A few months ago, ZimDaily brought to my attention the virtual world of Second Life, claiming that it could be a good resource for Zimbabwe, due to the massive amounts of money spent in the game. So far, I have found it an interesting place for activism, but a very unreliable platform, with a rich and ignorant population. I have spoken with over a thousand people (”avatars”) in this virtual land, and found some very terrifying statistics:

50% of people did not believe Zimbabwe was a nation. Around 75% believed that communism or anarchist principles could run a nation well. 90% got Zimbabwean inflation wrong by at least 2,000%.

Still, it can only get better from here. There is a small area of the world named Shona, which contains many artefacts which seem to express the ideals of the Shona population. No real mention of Zimbabwe, and no other African languages are named currently. Still, it is a technology which claims over a million people from a hundred nations or more. So perhaps it will become a better resource in the future. After all, a hundred people I spoke with knew the inflation rate, which is at least something.

8,222 miles from Bulawayo

Second Life Avatar: Economic Mip

{EDIT: Everyone has the right to comment and this one gave no offence, and highlighted the chance of a ‘virtual’ Zimbabwe, although the population would appear to be a bit on the ’slow’ side when it comes to information about their imagined land. I can live with it if you can…}