SL Obeservations

Over the past 8 months I have interacted with a number of different people all in various kinds of avatars.  Some avatars looked very human like, some had horns or wings, a number of them had tails and cat ears.  Some appeared much more like a demon, some an alien life-form, and some as animals such as panthers, horses, otters, and ferrets.

I have visited a vast number of different kinds of sims, ranging from a simple education area intended for the younger players, to some rather realistic and natural ones with beaches, canyons.  Some  represented lands of faeries while others were exclusively underwater or done in an out of this world style set in space or ones that depicted an alien planet.

I visited ones with G ratings, M ratings, as well as A ratings.  I visited dance clubs each of which has been themed differently.  I have attended live performances and other very entertaining events.  I have gone to meetings and discussion groups and taken classes.  I have visited dungeons and castles, many of which had a BDSM theme to them of course.  I have visited RLV play areas where the interaction with other avatars is perhaps a bit more involved than on some sims.

Through all of this I have seen some sims of amazing quality and beauty, some of very poor quality, and a lot that lay in between.  One thing I can say is that all the various sims have in common is they are nothing more than a bunch of pixels running on server executing code from Linden Labs. What brings them to life is your own mind and imagination.

For myself I am not really into much of the RP, as it is often depicted in many of the sims, but rather I came to SL to help expand my social circles and bring me together with people that because of geographies our paths would have most likely never crossed.   My wife and I live in a smaller community that lacks variety in its social avenues that fit ourselves so SL has proven to be great to help bring us to other venues and people.

We have met some very good friends, some of which we continue to interact with while others that seem to have drifted further away for various reasons.  We have seen some meet new people and forge new friendships and even relationships.  We have seen some that were once friends that had gone their own separate ways re-unite and rekindle those friendships and relationships.  And finally there are yet others that we see in groups and at other venues that we would like to be friends with, so when the timing and circumstance works out then perhaps that too will happen.

One thing is common throughout all of this however, the actual humans on the keyboard side of the avatars.  On the screen you may see a collection of pixels that most likely look nothing like the "real" person.  Some of these people pretend to be something different from their true selves while others such as myself are very much the same here in SL as in RL.

Here however is where I believe many of the problems arise.  Yes, I did say problems.  Some refer to it as drama.

For most of us it seems that no matter why we come to SL, the RL issues seem to invade this virtual world.  Motives, biases, all of our flaws and even prejudices follow us in here.  Depending on the individual person SL can make these more or less prevalent but they are always there lurking beneath the surface.

One of the things that SL has, or appears to have, is a certain degree of anonymity that gives us all what is most likely a false sense of security.  This can be both a good and bad thing, however for many it seems to remove much of the accountability that we are expected to have as members of society.  Here lies much of the problem -  SL is indeed infested with the human condition.

Friends interfere with other friends, people deceive one another,  some even set out to intentionally be a nuisance or to cause trouble.  The lack of body language, frequent typographic errors, language barriers all combine to make it even easier to interpret any given message incorrectly which then may result in an incorrect response, often an emotional one.

As a member of society with my own battle wounds and scars I for one had hoped that SL would perhaps be a more "improved" version of what we should all have to enjoy.  I came to SL to escape the RL issues and drama, to have fun and explore new things.  Unfortunately Utopia does not exist, or at least I have not yet found the SLULR for it.

I have however discovered that SL provides a rather unique environment that supports education and discussion groups that would perhaps not be possible otherwise.  It is also a place of great wonder if you allow it to be.

I can only say that SL is what it is, it is where we come and meet, it is in the end what we all make it.  I would only ask that we all remember that yes we are all different, but we all hurt in the same ways.  Be supportive and not destructive, help those that need help, but know when to back off and allow things to take their own course without interference.
 
In conclusion I can only say the following ...

"Have fun and don't hurt anyone ... unless they are bound and ask nicely for it ."