Second Life: Still interesting after all these years?

I first came to Second Life in January 2010 after reading an article in Time magazine. For those who may not remember, during those years, there was a lot of real world media attention about SL. Things didn't pan out as the hype at the time would have had us believe, but as we all know, SL has continued with a hard core of enthusiasts and has certainly beat out Zuckerberg's attempt to develop the Metaverse.

But why keep coming back? What the heck is the point of playing a game?

SL is quite the 3D modeling environment. The artist Bryn Oh is but one example of somebody who's pushed virtual creativity to its limits.

SL is a social environment. Music, dancing, concerts, poetry and book readings, conferences, clubs, learning courses, all aspire to bring like-minded individuals together to share common interests.

SL is international. All social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. permit all of us to rub shoulders with the entire world. Hundreds of years ago, our world went no farther than the town square. Today, it's global.

SL is anonymous. One could argue that other social media has a degree of anonymity, but SL is truly anonymous, and as I have pointed out on this blog, with anonymity comes freedom from RL restrictions. We can say or do anything without fear of criticism and condemnation. We don't have to worry about being ostracized by family or friends, or possibly fired from our jobs. We can let it all hang out and if things get sticky, we can always TP away, block the nasties, or just hit Ctrl+Q to logout and regroup.

That last point ties into the following. For me, SL is about people. I like to say that SL is as good or as bad as the people we meet. However, the freedom of anonymity means that I get to meet a version of the person I would never meet in RL. And that I find can be fascinating. Let me share an example.

my blog: Why do guys role play girls?, Jul 15/2022

In 2017, on SL, I run into a person identified by a female avatar, Alice. We chat, the usual small talk. But then, things turn serious, and Alice decides to tell me her story. Alice is actually Frank, a 55-year-old man transitioning to a woman. Frank was born male. He grew up male. He went to school, graduated, and found himself a career as a male. He got married and had two children. At the age of fifty, he decides to come out. His wife is accepting but she said she couldn't live as a lesbian, so they get a divorce, remaining good friends and still co-parenting. Frank sends me a real-life photo of himself. I see a man, wearing makeup and a wig in a dress. He looks nothing like a woman; he looks like a man in drag.

Our conversation came to an end, and we went our separate ways never to see one another again. However, I've thought about this story on many occasions. What trials and tribulations was Frank going to face? What ridicule? Obviously, this was important to him, or he wouldn't risk it all, but I still found it incredible that he gets through fifty years of his life as a man but now feels it is of the utmost importance he finds the real him in a woman. What societal pressures do we experience to conform to a standard we may disagree with?

In my SL profile, for pick number one, I have “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”

If I had wandered into a Starbucks in Real Life and by chance, ended up seated with Frank, would he have told me such a story? This is but one of many incredible tales I've heard while on SL that I would have never heard in RL.

In fact, as I explained in On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog (Jun 16/2021), Regardless of age, wealth, class, education, experience, or country, we are, for the most part, equal. We are all merely disembodied minds. That is, we meet people we would never meet in RL. At least, the statistical probability of meeting such people is very, very low. As I write this, full disclosure, I'm 71 years old. The other day, I chatted with a woman who was 25. Once again, if I went to Starbucks in RL, what chance would there be of the two of us sharing the same table and chatting over a coffee? In SL, people are people. In RL, what opportunities are we missing due to social conventions?

Final Word
I admit that my interest in Second Life has waned over the years. I'm not a builder so the creative side of SL doesn't really interest me. I've never taken much interest in the more technical side of the platform and consequently, my photographic skills are basic at best. I did try a premium for a while and decked out a Linden Home but got bored with decorating and dropped premium. I don't log in on a regular basis as I like to say: RL is a busy but that's a good thing.

So if I do come to SL, it's for the people. Once in a while, I may wander around visiting places and seeing the sights, but my real motivation for coming online is to see who I may meet. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always an interesting cross section of society with interesting personal stories.


References

I invite you to peruse the site map of my blog to find other musings about my experiences in Second Life. It's been quite an adventure at times. :-)

2023-11-16