Where's the Black Community? / Friends

[AnaiasMalan]

I remember there was a huge black community on SL. What Happened? I mean behind the avi. You can just tell lol. Also, Why is it hard to make friends now. People hardly chat anymore. 

[Rio Mizin]

The SL playerbase has shrunk considerably from when I first started, or even just a couple years ago. I know certain sims have a lot more of different demographics, but I don't know which exactly they are anymore. There are some clubs that are still like it though, only not nearly as populated as they used to be. 

As for why it's hard to make friends... from what I've observed, the reason a lot of people come to SL has changed altogether - the social experience has changed, a lot of people just come to do their own thing as opposed to coming with the intention of making friends. It's definitely different, but hey, new type of challenge

[AnaiasMalan]

@Rio Mizin That explains it. I had an old avi wayy back when and when I logged on everyone was gone. So I started over and met some new cool peeps but they disappeared as well. SL used to be fun and outgoing. I get the new stuff that's going on. However, it's always fun to explore with others. Also, my favorite sims are gone siigghhhh

[AyelaNewLife]

16 hours ago, AnaiasMalan said:

@Rio Mizin That explains it. I had an old avi wayy back when and when I logged on everyone was gone. So I started over and met some new cool peeps but they disappeared as well. SL used to be fun and outgoing. I get the new stuff that's going on. However, it's always fun to explore with others. Also, my favorite sims are gone siigghhhh

He's talking nonsense, the player count has been holding steady for the better part of a decade now. There will always be churn, with some people leaving and others (like myself) joining; if you stop meeting new people, your friends list will grow inactive. Sims are no different, old ones close and new ones open every day, with the total number remaining fairly consistent. 

As for the black community; part of the problem is the fetishistic 'black man' roleplay (probably played by white guys) dominating the search results, making it much harder for new people to find and engage with the community. There's plenty of people-who-happen-to-be-black though, throughout SL as a whole.

[Rio Mizin]

19 hours ago, AyelaNewLife said:

He's talking nonsense, the player count has been holding steady for the better part of a decade now. There will always be churn, with some people leaving and others (like myself) joining; if you stop meeting new people, your friends list will grow inactive. Sims are no different, old ones close and new ones open every day, with the total number remaining fairly consistent. 

As for the black community; part of the problem is the fetishistic 'black man' roleplay (probably played by white guys) dominating the search results, making it much harder for new people to find and engage with the community. There's plenty of people-who-happen-to-be-black though, throughout SL as a whole.

I started over a decade ago so... I certainly observe a difference. As for when I would come on a couple years ago, the difference could probably be explained by the idea of sims that start to wane after a while, as you suggested, so I'll give you that. 

Regardless, the social experience has changed to be a more isolated one, so the actual userbase doesn't even matter as much. Trick is to be outgoing and just try reaching out in different places. 

Think of what brings people together, or your own personal interests. Music? RP?A hobby? Those are a couple things I can think of to use for myself, and just keep sim hopping to find a nice enough community. You'll find it, I'm sure!

[iamyourneighbour]

Every community can be found if you turn on the adult filter ?

[Resi Pfeffer]

3 hours ago, iamyourneighbour said:

Every community can be found if you turn on the adult filter ?

Not necessary in this case. For example, "soul vibrations" is an ugly, but always crowded dance club with a lot of black folks.

[Fixyun]

I can't remember the exact figures...but here goes from a very recently read article on Second Life. The all time peak for users was like 1.1 million once and now currently floats in the high like 8 hundred thousands range for users...so yes a slight and noticeable decline but hardly an overall population dive. I agree on the generations changing bringing new minds/ideas/motives into second life. We forget when we talk about SL that it's not like it's only four or five years old...in another five years or so it will be one of those things "the last generation was into" before something like VR comes along mainstream in every home and blows this stuff into memory. It's not sad, it's not bad, it's just the pace of life growing away from the past and into the future I think. I just came back in world after being gone for almost ten years and yeah...it is different here now inworld. I also agree people don't approach one another like they used to inworld . The educational base seems to have crumbled away from Second Life, there used to be way more along the lines of real schooling available in world once upon a time...but again...times change! I know there are a few users that still have an Atari console from the 80's in the garage somewhere, we LOVED those things when they were the "thing" to have and that's why they still float around in places...because we were "never gonna ever stop playing that game for the rest of our life!" yet there they sit unused since 1995. Now we are doing things like this instead...times changed and we grew away from that stuff is all. But remember we didn't abandon it, we "grew" into other things is all. 

[LennoxGregor]

Interesting thread.

OP, if it helps, I am mixed race (half black, half white) in real life, so if you want, you're free to send me a PM or something. It's always cool to meet more black folks.

Now in regards to the state of SL, I posted about this in other threads but here I go again.

Virtual worlds and online games in general have been in decline since ~2009 and this is pretty obvious - every single one I used to frequent has shut down or is in limbo. There have been some recreations made by fans (such as FreeSO, a remake of The Sims Online) but these aren't active like the real games were. 

Social networks are much more used nowadays, though they have their cons. Back then, social networks existed but people liked to express themselves in online games. In the case of MMORPGs, they liked fighting monsters and doing quests with their friends. I remember seeing couples who met in games like World of Warcraft and married offline.

Not so much anymore, and I don't know if this change in behaviour relates to people being more lonely (according to the media, anyway).

Facebook sucks because it is real-life based and this can bring issues. The users can be very rude as well, I've reported a ton of trolls but they do nothing against them.

And Facebook makes it seem like all of your friends are happier than you. It's a competition almost.

I don't know if Second Life has less members or not but things surely changed around here. In fact I just posted about this very topic.

It helps that until a few years ago Linden Lab was investing hard on marketing and they opened a bunch of international grids and partnered with companies and organisations.

I am from Brazil, and they would not stop talking about SL in 2007, it was everywhere... TV, articles, etc.

Now, schools choose other platforms to teach their students and most of the members who joined because of the hype have left.

I don't know, but it seems like single-player games are a trend again, and if someone chooses multiplayer it's probably a first-person shooter or MOBA (League of Legends, for starters).

Fixyun is right but there are some things that will always have a place in my heart and virtual worlds is one of them. I made a lot of friends on several online services that no longer exist. I lost contact with pretty much everyone except one or two people. I met my best friend and mentor 7 years ago on MSN and we are still going strong, even if some things have changed.

It is sad to see these services go, even if it means that something better may come.

Edited October 23, 2018 by LennoxGregor

[Zoxin UwU]

Perhaps chase some new interests, this has been my approach in the past 13 years and it typically turns up new friends. You don't have to be particularly interested in the subject but get interested in the people who make it up; get curious as to why they like it. 

 

Hope ya find the people you're looking for.

[Janet Voxel]

We’re still around, it’s just not the way it used to be. Even a sim like Soul Vibrations isn’t like it used to be. It recently changed and people just stopped going. So even that isn’t a go to place anymore. 

So if you’re looking for a spot where black people congregate, there sadly isn’t one. You can still bump into black avatars at shopping events and there are black communities, they just aren’t very persistent like they once were. There are still black DJs and parties, but that’s a thing you have to be in the loop on and go from there.

As far as what happened, it’s pretty much the same thing that happened to SL in general. It’s a pretty complex answer though. It’s pretty much what some other people have said though. SL has a pretty active Facebook presence and a discord presence. 

The thing is when you’re using those things, you aren’t really engaged in SL. So you’ll run into people in SL that will ask you about your SL Facebook. It’s very interesting what has happened. 

You’re going to have to do a lot of searching and sim hopping to find what you’re looking for. Just don’t expect a large scale thing like back in the day. Most of the black people I’ve found, I’ve approached them first. And you’re right, you can tell. ?

 

 

[Sprout Evergarden]

Thre are plenty of IRL black people running around SL Thankfully they are  interacting with SL as a whole, and not feeling the need to congregate in in one sim.

 

For example I have a friend in SL who's avatar is a baby dragon. I only found out she was of  African decent  after she found out I am Asian

[Ebony Massey]

On 10/21/2018 at 5:20 PM, AyelaNewLife said:

He's talking nonsense, the player count has been holding steady for the better part of a decade now. There will always be churn, with some people leaving and others (like myself) joining; if you stop meeting new people, your friends list will grow inactive. Sims are no different, old ones close and new ones open every day, with the total number remaining fairly consistent. 

As for the black community; part of the problem is the fetishistic 'black man' roleplay (probably played by white guys) dominating the search results, making it much harder for new people to find and engage with the community. There's plenty of people-who-happen-to-be-black though, throughout SL as a whole.

Hello  

Being in the world now for a while, I can not agree more with your words.

Most black people in SL are white people living out their fetish or ALT life. When I have picked the characters up (I would say people but they are not worthy of that name), the torrent of abuse I receive back and told where to go, (been there got the t-shirt LOL), I get racist abuse. I am told it is their right as it is a fantasy world. I tell them I would NEVER EVER betray my skin colour for NOTHING and NO ONE I am proud of myself and my origins. I get the whole fantasy world but for me there is a fine line. 

Also on SL changing, SL as evolved from the days it started

When I first joined and for first six years EVERYONE looked out for EVERYONE, you needed something or advice, People queued up to assist and you reciprocated that generosity . However my only annoyance is in the past 3 years GREED as set in across thew world, especially the developers and the cost of items is silly. Yes I understand you made the items, BUT a computer Graphic programme did all the hard work, stop being like the real world and RIPPING us off. *RANT OVER*

[ildiko Evergarden]

Most of them are bloggers and more into the fashion side of second life. 

You won't really find anyone in the info hubs but trolls and griefers so best not look there.

And don't look in the urban sims... There are some black people as I've talked to a lot of them on voice chat.

But majority of them are very young and immature. If you are looking for more older mature black people, I would try the ballroom dance clubs or places where mature people hang out at.

Edited November 4, 2018 by Minx Kurosawa

[MrsMancino]

well I can be a friend as I am in need of one I am a black girl playing as a kawaii avi. She's my alter ego. people often ask me if I'm black why is my avi white.  I love my avi the way she is! and I am involve with my skin. but ignore that... id love to be friends

[AnaiasMalan]

@MrsMancino I'm just seeing this! I hope you are still inworld 

[MrsMancino]

On 1/11/2019 at 8:16 PM, AnaiasMalan said:

@MrsMancino I'm just seeing this! I hope you are still inworld 

I am now that I see there’s hope

[Ashlyn Voir]

I am black IRL but just recently got back into SL after a short hiatus. Even if I don’t use a black avatar off hand, I’m pretty much open to conversation.

[Saturn Venus]

I wonder the same thing all the time. I'm Black in world and in RL. I’d love to chat with you and become friends.  Send me a message. 

[AnaiasMalan]

@Aiiyaz will do!!

[Destiny Marques]

If you want to find black people these days in SL, the best place to look are in the Black "sororities" and "fraternities". That seems to be the thing now, with people joining different houses, to hook up and hang out, party, etc.

[AnaiasMalan]

@Kristen Beornssen had no idea that existed in sl lol interesting. Thanks! 

[Destiny Marques]

9 hours ago, AnaiasMalan said:

@Kristen Beornssen had no idea that existed in sl lol interesting. Thanks! 

Yep, they're all over the place. You're very welcome!

[catshima]

Hope it's not too late to revive this thread without getting yelled at but I'm biracial if it counts. I don't RP as a black avatar though or a human at all but I am open to talking to anyone and I'd love to talk to other people of color. 

[AnaiasMalan]

@catshima Never too late lol and of course it counts