A female college student says she visits to spend time with her fianc , who lives in another city. Many others say they spend time in Cybertown to make friends and talk to people. They come here for entertainment. Cox, Cybertown's spokeswoman, puts it differently. As it turns out, many of Cybertown's citizens aren't old enough to get a job in their real towns, since the largest portion of users are between 13 and 17 years old.
Some experts say that humans, by their very nature, are drawn to virtual reality.
But the concept of death, and maybe even of taxes, in many ways gives shape and order to social experiences. Jeffrey R. Young covers technology for The Chronicle of Higher Education . He is also a graduate student at Georgetown University, pursuing a master's degree in Communication, Culture, and Technology. He can be reached by e-mail or via his Web site .