Run for charity without moving a muscle!

The newest addition to the online world is the virtual marathon, which has so far this year raised $90 000. But others have asked, with our lives operating less and less in the real world, are things getting out of hand?

The organisers of Second Life's Relay for Life have made spectacular efforts in raising a huge amount of money for the American Cancer Society, through organising their virtual online marathon. Whilst it is unarguable that these are noble efforts, others have argued that this is just another facet of the long list of things we now do online; shop, chat, date and even get married, and commentators are worried that people are becoming increasingly separated from the real world, and living in fantasy. This is refuted by those taking part in the race, who say that raising money for a real-life cause is definitely not the work of people cut off from reality. And it seems that large amounts of people support their theory, as they have over twenty teams taking part, and thousands of online supporters. Whatever you believe there’s no doubt that what these people are doing in theory is good, but true marathon addicts will argue that nothing can replace the feeling of actually running a marathon yourself, and that there’s no way this atmosphere can be recreated online.

Some welcome the increasing number of things you can now do online, and see it as a positive development, and indicator of our forward thinking cyber society. Whatever you think the truth is that the availability of online resources will only continue to grow over the years, so whether you support these developments or not, what is inevitable is that they will continue. Whilst they are not doing any real harm is there really any danger in these developments? Running a marathon without having to exert any effort will be seen by many as a welcome invention! However, some seem to think there is a problem with these online innovations; in the end the decision is up to you.

Sources:

Guardian