Among all the possible kinds of RolePlay in Second Life, you can also get the chance to join a Mafia community. There are lots of groups, Sims, and even stores dedicated to the recreation of some kind of "mafia atmosphere", for the full enjoyment of roleplay action and the celebration of badly generalized values such as Respect and Brotherhood. Add some beautiful 30's style clothing and sims, and the trick is done. I typed 'mafia' in the Secondlife.com search and here are the results (note: mature and adult content not included) :
436 groups.
Now, Mafia is still a huge problem in Italy. It' s something we aren't definitely proud of, and despite Italy ranks as the 5th biggest national community in SL, only a few d****e bags among us happen to join certain of those groups. I am aware the term "mafia" has been anglicized and has a broader range of meanings in popular american culture, but still, an average of more than 300 people are murdered every year and 40,000 families are affected by "that word" in my country and there is no way any of us would even dare to recreate this atmosphere in a virtual world. Popular TV shows such as "The Sopranos" have never been aired on TV here, and it is a criminal offense to publicly emphasize any mafia-related phenomenon.
Being the internet a relatively new world, I think it's our duty to keep it clean and accessible for all possible users. I know Facebook has deleted all its mafia-related groups, but I am sad to hear that among the addictive Facebook games such as Farmville, Pirates and CafèWorld, now there is also Mafia Wars.
Second Life contents are entirely user created, but I guess the Lindens must have some kind of control over certain 'politically uncorrect' behavior. Just out of curiosity, I thought of other shameful words in worldwide culture and typed them into the SecondLife.com search :
Now, Mafia is still a huge problem in Italy. It' s something we aren't definitely proud of, and despite Italy ranks as the 5th biggest national community in SL, only a few d****e bags among us happen to join certain of those groups. I am aware the term "mafia" has been anglicized and has a broader range of meanings in popular american culture, but still, an average of more than 300 people are murdered every year and 40,000 families are affected by "that word" in my country and there is no way any of us would even dare to recreate this atmosphere in a virtual world. Popular TV shows such as "The Sopranos" have never been aired on TV here, and it is a criminal offense to publicly emphasize any mafia-related phenomenon.
Being the internet a relatively new world, I think it's our duty to keep it clean and accessible for all possible users. I know Facebook has deleted all its mafia-related groups, but I am sad to hear that among the addictive Facebook games such as Farmville, Pirates and CafèWorld, now there is also Mafia Wars.
Second Life contents are entirely user created, but I guess the Lindens must have some kind of control over certain 'politically uncorrect' behavior. Just out of curiosity, I thought of other shameful words in worldwide culture and typed them into the SecondLife.com search :
As you can see, no matches found for KU KLUX KLAN...
And 15 matches found for NAZI, just because of the various ANTI-NAZI groups.
and obviously no matches found for 'al qaeda'...
So, shall I just be glad that one of the darker stains on my country's worldwide reputation isn't considered off limits by Linden Labs, or is this worth some more thinking to Mr Philip Rosedale? I 'd like to know your opinions about it.
Peace :)
Peace :)
