mercurial1 Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 iive always had online friendships through Omegle or other apps. this is a full-blown immersion into the online world and I have a new motivation and need some help. my friend thinks that talking to people you've never met is unhealthy and useless. I want to show her that it's not all talk and that people can actually do real-life good by meeting online even though they havent met. im looking for friends that want to get together to work out a way to do something in real life, maybe showing her that its possible. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Mistwood Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Meeting SL friends in the real world has happened. Some couples have even married in real life. I have never met anyone from SL in real life, but not because I don't want to. It is because the all live in other countries or just really far away. Several of my sl friends have access to my real life, though, through other social media, but it took a couple years of friendship to get to that. I don't know anyone that lives near me well enough to meet them in person, yet. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akane Nacht Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Some people don't like socialising with strangers on the internet (even in SL), and that's fine. Everyone makes friends differently. If your friend wants to be convinced otherwise, there are many examples of people who made friends, started businesses, collaborated on creative projects etc, who met on SL. Some meet in person, some don't. I haven't met my SL friends in person as we live on opposite sides of the globe. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeathcliffMontague Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 In SL it tends to be the total opposite way around. Well, used to be at least. Folks just live their SL and as a side effect might get very very gradually RL over time, if at all. At least traditionally. I see more and more folks just hopping into to SL with mic on full blast just shouting hi to anyone. In my day (when it was snowing everyday and we had to walk uphill both ways to get to school) you just sorta eased into it. If you want to disprove your friend you'll need patience here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaithLynnSayes Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Just now, Rowan Amore said: I took it to mean..never met in person but I could be mistaken, too. Even then, it's a closed-minded way of looking at people. I've never met anyone of you here on the forums or inworld and I dare say I have closer friends here then I have RL. I just wanted to point out the hilarious irony of OP's friend (and screenshot it and post it on r/facepalm, lol). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Amore Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 2 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said: Even then, it's a closed-minded way of looking at people. I've never met anyone of you here on the forums or inworld and I dare say I have closer friends here then I have RL. I just wanted to point out the hilarious irony of OP's friend (and screenshot it and post it on r/facepalm, lol). Oh, I agree completely. I've never met anyone on my teeny tiny friend list in person and never will. I actually exchange more conversations with people in the forums than I do with RL friends. 😄 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee Pancake Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Much of my RL friend circle, and the love of my life, started out as chance encounters in SL. You know what's really fun when you meet someone online and you really click but they live far far away? Go visit them for a holiday. I'm the ultimate introverted bubble child with crippling social anxiety, and I've pulled it off many times over. What's your excuse. Sure, it's not worked out 100% every time, but that's just life, it's worked so much more than it hasn't that I'm now well travelled. ME. WELL TRAVELLED. HA !! Seriously people .. oh no I met them on SL and they know I'm into "stuff" and I don't look anything like my avatar, whatever will happen .. friends for life at worst. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillFletcher Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 The friendship itself has value in and of itself. I don't think it should be necessary to point out other good things that the friendship leads to, apart for the fact that meeting people in any context will help you to be more empathetic and understanding of others. With online friendships you are much more likely to meet people with different backgrounds or outlooks on life, than if you only meet those people who are physically in the same place as you. Meeting and befriending these diverse people is a good thing. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaithLynnSayes Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Ha... my post got silently deleted. Nice... I'm on a watch list, aren't I? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorciaa Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polenth Yue Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 4 hours ago, mercurial1 said: iive always had online friendships through Omegle or other apps. this is a full-blown immersion into the online world and I have a new motivation and need some help. my friend thinks that talking to people you've never met is unhealthy and useless. I want to show her that it's not all talk and that people can actually do real-life good by meeting online even though they havent met. im looking for friends that want to get together to work out a way to do something in real life, maybe showing her that its possible. Your friend needs to get over the idea that friendship is worthless if it isn't useful, rather than you bending to make all your friendships into productivity exercises. It really isn't healthy to approach friendships (or life) like this. Relaxing and doing things for fun is great. It's part of life. It also helps avoid burnout. If you want to show stuff that Second Life has done that impacts first life, there are various charity events. Relay For Life season is getting going, so you could join a team and help raise some money. But don't treat every friendship as something that must result in something like this. It's fine to just have friends and hang out doing nothing much at all. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 (edited) That's a bit old-fashioned of that friend of yours if I may say so. People are people, including those behind computer screens and other devices. Also when you are in virtual worlds you share real human passions with each other, here on the forum, or in a chat with another resident. To my mind, there is no difference from RL, and if you meet a resident ( unless it's a bot :-), a warm heart beats on the other side of the screen, just like yours Edited January 19, 2023 by archangel969 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Persephone Emerald Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 (edited) I don't believe it's possible to change the view of narrow-minded people on subjects like this. We know from experience that something magical happens once we being to identify with our avatars and feel like SL is a real place. To those other people who haven't experienced this shift in perspective, our avatars are just NPCs in a video game. It's isn't "real" they will say, which I'm sure some people have said about writing letters, talking on telephones, chatting on online forums, or over text too. When they can't imagine being friends with a real person without a face to face meeting, no amount of trying to explain it to them will change this. I have met and become better friends with people I first met in SL. I had a RL boyfriend who I dated in SL before we got serious in RL. We're all wise enough to know that we don't really look like our avatars, but the mind of the person is the same either way. Edited January 20, 2023 by Persephone Emerald 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VirgyStella Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 16 hours ago, mercurial1 said: talking to people you've never met is unhealthy and useless. If this were true, we would still be in the stone age, with each human locked up in his cave or stilt house. 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Schnook Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Not everyone can go out and spend time meeting new people. Some are shy, some are disabled, etc. Three of my best friends are people I met in Second life. We all live in states far apart, 3 of us have health issues of some sort. I trust those 3 more then some in my real life, but I've only met one in my real life. None of these friendships have been either unhealthy or useless in any way. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Loveless Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 I joined Second Life because Blaxxun was a dumpster fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Mistwalker Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 44 minutes ago, Myra Loveless said: I joined Second Life because Blaxxun was a dumpster fire. *coughs* https://www.theverge.com/23032658/cybertown-revival-blaxxun-virtual-community-rebuilding-project 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyler Pancake Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?pg=entry&fr_id=104349 Second Life members have raised over $3 million dollars for Relay For Life. Fantasy Faire, one of the largest events, raised L$25,834,863 or $103,339USD last year. Sure, some of the people involved have met up in person, but most never will. There's a whole bunch of people who've met their significant other via Second Life or other online platforms. There's also a whole bunch of people who couldn't freely be themself in their first life, due to local politics or feelings, who are able to be themself in SL. Others who are disabled and stuck in their house, with Second Life giving them a chance to socialize they'd otherwise not have. Some people may not need or desire what SL offers. That's perfectly okay. Some of us consider it a core part of ourselves though. That's also perfectly okay. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeromFranzic Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 4:37 PM, Silent Mistwalker said: *coughs* https://www.theverge.com/23032658/cybertown-revival-blaxxun-virtual-community-rebuilding-project Haha, ok... thanks for posting though, might check it out later. I'm already in Active Worlds 3D so I'm used to funky old graphics for my metaverse fix sometimes. Nice to see that it's browser based so I don't have to install anything... maybe the thing will work with my phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nalates Urriah Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 @mercurial1 When you want to change someone's thinking you start by listening and asking questions. What person do you have as a friend that you have always known since your birth? Weren't most of your friends strangers at one time? What do you mean by "talking to people"? If you don't talk to strangers, how do you change the world or make new friends? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Mistwalker Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 1 hour ago, JeromFranzic said: Haha, ok... thanks for posting though, might check it out later. I'm already in Active Worlds 3D so I'm used to funky old graphics for my metaverse fix sometimes. Nice to see that it's browser based so I don't have to install anything... maybe the thing will work with my phone Say hello to Enzo for me. lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate Foulsbane Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 On 1/19/2023 at 12:10 PM, mercurial1 said: my friend thinks that talking to people you've never met is unhealthy and useless. This seems odd to me. In RL I might be hesitant at times and in certain places, but not talking to anybody anytime that you have never met before? How do you meet people in the first place? I can't imagine myself in a line at the grocery store NOT babbling to whomever seems willing. But back to SL, are you in SL strictly to meet people that you can later meet in RL for projects? You are searching for employees or adventure buddies or what? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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