Second Life trial run

Ok so my dip into the virtual world did not turn me into a hermit, but it was interesting nonetheless. To interact with people that may thousands, scratch that, tens of thousands miles away was amazing. To be able to share the same place, at the same time was fun. But, can't we already do that? Isn't that is what a phone is for? Yes I understand that you are interacting with people you do not know, and would not normally interact and would not be able to do that with a phone, but to me thats the point. I do not know them, and communicating via Second Life does not give me an idea of who/what you really are. Online provides the ability for a false persona, and how is that bridging cultural gaps? In fact it is limiting your cultural expansion by keeping a person indoors, and not experiencing the physical world, in my opinion. The best way to get a taste of the different is to actual experience it, and I just do not see that is possible through a computer screen. That's my take on it at least.