Voice or Text?

[Lindal Kidd]

On 1/25/2019 at 2:01 PM, Madelaine McMasters said:

I have it too, and I'm amused that reading the word fires it up. Gotta love the brain.

Damn...it does!  Although I think it's more a matter of seeing the word calls one's attention to that whine that's always there.

[Lindal Kidd]

On 1/25/2019 at 4:13 PM, Madelaine McMasters said:

...we fill in all the missing space with our imaginations, not the reality of the other person.

In RL, the people I meet are 90% them.

In SL, the people I meet are 90% me.

That is maybe the coolest thing I have ever read about SL.  Or maybe ever, period.

...sends you one Internet, wrapped up in a gift box.

[Rolig Loon]

4 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

On 1/25/2019 at 3:13 PM, Madelaine McMasters said:

...we fill in all the missing space with our imaginations, not the reality of the other person.

In RL, the people I meet are 90% them.

In SL, the people I meet are 90% me.

That is maybe the coolest thing I have ever read about SL.  Or maybe ever, period.

I think that's really at the heart of SL, not just the voice/text thing.  I have many friends in world, people that I meet and share ideas with daily.  We dance, we float on a pond, we sit and talk about silly things, and none of us ever uses voice. I have known many of them for as long as I have been in SL, but I know that I have built a mental image of each of them that is far from their RL appearance. I know them through the way they use the typed language, the silly things that they enjoy, and the sorrows we have shared.  We don't need voice to communicate. We know each other just fine with dead silence.  It's not just a forum thing either.  I know very few of my forum friends in world, and vice versa. It's an immersion thing.

[Madelaine McMasters]

16 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Damn...it does!  Although I think it's more a matter of seeing the word calls one's attention to that whine that's always there.

Yep, it's exactly that. Half of tinnitus is attention. The ringing is always there but, like so many background noises, we filter it out. Once something brings it back to our attention, like seeing the word or hearing someone mention it... there it is. Over the last couple days, I think I've only noticed my tinnitus when discussing it here.

[Madelaine McMasters]

18 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

...sends you one Internet, wrapped up in a gift box.

...sees a suspicious box on her front porch... and sets it on fire.

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I think I've only noticed my tinnitus when discussing it here.

Would that I were so lucky. Everything electric sets mine off. 

[Bree Giffen]

Another reason why I chose texting in SL was because I joined when I was working on a job that required talking on the phone all day. I mean who wants to talk all day and then go home to relax and ... talk some more?

[Madelaine McMasters]

24 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Would that I were so lucky. Everything electric sets mine off. 

Do you mean that simply being in the presence of an electric device or power line sets it off? Or is it that the kinds of noises generated by electric devices (hums, whines, clicks, etc) set it off?

I notice my tinnitus in station wagon, where road noise coupled with the car radio sets it off. I'm looking forward to replacing that rattle trap with something quieter. Curiously, my Miata doesn't cause as much trouble, even though (particularly with the top down) it's noisier. I think this is because my brain has plenty of other things to enjoy when I'm driving that car. The wagon starts aggravating me the moment I look at it, so I'm primed for an attack of tinnitus when driving it.

Loud noises, such as hammering nails or popping balloons, will also trigger a pretty nasty minute or two of ringing. And there are songs that contain just the right sounds to trigger it. Though certain sounds trigger it, it's pretty clear to me that my mental state has a lot to do with my tinnitus.

[Madelaine McMasters]

2 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

I think that's really at the heart of SL, not just the voice/text thing.  I have many friends in world, people that I meet and share ideas with daily.  We dance, we float on a pond, we sit and talk about silly things, and none of us ever uses voice. I have known many of them for as long as I have been in SL, but I know that I have built a mental image of each of them that is far from their RL appearance. I know them through the way they use the typed language, the silly things that they enjoy, and the sorrows we have shared.  We don't need voice to communicate. We know each other just fine with dead silence.  It's not just a forum thing either.  I know very few of my forum friends in world, and vice versa. It's an immersion thing.

John and Abigail Adams probably experienced what we do in SL during their years of carrying on a relationship via ship-carried mail. I imagine they immersed themselves in a mix of recollections of time spent together and of imagery and feelings conveyed in the letters they exchanged. As in SL, such relationships are highly focused, absent the daily drag of distractions that keep the merry-go-round of human relationships from spinning out of control. SL, however, allows energy to be put into the flywheel far faster than John and Abigail's letters could.

Wheeeeeeeeee!!!

Edited January 27, 2019 by Madelaine McMasters

[Rolig Loon]

5 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

it's pretty clear to me that my mental state has a lot to do with my tinnitus.

So does coffee, but I refuse to give up my 20 ounce cup in the afternoon.  Like many quirks of this body I have found myself occupying for a looooooooooong time, tinnitus is a feature that I have learned to live with.  Unless it's aggravated somehow, I ignore it the same way that I ignore strabismus and (almost) arthritic fingers. I won't go out of my way to make tinnitus worse -- by spending a lot of time on the phone or using SL voice -- but I'm not going to focus on it either.  And I draw the line at giving up coffee.

[Selene Gregoire]

17 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Do you mean that simply being in the presence of an electric device or power line sets it off? Or is it that the kinds of noises generated by electric devices (hums, whines, clicks, etc) set it off?

I notice my tinnitus in station wagon, where road noise coupled with the car radio sets it off. I'm looking forward to replacing that rattle trap with something quieter. Curiously, my Miata doesn't cause as much trouble, even though (particularly with the top down) it's noisier. I think this is because my brain has plenty of other things to enjoy when I'm driving that car. The wagon starts aggravating me the moment I look at it, so I'm primed for an attack of tinnitus when driving it.

Loud noises, such as hammering nails or popping balloons, will also trigger a pretty nasty minute or two of ringing. And there are songs that contain just the right sounds to trigger it. Though certain sounds trigger it, it's pretty clear to me that my mental state has a lot to do with my tinnitus.

All of the above. With the exception of mental state. That doesn't seem to have anything to do with it. 

If I can keep my mind occupied it settles down to a dull roar because concentration tunes it out. While I can hear it in both ears it seems to be only in my right ear. Which is the ear I had turned toward the concert amps I was standing about 6 feet away from. I did have Swimmer's Ear in my right ear when I was around 12 so that didn't help. 

All evidence points to my having been born with it.

[Love Zhaoying]

This is going to sound awful..

I had a close SL friend whose accent drove me crazy. He sounded like Dr. Smith in the original “Lost In Space” series. I preferred texting him.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Love Zhaoying

[DvOxf]

Text, always. I think I have never voiced on SL. I like text because not only I find it easier, I also think it is better to keep track of what is going on. It also helps my creativity as I am always this kind of "story creative".

[DvOxf]

22 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

Another reason why I chose texting in SL was because I joined when I was working on a job that required talking on the phone all day. I mean who wants to talk all day and then go home to relax and ... talk some more?

Oh, Same here. I have to speak all day at work. Then some more at other daily activities. Texting seems more compatible to my relax-enjoy-socialize time. 

[TheDarkhand]

Voice, first off I like to know who I am talking to.

Second, people tend to be deceptive online and feel voice keeps it somewhat real.

I can script and work on projects and chat with a mic to keep my hands free for creativity.

Edited January 29, 2019 by TheDarkhand

[Kayla Whittaker]

On everyday things with SL, I always text.  But I do use voice, it is only on Skype, but that is when I'm doing a video project and it makes things easier to give directions.  

But also being a roleplayer, I prefer text and emoting.  I just love the art of it.  

But I have met men with a smoking hot avatar and then hear their voice... Such a letdown.  The fantasy is truly blown.

I just run my SL with the voice off and I usually have the sounds turned off also.

But the only other time I do voice in SL is with my Live Mix DJ shows.

[Paul Hexem]

For most things in SL, text is fine.

But for productivity or for other games online, if you're not using voice you're going to probably be a detriment. It can really drag things down.

[Maryanne Solo]

This is a very cool thread.

Text! because my "day" job is a scribe/note-taker/reader/writer assisting students with genuine cognitive disabilities. Text is art, humour, a wonderful learning journey of which I invite students to partake.

When candidates read my lesson notes, I paint a picture of the confident, capable, self assured individuals/adults they are soon to become. This includes comparisons of "disabled" vs "normal" people and how each may handle things differently. This is done without mention of name, gender or "condition". Most connect immediately, as quite possibly, I am the first non family member they have ever been able to "connect" with. Come the course end, its usually tears all round.

The spoken word is forgotten. In any world. I also work with signers for hearing impaired peeps. It is pure bliss to watch them communicating

It's so hard to let my students go into the world all by themselves after years of interaction  They do very well though    

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by Maryanne Solo

[DemeraraGirl]

Most of the time I use text, but there are some occasions that I prefer to use voice, like when I'm playing a in-world game or hunt in mouselook mode with friends and we don't wanna get distracted from the screen.

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

On 1/27/2019 at 5:10 PM, Madelaine McMasters said:

Though certain sounds trigger it, it's pretty clear to me that my mental state has a lot to do with my tinnitus.

After decades with tinnitus, I finally connected the dots on how big an influence muscle tension in my neck, shoulders and upper back is. Just offering this here for you to experiment with, cause you like to do that sort of thing and it's a plausible mechanism for why your mental state affects it.

[Zeta Vandyke]

I tried it but I really dislike voicing for several reasons 

• It ruins the image I have build up in my mind from someone in SL, because it never fits the avi (It probably does the same the other way around for others)
• I have a hard time understanding non native English speaker a lot of the time (am non native myself too) and hate to keep asking them to say again.
• Being introvert, voicing is quite opposite to my mindset. I prefer to take my time and answer when I feel like it
• It does not really fit in my strict SL / RL separation approach I have since a bad experience in the past

So I did not even buy a new mic after my last one died by drowning in coffee...

 

[Selene Gregoire]

6 hours ago, Gadget Portal said:

for productivity or for other games online, if you're not using voice you're going to probably be a detriment

BS.

http://www.hearinglikeme.com/deaf-gamers-world-of-warcraft-team/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/deaf-gamers-making-gaming-more-accessible/

 

[Wayne Langer]

I prefer text in general chat.  Everyone talking in voice makes it hard to follow, not to mention with text you can step away.  I like voice once I developed a friendship with a person.

[Madelaine McMasters]

6 hours ago, Bitsy Buccaneer said:

After decades with tinnitus, I finally connected the dots on how big an influence muscle tension in my neck, shoulders and upper back is. Just offering this here for you to experiment with, cause you like to do that sort of thing and it's a plausible mechanism for why your mental state affects it.

In my case, the onset was sudden. Over the years, I've experienced temporary ringing after loud noises, but that vanished within seconds. It wasn't until walking out of a painfully loud concert five or so years ago that I experienced ringing that did not go away. I might have developed tinnitus anyway at some point, but the onset was clearly tied to that concert.

 If I'm distracted I don't notice it. High noise environments like my car will bring it to my attention, but eventually something distracts me and it "vanishes". The mere mention of "tinnitus" will, as you might expect, bring it back to my attention, which it's grabbing with a vengeance right now!

When I'm grumpy, I'm more inclined to notice it. When I'm excited about something, I don't. Though the origin is physiological, mind over matter still applies.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Madelaine McMasters

[Rolig Loon]

I suspect that you are experiencing something like the selective focus syndrome, famously revealed in this video

and discussed further on this site  (and many others, once you start Googling).  This sort of research is helping to explain why people are so easily distracted by cell phones, chatty passengers, children in the back seat ... while driving.