Ok... I admit it: Kean Kelly loves (and hates) Second Life. I encounter lots of people all the time who don't get it, or who is very hostile against it. Like in this discussion on Flickr. Quickly the discussion provoked all the usual statements. The hostility makes me curious, why all the judgemental emotional expressions?:
Seeing the SL people on here with their fake profiles and in game pictures seems ridiculous. I mean keep that shit in the game, now it's spilling out into the web like it is their real life. Anyone feel me on this?
The person starting the thread with the above quote, had portrayed himself as a toy-horse, and had a flickr stream full of dolls :)))) I think it is super interesting: what is going on here?
Second Life is a virtual world where you can exist when real life gets to scary, boring, complicated, what have you. You create an avatar and a profile and then do stuff that you'd do in every day life, only you're doing inside a little world in your computer...
We all do things to escape boredom: watch telly, read books, paint, travel, see friends, party and what not. Some even plays SL on top of that. Personally I'd prefer playing SL to watching telly, hanging at a hotel bar or chatting on MSN anytime.
Most people with a scary or complicated life, don’t have neither the time or the resources to enter SL. A study by a Dutch think tank, EPN concludes: "those who do well in real life, appear to manage equally well in Second Life. Those who have trouble coping in real life, also have a harder time in Second Life. Kraut’s theory ‘the rich get richer’ is very much applicable to Second Life."
Second life, as if your current life's not exciting enough!
That’s right! the excitement meter suddenly raises to 200% when you start playing SL. The amount of social interactions increase as does the amount of feelings. Suddenly you know a lot of people, and there is a lot going on in everybody’s life, and you hear about it, help out with stuff, discuss it, get involved. Its like participating in a soap, except its a real soap, with real people. Can be quite exhausting at times!
... SL's apparently great if you have a coot obsession. I don't.
SL’ers are coot? Compared to any general popuplation the education level is far far higher in SL and there are far more people from creative and IT-organisations. There was a man once who thought that people like that should be removed from the world. I think he was the real coot.
What about sex in Second Life? Now that is just really weird.
Humans are sexual beings, so in a world where you can create anything you can imagine, sex is there too. Cybersex is not new, nor is it exclusively found in SL. Cybersex existed long before SL did.
So what is going on here? Neophobia?
3 had something to say:
I personally dont see Second Life as an escape from boredom or whatever inconvenient real life situation.. In fact, I dont consider it as an escape at all, rather a complement to real life.. another communication channel.
And no, the fact that in SL I use another identity / name, and even have a slightly different personality doesnt refute that statement. Even not the fact that I keep a rather strict separation between the 2 lifes.. I, and I think many others, do that in daily life too. I keep my personal life, family etc.., seperated from my professional one. And I am pretty sure that people I go out with in the weekend have quiet a different perception of me then my colleages..
So, true, I impersonate Veronique Kaminski when I am in SL or, like here, am busy with SL related stuff. But that doesnt mean I AM her.. that I identify completely with her. She is just a part of me. Dressed up for the occasion. Like in RL I am Miss M. in some professional situations, and just Veronica, Vero, or darling on other occasions..
And the fact that there is a Veronique, Kean Kelly or whatever profile on e.g. Flickr or Blogger or.. I guess its the same thing... The Flickr account holds a stream of snapshots taken by the avatar anyway, while being in SL, giving the SLs "persons" view on things.. Its an ID description that fits the situation. To be used while in the skin of Veronique, but nothing more. After all, professional business cards are handy too, but one doesnt go handing them out while dancing with friends on saturdaynight,.. or??
Besides, I wonder if the person who started this is using his "real" identity on Flickr, or also a nickname created for the occasion. Log on to any internet forum. Be it from a financial newspaper, about fashion, movie review or even...mmm.. fishtank maintenance lol .. How many customized profiles you think you will find there? All coots? :-p
Maybe the words saying that we do "everyday life stuff in the little world in our computer" are true.. But many times I find that that little world isnt little at all, and that this daily stuff is lifted to another level. Yes it is true, most times one is busy with SL alone behind a PC or laptop. But people who conclude that because of that you are lonely, or even unsocial, dont see the whole picture. My guess: they dont understand that it doesnt stop at the image of your screen. The image, or the view is a window that connects you not only to the other avatars, but also to (some aspects of) the people behind them. SL being different from MSN or even RL phonecall because of the fact that it provides a setting, an environement to meet these others. And even giving you the chance to mold, collaborate in the building of this environement. One can of course argue that all this is just a facade. A fake world. But, how many "social" people in RL go to e.g. a bar or discotheque in order to meet other people? Isnt that putting yourself in another, fantasy world too? Ever entered there via the backdoor? How much glamour and cosyness remains there then?? Not even mentioning the amount of people that are lonely in a crowd in that kind of places..
And the SLsex? Well,.. what is Linden Labs slogan? Your world, your imagination... And isnt one of the things that separates us from the animal world not the fact that (for most) sex is so much more then just a physical action? How do they say it? The biggest sexual organ is situated between the ears..(and no guys, I am not referring to a bj...). So, I think that its quiet logical that many are exploring this fantasy aspect of their sexual life, and are using this world build on imagination for it..
Yes, I learned that, as long it doesnt take over, SL can be a nice addition to daily life. Nice, and exciting as you state Kean...
Thanks for finding this, Kean. I read the whole discussion on flickr and found it totally fascinating.
It always strikes me as odd when people get so worked up about something that other people do. These people really have so much time in their empty dull lives to worry about what I'm posting on my flickr pages?
I loved the guy who suggested that screengrabs in SL don't involve light. I'm now left wondering whether or not my Dominus Shadow is in fact a car, or not... :-/
It looks like the thread dried up before the thorny old question of what constitutes "reality" was addressed. Phew.
...now it's spilling out into the web like it is their real life...
Hahaha.
Oh, I get it.... if it's on "the web" it must be "real life", but if it's 3D, it isn't...?
Totally agree with you Kean, that it's a crazy assumption that my life is boring because I manage to spend some time in second life... some could try to escape into it... but as the EPN study shows... people can't run from themselves that easily.
Geeky loner spends all his time online because he has no friends and can't interact with "real" people...
This idea is so wide of the mark in the age of social networks and it's just so perfectly funny to hear it coming from a member of ummmm... er.... a social networking site. Crazy world.
...do stuff that you'd do in every day life, only you're doing inside a little world in your computer...
So when he puts his photos on flickr... it must be almost like sharing them with people in everyday life, then... except just in the little world inside his computer?... what is this guy on? Someone should tell him gently about the internet.
I agree with Vero that a virtual environment is another layer of communication. It's a tool. Nothing more or less. It can be a truly mindblowing tool when you learn how to use it.
It wasn't that long ago that the internet itself was deemed to be "sad" and only of interest to geeks, and look where we are now... even cool toy cowboy and stormtrooper collectors are in on it :)
As for sex.... well of course it should only be conducted by letters attached to homing pidgeons, and don't even think of writing with anything except a quill.
And this guy who started the thread... you know, the one who isn't hiding behind a fake online identity... his parents christened him "robail2423"? wtf??? That's a tough burden to carry for a guy who already looks like a plastic cowboy, if that really is him.
Vero, the residents of Hoboken must be very sorry that you don't dispense business cards on Saturday night, but at least it gives them a reason to look forward to Mondays :)
"Grab your pitchforks now!"
I think that quote from the discussion about sums it up :)
Business as usual, imho...
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