who works as a data specialist for Verizon Wireless, added that Second Life has helped her to forget about real world barriers, such as the quick way people categorize each other based on appearances. With Wisteria, she's freer, and it's carrying over to her relationships.

Some meetings in Second Life between avatars have triggered real-world relationships, even marriages. Sammie Bordeaux and Alan Seeger met as Sansarya Caligari and Phoenix Psaltery and dated there.

They took the relationship to the real world, exchanging photos and speaking on the phone. Before meeting in person, Seeger revealed that he required the use of a wheelchair, thinking Bordeaux might change her mind. She didn't. She recalled telling him, "How could you think it makes a difference?"