What is Second Life?

So there are good sides and bad sides to Second Life. Which one should I start with?
The good side is that it is an online virtual world where you can become whoever you want, dress how ever you want and speak the way that you want to. If you have had an accident or for some reason you are bedridden for instance then it is a great escape and a way to meet and socialise with new people when ever you feel like it. The bad side is that it is 14 years old and the graphics dont look like they have been changed since its creation. It was all the hype at the beginning but due to viruses and technology not being what it is now days it went bust for a while and all the people went with it by the looks of things. Apparently there are 1 million people using it , I have visited the Island a number of times and have only met one person and that was at the start ,but hey, plenty of time for explorations.
But lets not be all negative and cynical there is another good point and that is that people can build what ever they like in the virtual world as well. You can use money to buy plots of land and contract people to build you a house if you so wish. That is what John O 'Connor has done with the Dublin Institute of Technology. He has built a virtual college in Second Life and holds lectures there every week . The great thing about this is that anyone can join a lecture any time from anywhere in the world which is great! You are able to control who enters the lectures if you so wish by changing the setting as well. In this blog I will be documenting my experience with the module over the next semester in Second Life. Lets hope my feelings on it will change and I can even recruit a few more to join :)