Saturday, March 12, 2016

Who’s New in Second Life?




They talked in the shorthand of old friends and shared memories.    
Dee Henderson, Before I Wake




          My wanderings across the Grid in Second Life (SL) have taken to me many places.  Old places that seem to have been around since the creation of SL and new places that seem to appear somewhat sporadically.   Although, I must say that the older places are becoming fewer and the new places not as well built as the ones lost.  (Significant Other
just says that I’m getting old.)

          The most interesting part of my journey through these places inworld are the people whom I meet.  Oddly, this is the same for me when I travel about in Real Life (RL).  (Significant Other nods saying that I always was more of a people person.)  This got me to thinking about the people I meet inworld and how I relate to them.  I realized that the people I meet inworld fall into three broad categories.  

First, there are my close friends.  These are folks whom I’ve connected with as friends.  I have deeper discussions with them than with most others. We go looking for one another inworld when we rezz in and worry when we haven’t seen each other for a while.  We exchange emails in RL.  (Still using our SL personas, Significant Other continues to stress anonymity.)  And, yes, there is an element of trust too.  

Next, are folks whom I’m just friends with.  We’ve connected as friends but we don’t see one another often.  Typically, we meet because of some inworld special event or bump into each other in some sim.  

Finally, there are those whom I call acquaintances.  We’re not connected as friends inworld.  We meet occasionally and chat.  We’re cordial to one another. Then we move on.

(Don’t know about you, but this pretty much matches up with how I categorize people in RL.)   

Then I began to think about the common characteristics of my SL friends and acquaintances.  (Significant Other’s eyes roll and something is mumbled about me having too much time on my hands.)  Most are long term residents inworld, preceding me.  They’re major players in highly evolved communities like Mieville and 1920s Berlin.  They’re either community organizers, leading scripters and builders, or creative types like artists, photographers, and fashion designers.  

The Big Theme seems to be long term residents inworld.  An informal survey shows not too many friends who are recent additions to the SL community.  I’m curious about the reasons why.  Maybe they don’t return? Maybe they take on new alts? One interesting characteristic of many new residents I meet is that they’re returning inworld as new avatars after extended absences for a variety of reasons.  

All this leaves me with a question, where are all the new SL residents?  (Let’s ignore Significant Other’s observation that they’re avoiding me.)  Are fewer people joining?  Do many not just stay around?  

I don’t have a good answer. 

What I’d like to do is reach out to more new SL residents.  (Don’t worry, I won’t ignore my current friends and acquaintances inworld!)  

To all new residents, and older ones as well, I extend an invitation to comment on or follow my blog, send me a note card inworld (best way to reach me, my messages get capped a lot), or, better yet, send me a friendship offer!  Do this with the others that you may meet along the way too!  

SL is all about community in my opinion.  I see old friends and acquaintances wander off into the fog of RL never to return.  Many newcomers are just wandering aimlessly.  (In reply to Significant Other’s remark about my own aimless wandering, my
purpose is aimless wandering in order to write about it.) I hope I’m not seeing trends here but I’d like to meet more newcomers in SL!  

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives!  

          My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life
please click here

          Open roads and kind fires!                



1 comment:

Caroline Resident said...

The Noobs are busy sorting out their cocks!