Have We Met Yet in Second Life?

There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met.

William Butler Yeats

I’ve been thinking about the friends whom I’ve met in Second Life (SL) over the years. 

(Significant Other is still amazed that residents admit publicly to being friends with me.  What can I say?  Some folks just love to flaunt convention.)

Some of them, I’ll still in contact with on a regular basis.

(We’ll ignore Significant Other’s witticism that they just didn’t see me coming and were too polite to run away in the opposite direction.)

Others, I’ve neither seen nor heard from in years. I hope all is well with them!

Then there’s another group of people.

People whom I’ve met in my travels and either just exchanged a brief hello and a chat with us both going on our separate ways afterwards without coming friends or folks who just don’t like having too many friends inworld.  Nothing wrong with that!

But, what about everybody else?

(Significant Other looks startled.)

Yes, all the other folks inworld whom I haven’t met yet!

Yes, there’re a lot of them and I’d love to meet them!

Here’s why.

I’m a wanderer and explorer inworld.  I invariably end up in empty sims.  (Too many empty sims IMHO)

My goals inworld are to visit new places, meet new people, and have new experiences.

The latter two are hard to do when you can’t meet anyone!

My overall goal is to meet more people and share my experiences with my three loyal

readers (I love all of you!) in my blog.

So how about this?

(I haven’t seen Significant Other this scared since… Well, I’d better not go into that here.)

Drop me a notecard inworld telling me who you are and what you do inworld.  (I get my IM capped a lot so notecards are the best way unless you’d rather use my email address below.) 

Maybe we become friends or maybe we don’t.  I’m fine either way!

But, maybe I can bring your SL experiences to my three loyal readers in my blog.

How would that be?

SL is all about relationships. 

Without them, SL is just like the ghost towns that populate so many places in Real Life (RL). 

We’re all social, aren’t we?

So, drop me a note and let’s meet!

For you folks out there who are too shy just send this along to your friends!

Thanks in advance!

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!

Are You Lonely in Second Life?

All great and precious things are lonely.

John Steinbeck

           “Are you lonely in Second Life (SL)?”  

          This question arose in my mind as I wandered across the Grid inworld not too long ago.  (Significant Other has always been uncomfortable with me alone in my thoughts for extended periods of time.)  

          How could I be lonely? 

          I have many friends inworld, three loyal readers, and I meet new residents all the time in the course of my meanderings.  (We’ll ignore Significant Other’s observation that I have more friends in SL than in Real Life (RL).  It’s that a lot of my RL friends don’t like to talk about these things in public.  Really, that’s all!)  

          I think back to my original purpose in coming to SL.  

          I was here to explore and write.  (Also, ironically, to be able to spend more time with Significant Other in RL.  Long story there.) 

          I was not going to put down roots or get involved in inworld communities.  I remember receiving my first invitation to friendship and wondering if I should accept it.  

          So, what happened?

          I have many friends inworld and am involved with several communities.  (Significant Other asks if they’re just too polite to evict me.)  

          I have sister now!  (Even if she can be a pain in the neck as little sisters often are.)  

       

   I even go to friends’ weddings now!  

 

          Why did this happen?

          Was I just lonely and didn’t realize it?  Was my subconscious at work here or had I been kidding myself all this time?  (Significant Other says this wouldn’t be the first time.)

          Or, does SL work to include despite my own intentions and feelings?

          I’m always receiving IMs from friends either checking in on me or inviting me somewhere.  More sims appear to have thriving communities than before.  People reach out to me for no apparent reason.  

          Could it be something else?

          If it is then I’m clueless as to what it is.

          I’ve drawn a conclusion here.

          It’s very difficult to be lonely inworld. 

          There are just too many people reaching out and connecting with me for to ever be lonely. 

          But, I’ve also noticed something else here.

          Lonely people in RL come inworld for companionship.  (Don’t worry, I’m not going to out anyone.) 

          I’ve met people who have come inworld in search of human company because they’re either physically disable in RL, geographically remote from others, or just find it hard to reach out and connect with others in RL. 

          There are groups inworld like First UCC that provide either social or other support activities to these lonely individuals.  No one has to be alone in SL. 

          In my wanderings across SL, I keep coming back to SL being more than a game.  It’s a viable social network, albeit anonymous but strong! 

          What your thoughts on being lonely in SL?

          Please share them with my readers and me and I’ll try to have an update on this topic

sometime soon!  

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!

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!