Have you found a sense of community in Second Life that has enriched your life?

[Linden Lab]

Tell everyone about it here!

 

 

[JeanneAnne]

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Linden Lab wrote:

Tell everyone about it here!

 

 

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Sortuv..

I made a couple very good friends my very first day in SL back in August. These friends adopted me like a stray kitten, and call me their sister. They made their home and land available to me and helped me learn the ropes in SL. I am very grateful to my sisters for the love and friendship they have extended to me.

My sisters are both DJs and thru them I have gained entrance into and partial acceptance by the SL Rock & Blues community. I have made friends with some of my sisters' friends. I have heard a lot of great music and learned a lot about music in my four months in SL.

I have also made some very good friends among the Pagan or Neopagan community in SL. A couple of skilled builders who share my devotion to Freyja and the Vanir have likewise befriended me, and I regularly circle with three different covens of Witches. These people have been very friendly and accepting towards me.

I have had no trouble dating and finding boyfriends in SL, altho so far both of the relationships that I thot might potentially develop into something more lasting & meaningful, have fizzled. Oh well, tho.. I value my freedom and independence, too.

All this said, SL can still be a pretty lonely place. Often, and especially on the weekends, my close friends are off-line or are otherwise busy. So I wander alone thru beautiful sims that are totally deserted. Or I dance in clubs, listening to music and ignoring all the gesturbation & pleas to "show Linden love" to the hostess & DJ. Sometimes I just fly around, wishing there was something fun to do or that something interesting would happen. More & more I tend to just log out of SL & go lay down & read.

So altho I've met people who I love and like very much, have heard great music, danced in cool clubs & at private parties, explored some gorgeous sims, etc., I haven't really found that "sense of community" in SL where I feel totally at home or feel like I completely belong to. Maybe 4 months is too short a time for me to reasonably expect to find and be accepted by such a community. Or maybe such a community simply doesn't exist. I dunno. But much of the initial majik of SL is already beginning to wear off for me.

Jeanne

[Marigold Devin]

Several times, yes. Mainly via inworld groups, such as Arbor Project, which have been invaluable for giving advice regarding land issues.  We all support each other in that group, particularly in areas where we need to make quick adjustments to our tier levels, or finding decent parcels of land which to develop.

Second Life Beta group has been very enriching.  It's almost like college!

But the best sense of community I ever found was via these forums. Unfortunately that has been undermined several times because of poor moderation, which has left a bad taste in the mouth.

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

A sense of community?  Interesting topic for these forums (for more than 1 reason).  I will answer the one I think your asking.  I have been a member of several different communities since I first logged in.  SL is fluid and constantly changing, so the groups I have joined change constantly, too.  Sims open and close, rp stories start and fail, clubs come and go, groups grow and shrink, friends log in then disappear.  It is constant change.  I have joined a few groups that I really enjoy, but none I go exclusively to and none that I feel completely accepted by.  That is probably my own fault.  However,  ALL of the individuals I've met inworld and in these forums enrich my life - I like the diversity and banter.  My world is much bigger and more exciting because I have the opportunity to meet so many different characters from so many different places. 

Come to think of it, maybe I don't want to be part of just one community...  Maybe it is perfect just the way it is - my ever-changing inworld experience, where I am free to come and go, agree and disagree, disappear for a few days, then start all over with something new.  I can still keep and foster the friendships I have and just let my circle grow and shrink as the changes occur.  I can be fluid, too.

Cinn

[Pamela Galli]

I don't socialize in SL in the usual sense of the word, but I do feel a sense of community, and yes it has enriched my life.

I have several community spheres:

 

•  I have long enjoyed being a part of the merchant community, in the forums (which LL has almost killed off) and the inworld group. 
• I enjoy chatting with my customers, some of whom have been friends now for years. 
• More recently, since I began straying beyond the Commerce/Merchant forum I have enjoyed the people I have met here in the GD and other SL forums.
• I also belong to a 3rd party forum populated mostly by SLers, which is a lot of fun.

 

[Chelsea Malibu]

Sense of community can mean so many things but I do have a great collection of friends that have all been in game since 2006 and longer who have become great friends not only in SL but in RL and even other games now. 

Our Club Jenna Islands project for Playboy was a very tasking and intensive project that taught everyone involved a lot.  My patience was tried many times and being fairly new to an entirely text based commutations systems, taught me much in how I communicate which has greatly enriched how I do business today.

I have also learned that there are many people out there who will say and do about anything to hurt or damage another while hiding behind an anonymous avatar.  I have learned that they do this for attention and ego.  Today I just ignore them now where in the past, I would have been furious.

[Storm Clarence]

If I may echo Cinn's words as she expresses and colors my sentiments almost to the letter.  I can only expand her words by addressing the 'community' of this forum.  There are many different people who post for many different reasons; I have formed and forged relationships with and in the forum community. Friends enrich my life.  

What I don't understand, and I write this with the most respect for the "Linden Lab" name, how can *you* start an OP 'sense of community' and not identify yourself to this community?  So I say to you "Linden Lab" welcome to our community; the forum community--where we chat and make friends and help new residents and gab and gossip and serve breakfast and sometimes yell and scream at each other.  Weclome.   Now, please tell me your name?

[Perrie Juran]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

 

The term community has two distinct meanings:

1.   a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household. The word can also refer to the national community or international community, and
2.    in biology, a community is a group of interacting living organisms sharing a populated environment.

In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

In sociology, the concept of community has led to significant debate, and sociologists are yet to reach agreement on a definition of the term. There were ninety-four discrete definitions of the term by the mid-1950s.[1]

The word "community" is derived from the Old French communité which is derived from the Latin communitas (**bleep**, "with/together" + munus, "gift"), a broad term for fellowship or organized society.[2]

Since the advent of the Internet, the concept of community no longer has geographical limitations, as people can now virtually gather in an online community and share common interests regardless of physical location.

 

<eta to add, I just noticed the **bleep** above.  it is the Latin word spelled with the third syllable of "magnacumlaude"> 

____________________________________________________________________

 

So what is it that you mean by community?  I feel a sense of 'community' here with my fellow Forumites EVEN when I disagree with their opinions.

I feel a sense of community with the friends I made when I first started SL.  I am even still in contact with several who left SL.  The shared experience of that time, the way we helped and supported each other, still ties us together.

I feel a sense of community with my fellow residents on the SIM where I live.  Recently, when word got out that I was dealing with one of my oldest and dearest friends being in ICU, that my heart was really hurting, the other residents of the SIM went out of their way to be with me and to cheer me up.

I feel a sense of community with Torley, at the wonders of what can be experienced and learned in SL.

But I am going to echo Storms thoughts here also.  Who are you Mr(s) Linden Lab?  We'd love to welcome you into our community.  What is holding you back?  What is it that you are afraid of?  Torley was never afraid to engage with us here.  Why are you?  You might just find out that despite all the little jabs and pokes we poke here, we are really a pretty decent bunch of folks.

So while even though I have answered your question, your anonymity just leaves me with a taste in my mouth that all you are doing is playing a game with us.  It's hard to have a sense of community with a machine.

[Celestiall Nightfire]

I consider ALL of Second Life to be part of the community that I think has enriched my life.  

I'm a Second Life resident...that is unique, and special to me.  It's not like anything else on the internet.  

True Story:      This past week at work, I had a co-worker discuss his family while we were at a meeting.  This co-worker said that his adult step-daughter had come home to live, with he and his wife last year, and that the step-daughter was a great help around the house.  He said the step-daughter works from home.  Then the co-worker asked me if I had ever heard of Second Life.  He said that his step-daughter works in SL and sells things, and does pretty good...making about 30K per year. 

I then laughed, and told my co-worker that "yes", I do know about SL, as I also am a SL resident.   My co-worker seemed surprised, that I even knew about SL.  

Now, not knowing anything about this man's step-daughter, I felt an instant affinity with her.  It was like my co-worker was telling me that his step-daughter was from the same country as me, and spoke the same language, and that she and I would instantly be able to communicate if I ever chanced to meet her.  This unknown woman....she and I, are part of the same community...we're SL residents.  : )

 

[Venus Petrov]

Within Second Life, most certainly.  I have been a resident for nearly five years and I would not have kept logging in if I did not think there was something there...there.

There is also a community of sorts here in SLF.  I have spent many hours enjoying all types of threads started by new and old residents alike.  I have responded to hundreds of questions in Answers.  Yes, I have been moderated, too.

What befuddles me is you, Linden Lab.  Who are you?  We have asked a few times for you to introduce yourself to 'us', the residents, of this community.

Here, let me set the drinks and snacks on the coffee table.  Have a seat in this comfy chair and tell us all about you.

[ROB34466IIIa]

No.

No need. I found my sense of space.

End of story.

[Canoro Philipp]

General Discussions, totally.

i have found a firm sense of community here, it has enriched my life a lot, learning so much from such intelligent posters and with different interesting perspectives, that i could have not find anywhere else.

[Orca Flotta]

Yes, I found community and am proud member of my communitie(s). But in world. I would never call random people on some discussion forum or comments section in blogs my community. I also think that SL in itself has grown so much and splitted into several communities and individuals who are sharing completely different interests and goals that I no longer would call the whole residentship of SL my community.

Let's see what we have here:

Vampires - not my community

Gamers - not my community

Sexers - not my community

Goreans - not my community

Giant Snail racers - not my community

Roleplayers - not my community(s)

Families - not my community

Lesbians - not my community

Clubbers - not my community

Fashionistas - not my community

Tinies - not my community

Bikers - not my community

Sailors - my community :matte-motes-inlove:

That doesn't  mean that people of all the other communities can't be my friends or part of the sailing community. As it is with communities/circles, they can and do overlap.

 

 

[Jo Yardley]

Yes an absolute amazing community!

When I first started building 1920s Berlin I wasn't sure if I wanted to build apartments because I couldn't imagine someone paying rent to live in small poor dirty smelly damp apartments, but I did and they came.

For almost 3 years all apartments have been fully booked, some of our tenants have been with us since the beginning.

I never expected our sim to become such a real community of people who fall in love, get married, move up in the world from tiny apartment to penthouse, people who spend almost all their time in Berlin, children who go to school, run amock on the streets, people going to the cinema, theatre, etc.

But mostly people who just enjoy doing nothing special, we get people who I see at the bar almost every day, we chat about whats been going on, we keep an eye out for each other, we gossip.

We are such a real community people actually care about what their neighbours think and worry about their reputation, just like in a rl 1920s neighbourhood.

People get worried when someone hasn't been around for a few days, look after each other and care about the community.

I started berlin as a little time travel experiment, give people an idea of what that city was like in 1929, but the best thing about the sim is something I couldn't have build or even imagined; the amazing people who found it and made it their home.

Time travel enriches my life but being able to experience it together with friends and an entire community has made it invaluable.

[Uallas Borgin]

I have made a lot of new and good friends on SL. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of them for real and we had a great time together. Sometimes we talk in group chat or have a party. I installed the skate ring for Christmass and I hope they can find the time to pass by and we can enjoy the season. It has been enriching on a personal level.

On your question about sense of community, as one poster said, we need a definition of what you consider a community. I have a very broad spectrum of interests and don't like to define myself. I build, role play, listen to music, explore and more but don't consider myself a builder,a  role player or a music lover. I don't fit any of these categories and don't look the part.

Nowadays I have a lot of friends but I don't feel part of a community.  Earlier in my Second Life, I was part of a community that lived on a themed sim. That community went trought the cycle so many of these communities do: - expansion  -expansion + diversification with the hope the new businesses and renters will eventually cover the tier - the people who fork up the main chunk of the tier pull the plug.

Community building is much harder then building with prims, scripting, animating or creating sculpties. A part form a common ideal and values it also needs someone to inspire people, a good organiser and planner, someone with a natural talent for public relations, someone who can resolve conflicts and finally builders and scripters to make the stuff. When people who have one or more of these talents find each other, magic happens. But when one or more of the key persons leave, for whatever reason, the whole thing can collapse like a house of cards. When money, time or energy is needed elswhere, Second Life will always come in second place, that's why communities in Second Life will always be vulnarable and unstable.

[Jumpman Lane]

one day i logged in and found second life fulla my subjects and One Jump Lane was top dog and a kang!

[Ceka Cianci]

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Jumpman Lane wrote:

one day i logged in and found second life fulla my subjects and One Jump Lane was top dog and a kang!

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it was has been a fun summer break for me..thanks for watching things..

i know it was last minute and all that..but you are doing a good job..

should be back in a couple of days..don't forget to let out Jed..you know how he can get..

signed Teh Ceka rooler uv teh yewnuverces..

PS..if i am not back in time..tevo spartacus for me..thanks =)

[BothamFidor]

The sense of community in SL increasingly reminds me of that enforced upon the population in 1984.

Can I call you "Big Brother" Linden Lab?

[Jumpman Lane]

huh ? hehehehehe

[Sy Beck]

Yes I've found many communities in world that I value being part of, but I like being part of this forum community more or value it more rather.  Because I hear opinions and views from those people and communities I don't associate with inworld and I learn from it.  I may not agree with their views and I may not like them personally, but I am wiser and enriched from the experience.  This is a valuable thing yes?

Also in the forum I can get an answer to a problem, feedback or just general information a lot quicker than asking LL and that is something that is invaluable and is provided by a diverse community of people for FREE who just want to see your product this platform work well and to the advantage of as many people, new and old, as possible.  This is a valuable thing yes?

So Community Manager, have you found communities here and what did you do to help, nourish and enrich them?  CTUG meetings cancelled, critics permabanned and valuable helpers forced into exile?  Regardless, this community exists and will continue to exist because it is a community that formed itself and continually reforms itself and has managed itself across many fora however anarchically and despite the efforts of some to corral it.

[R Dismantled]

Yes.

 

Started as a podcaster, got ideas and tips from others on it. (Didn't adopt all that many of those ideas. I'm lazy.)

The writing/poet/literature/storyteller community has sparked quite a few ideas for my writing, improved my delivery, and I enjoy hearing the writing/reading of others, recruited a few into the 100WS podcast over the years.

And the residential community I'm a part of, well, we're there for each other. (Usually for good, and sometimes to knock a little sense into the temporarily senseless.)

 

So, yeah, the connections are there, and they grow, they change, they matter.

 

-ls/cm

[Jumpman Lane]

Hi! I'm almost done makin me an army of noobs too! all last named resident! does that count as community! hehehehe

[Lacie Hancroft]

Absolutely! My first week here a dear friend of mine now found me trying to live in a sandbox I was new I didn't know about auto return. But she took me in and molded me into a productive member of SL. She also showed me the way of life I was looking for he on SL. Now I am a model for a great magazine here and belong to an awesome family and am surrounded by friends at my fav club. Kudos Dahlia!! You made me the avatar I am today, and inspired me to help newbie when I can and show them my SL and help them find theirs.

[Maitimo]

When I joined SL in 2006 with my first av, I found a gay hangout place called Mission Beach, and there I found a great community of gay guys. When it eventully closed and the community broke apart, I missed it a lot and was unable to find anywhere else like it.

To my amazement, the community has come back together with a new beach (now called Boots Beach), and it's just exactly like old times. I love it.

[BothamFidor]

No, I found that the jealousy and extreme emotional responses and irrational argument with little logical justification merely increased my sense of isolation. Alone in a multitude.

Perhaps it was because SL attracted coders who had enough of mandatory punctuation and strict grammar in their scripting to want to ignore it in the infrequent occasions when they communicated with their fellow human beings directly, or perhaps it was because SL attracted visual types, who believed that a picture was worth a thousand words, even if most of the 1,000 were monosyllables, incorrectly spelled. Or maybe SL attracted closeminded fantasists who didn't want their bigoted fetishes threatened and their delusional bubbles popped. There are lots of possible explanations.

Anyway, I had to go outside SL's properties to find a true sense of community, among a bunch of likeminded people who were prepared to disagree without being disagreeable, who were not constrained by political correctness and who had both a sense of proportion  and a sense of humour.

It's invitation only now though, but if you show yourself worthy maybe one day . . .