Do you talk about SL to your RL family/friends?

[Madelaine McMasters]

I don't tell nobody nuthin, yet somehow Snugs found out and threatens to spill the beans everywhere.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Madelaine McMasters

[Lindal Kidd]

The first rule about Second Life Club is...we don't talk about Second Life Club.

[Rolig Loon]

1 minute ago, Luna Bliss said:

Have you ever mentioned SL? Don't think you have from what you mentioned earlier.

I find that when I mention SL people think I'm an escort or something, so long ago I developed new lines..lol.

No, I haven't.  Well, no, I take that back.  A few years ago, while I was still in relative newbie mode, I mentioned SL while I was at lunch with a friend.  I got one of those blank, distant looks as I tried to explain what it's all about.  That was enough to convince me that this is one of those topics I shouldn't bother bringing up with my RL friends. I suppose my spending time in SL is no weirder than another colleague who retired from a college presidency and joined her husband's business selling motorcycles.  We've never talked about that either. Some things are just too much trouble to explain.

[Akane Nacht]

3 hours ago, Eva Knoller said:

This is a topic I am interested to hear other people’s views on: Do you tell poeple outside of SL that you have an account? Apart from my immediate household, I do not. 

If they are interested in virtual worlds, gaming or the like, sure I'll talk about it. It's easier to explain to people who are into similar things.

[Rolig Loon]

1 minute ago, Akane Nacht said:

If they are interested in virtual worlds, gaming or the like, sure I'll talk about it. It's easier to explain to people who are into similar things.

Ah, so there's yet another catch.  My son does know that I am in SL, although not who I am in world.  He is a gamer, and has little or no interest in SL. Frankly, I have little or no interest in games, so we're even.

[ChinRey]

27 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

If someone is curious I try to tailor my response to something they're more likely to understand. For example, if someone asks how I earn my living I might say "you know all the games that people play online, well somebody has to create the elements in them, and that's what I do as a freelancer".

I suppose it's different for those who make money from Second Life. Even if it's jsut a small seconday income, that in itself is something that is relevant to family and close friends. But it's not relevant for for us who have never made a single cent here and never will.

[Luna Bliss]

8 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

39 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

If someone is curious I try to tailor my response to something they're more likely to understand. For example, if someone asks how I earn my living I might say "you know all the games that people play online, well somebody has to create the elements in them, and that's what I do as a freelancer".

I suppose it's different for those who make money from Second Life. Even if it's jsut a small seconday income, that in itself is something that is relevant to family and close friends. But it's not relevant for for us who have never made a single cent here and never will.

Do you want me to come up with an imaginary line for those people?  Thinking....lol

[Luna Bliss]

I would say "Well you know all those games people play? I spent a lot of time in one that has more choice in it...choice of how we look and what we do. More ability to create your own environments too".

[Blush Bravin]

I'm pretty much an open book RL and SL. I talk about things I do on a daily basis with friends and SL is one of those things so I talk about it as well. I enjoy showing my friends what I make in SL and how I can make RL money making those things.

My favorite comment from a friend was something about how nice my avatar looked but why was she always so undressed. The funny thing is I always made sure my avatar was modestly clothed when someone RL was around to see the screen, so I was amused that she thought my avatar was a bit of a floozie in appearance. I guess it was a good thing I only stayed in my little home when she was around. I can imagine the shock had I taken her out shopping and she'd seen all those avies trying on clothes at an event with a lot of nakedness on display.

[ChinRey]

41 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Do you want me to come up with an imaginary line for those people?  Thinking....lol

My suggestion is, if anybody you know happens to be interested or the topic of hobbies in general happens to come up, you might mention it. If not, don't bother them. Second Life is not important to anybody outside Second Life.

Edited March 1, 2019 by ChinRey

[Halo Minoptra]

Once my husband looked at my screen while my clothes were still rezzing, and so my avatar appeared naked. "I can see why you like that so much," he commented in a very dry tone. Of course, explaining did no good. Soon after, we went to a family reunion (of *my* family), and he was talking about politics. He really has a lot of insight there, so I said, "You really should have a blog!" He stopped and looked at me for a moment. He isn't a luddite, but for him the internet is fine for reading news or buying things, or skyping with relatives far away, but aside from that, he has strong doubts and reservations. So he took my remark as a pretext for telling my cousins about how I spend "all my time" in SL. After that, they were like dogs going after a bone. Everything I said provoked gales of laughter, and (stupid me) it took a while for me to realize that they thought I was playing a video game and believing it was real.

That was a couple years back. More recently, I was talking to one of my sisters and we were basically psychologically dissecting all our absent siblings, one of whom is a bona-fide floor-to-ceiling hoarder. When we were pretty much done with everyone else, my sister sighs and says, "Yeah, everybody's got their issue." And I thought, yeah, I know about you and I know about everybody else, but... so I asked, "What's my issue?" And she replied, "Second Life." I was pretty well knocked back by that answer.

So I didn't answer then, and I don't talk about it now. I only get inworld when I'm alone, and I keep it all to myself. And you.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Halo Minoptra

[Eva Knoller]

I would not be pleased if my H did that @Halo Minoptra. He jokingly threatens to tell our friends, and I (not so) jokingly threaten to punch him in the babymaker. 😃

[Ivanova Shostakovich]

   If anyone views my use of SL askance, telling me "Oh I heard about that. It's all about sex." I'd love to answer "Try it. You may be surprised to discover that it can be all about whatever it is you actually look for."

[Gabriele Graves]

Yes, I do talk about and show aspects of second life with my partner, circle of friends and sometimes my work colleagues.

My partner is active in SL as well, has been since before we met and before I started my account though we didn't actually meet in SL.
We spend a lot of time in SL together as it is and so are often discussing it.

Mostly other people I have talked about SL to hadn't heard of it before and I have tended to describe it as a virtual 3D place that exists as an online space shared with other people.  These days that takes a lot less explaining as people are more familiar with 3D worlds/games than they were when I started.  I think they imagine mostly like a chat/meeting place where you can customise the way you look.

Some of my newer friends who haven't heard of it before are actually quite interested in what it is, etc.  I get a lot of interest about the clothing and fashion related aspects from my female friends but mostly that fades when they realize they still cannot use it on their iPhone/iPad and need a computer with a decent graphics card for it to work well.  I get the impression that they would be happy to play if it meant shopping for clothing, dressing their avatar and accessories and socialising in a shared chat room all on their phone.  That would be enough for them as long as it was easy and simple.  They are not interested much in building stuff, role-playing or flying/sailing/driving or anything too complex for example.

They don't think that spending money inworld is that unusual though because some spend a fair amount on items for Free-to-Play games on their phones.

That pretty much covers the mostly not-much-interested-in-computer-stuff crowd.  Some of the people I know who are more tech savvy ask, usually with a smirk I might add, "Isn't that the place with all the people who dress up as animals?". They think it is populated mostly by furries (they don't actually know this term though) who also dress that way in their RL (they often seem fascinated by this part but don't really know anything about it really).  They aren't sure why they have this impression though and I have never been able to find out why that is the thing they associate it with most.

Hardly anyone I have ever mentioned SL to raises or are aware of the sex aspect unless I mention it.

 

Edited March 1, 2019 by Gabriele Graves

[animats]

I'm not anonymous in SL. I link to my Github account, mention my RL work, etc.

A friend of mine recently starting using SL after I'd talked about it. He hosts conference calls on political and economic subjects, and says SL's voice chat is both better and cheaper than the VOIP system he was using. He says that meetings are going better in SL; you can see who's present, unlike with conference calls.

[Maitimo]

I mentioned it to my dad once and he said "Don't you need a first life before you can have a second one?"

Gee thanks dad, who knows virtually nothing about my life.

[Tari Landar]

I have talked about sl, quite extensively at times, to many a person in rl, and other places online. Yes, my entire immediate family knows I use sl. Obviously my children do, I have mentioned them and utilizing sl as a teaching methodology/tool many, many times, lol.  A lot of the parents I am connected with in some fashion also know about sl, although typically it's again due to utilizing it as a teaching tool (think: homeschool children and groups, primarily). I have told many a stranger at rl RFL events about sl, and in many of those cases, at great length, lol. In fact, some of them are in sl now, or rather, they come in sl to participate in RFL events here. (sorry RFL= Relay for Life). I have discussed sl academically and with both other students along with faculty while on my own educational journey. I've even participated in the, shall we say, perusal of others' academic works connected to sl in some fashion(don't even get me started..ugh). I have talked about sl to friends and other family, all over the globe, all to varying degrees. Some of those people are in sl now, some were and have since moved on, and I fully intend to drag more down the rabbit hole.

I find, for me, and me only, it's utterly useless to *not talk about sl, or rather, keep it to myself as it were. Yes, sl can be, has been, still is some days, my own escape, but I am not bothered by the side of sl that seems to have caused the "bad rep" some assume it has. I prefer giving people that do perceive it as nothing but...(insert whatever you want here, it's usually negative, and often times related to sex in some fashion too..)..a better idea of what it can be. So, yeah, long winded way of saying,yes, they know, lots of strangers do too, and plenty more will in the future.  

[LittleMe Jewell]

Definitely not - at least not anymore.  Way back in the day, I got way too many odd looks from people when I mentioned SL - that was back when SL was, I think, more well known, but not necessarily for good things.

My kids do know that I have an account here, though I have no clue on whether they know that I'm still fairly active on SL - none of the kids live at home anymore. My husband absolutely hates SL and pretty much just tolerates it.  I talk about forum stuff with him, but seldom ever talk about inworld stuff to him.

My mom is the exception.  Back in my early days here, I introduced her to SL - she needed something to occupy some of her time when she was laid up at home for a while. She used SL actively, via 3 or 4 accounts, for many years.  However, she hasn't logged on in a couple of years now.  I can still talk to her about SL though. 

[kali Wylder]

My best RL friends know about my involvement in SL, so do the members of my extended family who are computer literate, and one acquaintance from work. I don't tell people unless I know and trust them pretty well. I am a pretty private person anyway, but I'm very open with my inner circle.

[Ceka Cianci]

My family and friends know about it, Mainly just from seeing me on it when they've came over and seen me logged in over the years..

I used to create a lot of things in SL,so I would have photoshop and  Blender and SL going.. It was usually asking me ,what'cha working on? Then me showing them what i was doing..

I talked my husband into coming in a few years back just to give it a try,since He was traveling a lot for work then.. Kind of a way to still be together when we were away from each other..

He lasted about a month after getting frustrated with it..So His avatar is my alt now.. hehehehe

That was before we had cell phones like today and still mainly using land lines to talk while he was away..

 

Nobody really has said to me it was strange or anything like that..I think mainly because they  thought it was just more for working on my projects..

 

 

 

[Lindal Kidd]

If anyone gives you a bad time over your use of SL, just have them put on some goggles and try VRChat.  That insanity makes SL look like a session of the Supreme Court.

[DemeraraGirl]

23 hours ago, Eva Knoller said:

This is a topic I am interested to hear other people’s views on: Do you tell people outside of SL that you have an account? Apart from my immediate household, I do not. 

I only tell to those people I think that could be interested or that are open-minded enough to understand the complexity of Second Life.

[Pamela Galli]

20 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

  I got one of those blank, distant looks as I tried to explain what it's all about.

Yep we all know that look. No one ever nods. 

[lucagrabacr]

Only those who might be interested in it or happen to know because I just wanted to tell them about it, otherwise I see no point in telling most of my family members about Second Life as most of them can barely use computers.

[Nacy Nightfire]

I don't censor my use of SL in RL because it's a source of great hilarity.  On the other hand, depending on who I'm talking with, I may or may not divulge my SL avatar name.  

Mostly RL friends have found my SL antics entertaining, although the majority don't really understand why anyone would waste the amount of time needed getting over the hurdles necessary to achieve the full SL experience.  When I showcase 3d items I've made and describe the real friendships that have resulted from various phases of my participation in SL, RL friends began to understand the appeal.  As  SL cannot be described simply as a social media site, a market place, a educational hub or an anonymous arena to play out one's intimate fantasies, folks do tend to glaze over as I attempt to defend SL as not simply the virtual sex arena described in salacious new articles.  I did find mentioning the past participation of NPR's Science Friday program gave SL a bit of gravitas.

A few friends years later admitted, having learned of my SL experiences,  they quietly attempted to join,  however they didn't have the time or patience to follow through.  In some instances I was surprised by their confession as they previously expressed great skepticism.  Perhaps my enthusiasm at the time was infectious.  It does take a fair commitment and focus to  'un-Ruth" oneself, to learn the rules and etiquette of SL  and to build up a dependable group of friends necessary for a satisfying social experience. Add to that a need to constantly upgrade hardware to keep up,  it's a no-go for many people.  That last bit finally took me out of the game except for my current very limited involvement.   

Edited March 2, 2019 by Nacy Nightfire
Inevitablility