Voice or Text?

[Saravendi]

Nowadays, I just text. Like reading a great book, you immerse yourself into that reality and universe. Likewise, with texting that same immersive experience holds true for me. I get to create a voice in my head to go with the avatar/persona at the other end. RL Voice changes that dynamic, and it often times ruins the in-world SL experience for me. So, for me, I always prefer a good book over a movie. 

I also like the log that with text chating, I can refer to. I use that feature often and with Voice it’s not possible. Lastly, voice in nearby chat is horrible!!! Voices chime in.., from all directions, sounds, dogs barking, TVs in the background.... ugh!!!! I’ve gotten to the point of turning off everything except the music feeds. 

Very last thing... when I first joined SL I got a bit guarded about gender stuff, mainly men with female avatars. I don’t care about any of that any longer. I take everyone and everything as how they/it present themselves. If a toaster is talking to me and is nice, kind and fun to text with, I’ll go with that. It’s the essence of the person that comes though with texting that I relate to.  I never demand anyone to prove anything to me with a voice check... If you’re  kind and I like you, we’ll be friends. 

Text please 😘 

Edited January 25, 2019 by Saravendi

[Amina Sopwith]

29 minutes ago, Saravendi said:

If a toaster is talking to me and is nice, kind and fun to text with, I’ll go with that.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

*In stage whisper* “Hey..Wanna have text?”

[MrsSeren]

4 hours ago, Amina Sopwith said:

 

Off Topic: I love this show, and thanks for making me choke on my tea!!   

[Sasy Scarborough]

 

On 1/24/2019 at 3:59 AM, MirandaBowers said:

I prefer text because I can always clean up my thoughts before I share them. My communication is more articulate, accurate, and meaningful. Unlike when you voice and let things flow freely and sometimes slip up. 

I type and press enter like a crazy person, even faster than I talk and honestly I could have been an Auctioneer. But I do not swear in text and yet in voice I do so a lot, the more comfortable I am with someone the worse I am, it is a very odd thing, because the people I love the most get a sailor and I don't know why, other than I completely let my guard down and turn into someone very potty mouthed.

On 1/24/2019 at 5:38 AM, ThorinII said:

Same here. Secondly, I think it adds to the immersion.

Third, I like to keep chat logs - which would be moot using voice.

And fourth, Voice isn't working best on my Linux machine anyway, so keeping Voice running always is a hassle, that's why I just listen if I have to. On my own ground, however, Voice is off entirely.

 

Chat logs all the way, especially when doing any work in Second Life, because you need to either go back to or help someone else with what was said in the past. 

19 hours ago, Amina Sopwith said:

It's interesting how intimate and personal voice is considered to be in SL (for me as well), when in RL, it would mean absolutely nothing at all. One of the reasons why SL relationships are so intense. Things that are utterly weightless in RL become loaded with meaning here.
 

I found this comment really true....years ago when SL had no voice I had many friends for years, and then we got voice and we got into a call with someone that we had known and adored for a long time and as soon as she started to speak I started to bawl like a baby. I have no idea why other than it was just suddenly so real, and she sounded like I had always imagined in my head, she was an incredibly lovely lady and it just all came together and I lost it lol. 

The other part is what you said about loaded here etc. I often find the it fascinating that anyone thinks relationships on the internet are not real, not anything much etc, when I spend upwards of 6 hours every day in the past it used to be 16 hours straight every day, in voice in skype though not SL with my besties and my partner group calls where our thing forever and Whimsy and I can sit in a call doing our own thing for hours and only talk when we need to say something, companiable silence etc. But in RL I have never had a relationship with anyone that would be continous talking sharing and so into eachothers lives day in and out, days may pass, getting together may mean going out but conversation would be an hour tops and not all in one go usually. 

Second Life is pretty darn special !

[Selene Gregoire]

11 hours ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

Voice, if you need to get the work done. Text is completely unworkable in creation-related meetings.

So you (general) exclude those who can't use voice due to hearing loss? You (general) do realize that is discrimination right? Some of the best creators out there are deaf or partially deaf. Think about it.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Selene Gregoire

[Rolig Loon]

I have been in creation-related meetings in SL for twelve years now and have never used voice.  Text forces us to get to the point and to "listen" to each other.  Most importantly, it gives us a total record of everything that we discussed and agreed upon.  Conversations in voice are too easily forgotten or denied later.  

[Cindy Evanier]

It really depends who, what and why.  Mainly text but sometimes its useful when working to say NO. LEFT. A BIT MORE,  FFS AVI LEFT NOT YOUR RL LEFT sighs

[Selene Gregoire]

14 minutes ago, Cindy Evanier said:

It really depends who, what and why.  Mainly text but sometimes its useful when working to say NO. LEFT. A BIT MORE,  FFS AVI LEFT NOT YOUR RL LEFT sighs

Depends on cam view. If Avi's cam is facing Avi's avatar then you would be correct. If Avi's cam is behind Avi's avatar then you would be incorrect.

Oh and it's "your OTHER left", not "your RL left".

 

Signed,

A Left Hander

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

1 hour ago, Selene Gregoire said:

So you (general) exclude those who can't use voice due to hearing loss?

No, not general. If there's someone truly deaf, I'll type. But I have never been in such a situation.

In all other cases involving real work and real money, I'll use Voice (or better, Skype, because Voice is often unreliable and the noise cancellation sucks, so only in case of emergency) and they can listen and type if they feel uncomfortable speaking.

Oddly enough, the only people who I felt were uncomfortable speaking were techies who 'could not get their mic to work'.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Arduenn Schwartzman

[Cindy Evanier]

5 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

then you would be incorrect.

Don't tell him that.  I am always right 👼

[Selene Gregoire]

7 minutes ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

No, not general. If there's someone truly deaf, I'll type. But I have never been in such a situation.

In all other cases involving real work and real money, I'll use Voice (or better, Skype, because Voice is often unreliable and the noise cancellation sucks, so only in case of emergency) and they can listen and type if they feel uncomfortable speaking.

Oddly enough, the only people who I felt were uncomfortable speaking were techies who 'could not get their mic to work'.

How can they listen when they can NOT hear?  Do you really expect someone like me who has high frequency hearing loss AND tinnitus to be able to hear every/anything that is said? I can tell you from decades of experience, that isn't going to happen.

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

2 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

How can they listen when they can NOT hear?

No, I said: "If there's someone truly deaf, I'll type" Ok, jeez, of course, if someone cannot hear very well either. I'll type.

I'll never hire someone with a third nipple, though.

 

Edited January 25, 2019 by Arduenn Schwartzman

[Selene Gregoire]

1 minute ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

No, I said: "If there's someone truly deaf, I'll type"

 

You also said

11 minutes ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

they can listen and type

Which tells me unless someone is completely deaf you don't care if they can hear and understand what you say or not. That's even worse.

I wasn't intending to get into a long drawn out discussions about it. Just pointed out a fact that most people don't bother to consider.

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

Just now, Selene Gregoire said:

unless someone is completely deaf you don't care

That's not what I meant.

I'll never hire you though. Because we'd never understand each other in typing either.

[Madelaine McMasters]

7 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

tinnitus

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

[Selene Gregoire]

8 minutes ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

That's not what I meant.

I'll never hire you though. Because we'd never understand each other in typing either.

Resorting to insults is a real good way to cover your ass. 

The only one not understanding here is you. 

[Selene Gregoire]

11 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

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

When I was a child I thought I was hearing crickets at night. So loud it would keep me awake. The only way I can get it to stop is to get away from everything that runs off electricity for several days. Rather like a cluster headache, it only varies in degrees of loudness and is likely the real cause of my high frequency hearing loss, not the flight I was on that took off from Atlanta, landed in New Orleans, then Baton Rouge, then Esler Field (Central Louisiana). I could barely hear anything and my ears hurt for two weeks after. No amount of gum chewing, swallowing etc helped.

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

12 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

The only one not understanding here is you. 

Ok, I'll take everything back and get on my knees for being too quick blurting out my opinion without considering a full spectrum of physical disabilities. Instead, I'll resort to legalese to avoid stranding in pointless semantic discussions.

So, instead of saying:

Quote

"Voice, if you need to get the work done. Text is completely unworkable in creation-related meetings."

I'll say:

Quote

"If it's technically and physically possible to communicate verbally with a colleague, I'll f**ing refuse to type. In all other situations I'll f***ing adapt."

If someone like the OP asks "Do You Prefer Chatting Using Voice or Text?", I kinda assume they have a choice between the two.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Arduenn Schwartzman

[Rolig Loon]

3 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

When I was a child I thought I was hearing crickets at night. So loud it would keep me awake.

You too?  My tinnitus isn't that bad, but it's always there.  My mother's was more like what you are describing.  I have always had a hard time understanding lyrics in songs, and I lose voices in a crowd because the background buzz is muddying things.  It's not an age thing, although age hasn't helped.  I remember dealing with it as a teenager, decades ago.

[Selene Gregoire]

12 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

You too?  My tinnitus isn't that bad, but it's always there.  My mother's was more like what you are describing.  I have always had a hard time understanding lyrics in songs, and I lose voices in a crowd because the background buzz is muddying things.  It's not an age thing, although age hasn't helped.  I remember dealing with it as a teenager, decades ago.

Same. And you're right, age has nothing to do with it. I can barely remember not having to deal with it when I was 3/4/5 years old. Or maybe it's been there since I was born and I just didn't know because I was so young. The first time I remember having a problem with it, was the first night the "crickets" were so loud I couldn't sleep. I was 5 or 6. 

[Selene Gregoire]

8 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

*In stage whisper* “Hey..Wanna have text?”

Text me baby!

Oh wait.

I don't have a cell phone. Oops. 

[Amina Sopwith]

7 hours ago, Sasy Scarborough said:

The other part is what you said about loaded here etc. I often find the it fascinating that anyone thinks relationships on the internet are not real, not anything much etc, when I spend upwards of 6 hours every day in the past it used to be 16 hours straight every day, in voice in skype though not SL with my besties and my partner group calls where our thing forever and Whimsy and I can sit in a call doing our own thing for hours and only talk when we need to say something, companiable silence etc. But in RL I have never had a relationship with anyone that would be continous talking sharing and so into eachothers lives day in and out, days may pass, getting together may mean going out but conversation would be an hour tops and not all in one go usually. 

When people say that internet relationships are not real, I don't think they mean that there are no real feelings involved or that it can never possibly translate to RL.

I think they mean one or both of two things: 1) that you can't really know who you're talking to, and whether your connection is based on something "real" in that sense (though this is less of an issue if you voice/Skype etc) and 2) the nature of the relationship eliminates a lot of everyday mundanity that can wear away at RL relationships. You mention "sharing each others' lives", and I'm definitely not saying that's not true. But it is certainly not the kind of "sharing" that you'd get if you were based in RL and the sharing came along with dull everyday stuff like household chores, looking rough in the morning and so on.

In SL, we look perfect all the time unless we choose not to. As several people in this thread have said, they prefer text to voice because they can think more about how they wish to express/present themselves. (I do a lot of verbal conversation as part of my RL job, and they're called social and people skills for a reason: they are indeed skills, and as such they can be learned, improved upon, and go to pot when not used for a while.) We don't have to worry about various bits of everyday mundanity. There is a kind of sterility that goes along with not being in the same physical space as each other. (See all the posters here who don't like voice because it spoils the immersion for them, or ruins their perception of other people.) There is also the instant gratification element. In RL, if I want to feel sexy, I have to maintain my body (eat well and exercise), wash, shave, do hair and makeup and so on. In SL, I just need a few clicks even if in RL I'm slobbing on the sofa in beer-stained pyjamas.

It all acts as a filter for a lot of the stuff that can be a strain in RL, and it's a key reason why SL and the internet in general can be so addictive.

We might want to think about why people seem to fall so very hard and intensely in SL, in a way that doesn't seem to happen anywhere near as often in RL. Is it because SL draws all the sexiest, most charismatic and caring people? Or is it because of the way the medium affects the interaction, self-expression and perception? 

Just to clarify, I am absolutely not denigrating SL relationships or saying they aren't real. I'm just conscious of how they operate and what they can and can't offer. You (generic you, not you personally) may not want the things they don't provide, and if everyone involved is happy, then that's terrific. But we'd be fools to imagine that there aren't any possible pitfalls, or that taking it into RL wouldn't change the dynamics. I've taken an SL relationship into RL successfully, but I think one reason it worked was because we were both aware of what would change.

ETA: 

TL;DR: It's not that SL relationships aren't real, it's that the nature of the medium affects their dynamic. If you're satisfied with what an SL relationship offers (which can be a lot), it's no problem. If you do want to bring it into RL, by which I mean RL and not just voice/Skype, it can definitely work but there are some potential pitfalls to be aware of, because they don't account for many of the stressors that come with RL.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Amina Sopwith

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 hour ago, Selene Gregoire said:

When I was a child I thought I was hearing crickets at night.

As luck would have it, my tinnitus was caused by attending a concert in Milwaukee that was so loud it damaged my left ear. And that concert was performed by... The Civil Wars, who's song "Tracks in the Snow" I just posted in Hippie's thread, as an example of the quiet of winter.

;-).

[Madelaine McMasters]

45 minutes ago, Amina Sopwith said:

I'm slobbing on the sofa in beer-stained pyjamas.

...swoons.

Your characterization of SL relationships pretty much matches mine. RL contains so much drag and distraction that it's hard to match the intensity of SL relationships. Here, 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.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Madelaine McMasters