There Is Good in Second Life!

Feeling lost, crazy and desperate belongs to a good life as much as optimism, certainty and reason. 

Alain de Botton

Several of my recent stories have not been about the best in Second Life (SL).

The story before this one was about the sexual harassment of women inworld.  An earlier one was concerned with the fear that some residents have experienced at the hands of other residents.  And, over time, I’ve put a harsh light on dark spots in SL. 

Some of my friends, both in SL and in Real Life (RL), have asked me if maybe I’ve been overdoing things a bit.  Or, if things are so bad, why do I even stay?

Significant Other remarked that I seem to enjoy my time inworld and being with my friends.  There hadn’t ever been a sense of dread on my part in rezzing inworld. 

Others have asked if things are really that bad?

My answer is this:

No, SL is really not that bad overall!

I genuinely enjoy my time inworld and being with the people whom I meet.

Yes, there are bad actors who need to be called out.  But, I never intended to tar the entire community.

Let me explain my thinking.  (Significant Other claims to have done the work and leaves.) 

My reasons for returning to SL are threefold. 

First, there are the people whom I meet.

They are friendly, helpful, and caring.

Next, are the communities that I visit.

They have highly developed social lives, they are supportive of their members and strangers like myself who wander in, and are diverse in more ways than I can list here. 

Finally, there is the sense of belong that I experience by being part of this virtual

community.  Yes, it’s different from RL and offers its own challenges but it’s still an engaging environment.  In many ways, it complements RL.  Remember, SL was one of the earliest forms of social media. 

There are advantages to being in SL.

I’ve just gone over the social benefits.

Next, being involved inworld helps develop a certain technical expertise in order to function inworld.  For some (like me), it’s just the basics.  For others, they become highly skilled in the mechanics of living inworld. 

Last, SL helps those who can’t enjoy RL like many of us.  Health considerations, geographic remoteness, and social constraints preclude some from having the everyday real lives that many of us take for granted.  They can experience inworld what they can’t in RL.

For that matter, how many of us come inworld to do things that we’d never do in RL.  (Trust me, I don’t wander around nude in public in RL.)

Bad behavior should always be called out whenever encountered. 

This should happen in both SL and RL. 

But, let’s never forget that those exhibiting the bad behavior are a small minority.  Although, many times this vocal minority seems like the majority, they’re not. 

RL is no better than SL.  We have losers there too.

But, we don’t abandon RL because of them and we shouldn’t abandon SL either.

If the decent SL residents whom I described above were all to leave then yes, SL would a far worse place than it is today.

But, I’m not leaving.

What about you? 

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!