Doing academic research on Second Life. Any veterans willing to be interviewed?

[Love Zhaoying]

10 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

I've spent thousands of dollars over 14+ years in SL for entertainment purposes.  Would I be sad if LL closed the doors tomorrow?  Of course.  Would I feel as if I'd lost anything tangible aside from the people I've met.  No.

Great minds think alike.

[Persephone Emerald]

Thank you for answering the questions and concerns others had about your research. I also initially thought "veterans" referred to military vets. 

After spending over 14 years in SL, I feel like it's been part of my real life in some ways. I've rented virtual homes and been a landlord to others. I've used SL as an extention to my RL social groups and to one RL relationship. I've made a few friendships in SL that carried over into RL, or at least onto Facebook, and many that have enriched my life even though I've never met these people in RL. I've been a creator of virtual goods, virtual environments, and virtual art. I've collected so much virtual stuff that it's mind boggling, yet most of that has been free or very inexpensive.

The loss of my virtual goods would be minescule compared to what I've lost in RL. What I would miss most is the escape into the easier and more fun world that SL provides - and the way it lets me just be myself, without having to worry about how I look, whether I can afford to go somewhere, or whether I'll feel out of place around people I don't know very well. I feel at home in SL in a way that is rare for me with RL work or social groups. I also like that we're not bombarded with ads and algorithms in SL.

I've purposely tried to not invest too much money into virtual possessions that I know could easily disappear, but my experience of living in this wild and wonderful virtual world has been priceless.

The worst thing about SL for me is that it's so addictive. There are plenty of users who may be racist, misogynistic, narcissistic, annoying, or just plain jerks, but there aren't more than there are in RL. They probably feel more free to be their real selves here too, so they're maybe just more visible. 

[Miranda Tretiak]

On 9/27/2023 at 10:51 AM, TechLawProf said:

I'm currently researching for an article related to digital identities. I'd like to better understand how people interact with Second Life and what community norms are around avatars. 

If anyone regularly participates in Second Life and has a good handle on the platform and community norms, I'd love to talk to you.

In addition, I'll post some questions to this forum for anyone to answer:

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?
2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?
3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?
4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?
5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

Thank you,

TLP

1. 17 years.

2. Fluctuates from 4 - 10 hours per week.

3. That's difficult to answer without going into depth with the answer. Easiest answer would most probably be 17 years.....lol. (There has been lots of changes in Avatars over those years so you know....*cough* that's my answer anyway...)

4. I make my real identity known.

5. That's another loaded question which can bring up tons of answers, some of which could be against the TOS of this forum. Easiest answer -  Something illegal.

 

 

 

[Athyssa Seafarer]

On 9/26/2023 at 5:51 PM, TechLawProf said:

I'm currently researching for an article related to digital identities. I'd like to better understand how people interact with Second Life and what community norms are around avatars. 

If anyone regularly participates in Second Life and has a good handle on the platform and community norms, I'd love to talk to you.

In addition, I'll post some questions to this forum for anyone to answer:

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?
2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?
3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?
4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?
5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

Thank you,

TLP

The report on this information would be very interesting concerning Digital Identities. I hope you add a link to its release when completed!

1. 15.5 years...... We've come a long way baby!!!! 🥳

2. 42-60 hours a week - I lean towards the opinion, that many of us who are retired spend more time daily in SL. We enjoy many things that we cannot now experience or would like to try. With creativity never ending, we find new places to explore, new activities we find we like, and meet people from different parts of the world to talk about our Country, sharing our thoughts with one another. Having the time to spend in conversations can be an eye opener on many topics!

3. Over the years, all the changes to the avatars have been numerous. I cannot state the amount of time spent on my avatar as it may change any given day. I am constantly updating and changing my looks with new skins, new shapes, new hair and make-up. It is a never ending experience I enjoy in SL.

4. The relationships that develop in SL can carry over into Real Life and I have met quite a few friends from SL in RL. My closest friends and family are in SL and we hang out, shop, go dancing, play games and meet new people. They know me and they tell me their real identity, over time of course. I think most people who truly enjoy and have invested time in SL eventually do show their real identity.

5. Just my opinion, but griefing and stalking would be the worst. 😪 Some people get upset and take out their frustration by trying to crash a Sim, club, store or parcel. There are some people that enjoy simply being destructive, as they view SL as a "game".   ...There are horror stories of people who have experienced stalkers. From SL to RL and the person won't let go and continues to stalk the avatar and person in RL. I myself have had to advise a friend to contact the police to make a report and also report to Linden Labs the police report number and information so both parties are involved on any activity.

   😉 Over the years, I must say that I have grown, changed and see many things in different ways now because of SL. Learning so much more of the world from all the people I have met. I've been humbled, I've learned some patience. In SL if you don't like something you can go to a different area, you can go listen to different music, find different friends and get to know them, you do not have to stay in something that bothers you. There are so many different groups, oganizations and communities that one can discover and become a part of for the sake of simply learning new ideas. There are churches, counseling communities, support communities for help in RL. There are so many aspects to SL it would be impossible for me to cover all of them.

   In all, SL has been a positive experience in my life. I've created, I have a store, I've tried to help others along the way and so many others have taught me many things.... it has been a long winding road! It has changed me personally and I am very grateful for those people that have shared with me their lives by becoming part of mine. There are times we've cried, there are times we laugh, and through it all, we care for one another as we've become family. I wouldn't change a thing and good or bad, I am always learning.

Warmest regards and best of luck on your discoveries!

Athyssa ♥

[Love Zhaoying]

I like how the answers are so consistent!

 

[animats]

3 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

LL is under no obligation to compensate anyone for anything and can terminate your account for any reason or no reason.  They could shut down tomorrow and we'd have no recourse since we agreed to the ToS.  Could someone take them to court again?  Sure.  You, as the lawyer, would be better able to gauge whether it would be a winnable case.

It's complicated. Check Tilia's terms of service. Tilia has much stronger obligations to customers, both from their own terms and from their status as a regulated money transfer service. Because of what's been going on in the NFT and cryptocurrency sectors, there's been considerable litigation over the value of virtual tokens and assets. It seems to be settled now that virtual assets have real value which cannot be disclaimed. People have gone to jail for converting customer assets to their own use, despite disclaimers. If you want to read up on this, see SEC Cyber Enforcement Actions. If you're really into this, there's "Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to Certain Business Models Involving Convertible Virtual Currencies" "Convertible virtual currency" is defined very broadly. Doesn't matter what you call it. If' there's some way, however indirect, to convert it to dollars, it's regulated. The Wild West era of virtual assets is over, and the big-hammer enforcement era has arrived.

This is somewhat off topic, though.

[UnilWay SpiritWeaver]

I see ChatGPT now has the ability to make SL accounts and post on forums...

 

[Love Zhaoying]

7 hours ago, TechLawProf said:

I just want to understand how people think about their digital identities/goods and what kind of deprivation it would be if they lost them.

@animats, I don't think your response is off-topic at all, because of what professor wrote that I quoted above.

Here's why: Lawyers' care if someone suffers "deprivation" of their digital identities / goods, because it gives lawyers something to do (either help sue or defend the companies). Your quote below directly addresses that topic (what are digital things actually worth, etc.).

(Sorry, I can't quote yours first because the mobile site won't let me copy second  quotes across pages.)

49 minutes ago, animats said:

It's complicated. Check Tilia's terms of service. Tilia has much stronger obligations to customers, both from their own terms and from their status as a regulated money transfer service. Because of what's been going on in the NFT and cryptocurrency sectors, there's been considerable litigation over the value of virtual tokens and assets. It seems to be settled now that virtual assets have real value which cannot be disclaimed. People have gone to jail for converting customer assets to their own use, despite disclaimers. If you want to read up on this, see SEC Cyber Enforcement Actions. If you're really into this, there's "Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to Certain Business Models Involving Convertible Virtual Currencies" "Convertible virtual currency" is defined very broadly. Doesn't matter what you call it. If' there's some way, however indirect, to convert it to dollars, it's regulated. The Wild West era of virtual assets is over, and the big-hammer enforcement era has arrived.

This is somewhat off topic, though.

 

[Sasy Scarborough]

Hi, and Welcome to Second Life

 

1. 17.5 years 

2. If you are counting you are not doing it right. (Just teasing...it changes week to week, first ten years 16+ hours a day, some days would roll into the next, and that still happens at various times of the year) 

3. As a fashion blogger for over a decade etc, the time spent on looks is pretty close to the 16+ hours per day... Working as a store Manager for many stores over the years also, the day to day 'looks' work looks, casual looks and so on all just roll into each other.

4. My real life information is known by a handful of people, it is not something I would ever share lightly.

5. Join Second Life by using lower case for their name... *looks at you, looking at me...I decided to forgive you though, because your name in RL is alliterative  like mine is here.

 

 

[Marigold Devin]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:51 PM, TechLawProf said:

I'm currently researching for an article related to digital identities. I'd like to better understand how people interact with Second Life and what community norms are around avatars. 

If anyone regularly participates in Second Life and has a good handle on the platform and community norms, I'd love to talk to you.

In addition, I'll post some questions to this forum for anyone to answer:

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?
2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?
3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?
4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?
5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

Thank you,

TLP

Hi, 

Firstly,

I guess I qualify as a "veteran" in Second Life terms, with a rezz date of November 2007. 

I'm sure from interviewing veterans you'll find everyone has a different idea of what are "community norms", and you will not get a true picture just from picking up the forum users who happen to be oldbies. Also, if you log in and teleport around, you will find oldbies appear to be in the minority, but that's possibly far from a true picture too, they just have their own very established parts of the grid, some on mainland, others on private regions.

I'll happily answer your questions here on the forums. 

1.   From November 2007, but after 2012 I took several long breaks.

2.   Currently I probably only log into Second Life for a maximum of 4 hours a week.

3.   I am a "wash and go" type of person, and have not updated my actual avatar's shape, skin, or eyes, since 2012. I am a "classic" avatar and do not have the time or patience to "upgrade" to mesh. 

4.   There are a handful of people who know my real life identity, and I know their's, and there are about 200 people in real life who know I have this avatar name. 

5.   The worst thing a person can do in Second Life is be a catfish, or to ruin the enjoyment of other people's legal roleplay.

I hope you like your Second Life and, like myself, learn something new every day.

[Qie Niangao]

9 hours ago, TechLawProf said:

So, my methodology here is qualitative rather than quantitative. I just want to understand how people think about their digital identities/goods and what kind of deprivation it would be if they lost them.

Thanks for filling us in on the background here. My responses may be pretty "qualitative".

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?
Since May 2006

2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?
20-ish, depending on if I'm in town and whether there's an interesting script to work on

3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?
Less than most, probably, but longer than I'd like. I don't find it particularly enjoyable and it's stupidly difficult to get desired results
(In case you're really asking: Qie has a specific "look" that I try to preserve and update as SL avatars improve)

4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?
I share some incidental real life stuff with SL contacts, but I'm pretty fastidious about maintaining separate identities. Inhabiting a separate identify for part of the day is a big part of the fun

5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?
By far: Revealing somebody else's real life personally identifiable information

Now, trying to read between the lines, I gather you're specifically interested in the intellectual property of the user's in-world identity. Two things about that:

First, the junk we drape our avatars with is extremely ephemeral. Folks may have some identifiable content that sticks with them outfit-to-outfit, across avatar bodies and over time, but it's like the Ship of Theseus: that junk can come and go and the "essence" of the identity is preserved. That can be true even shifting human to furry to mech to amorphous blob (blobs unite!). And so the big threat to that "identity IP" would be an AI deep fake of our generated chat content (text or voice, both are spookily easy to spoof now), and that is the IP that's least defined. (Ask the Writers Guild of America.)

Second, I came to SL originally at the crest of a wave of interest in the IP of virtual goods (following up on a Doug Kaye IT Conversations podcast, for real old-timers). Turns out that's boring, just throw a little DMCA at it and it's solved enough to let the lawyers haggle like it's property law, nothing socially significant to see here.

More challenging: the economics of preserving open IP. Sure, can stamp it GNU (or Mozilla or BSD or whatever) and it's formally blessed, but the same DMCA flag-wavers just can't stop themselves from trying to "protect it from" being as open as the terms demand. (Try to find a product that actually complies with the AVsitter open source license, for example.) Sure, the IP is technically, legally open and "that's what matters" but practically there's nobody with economic incentive to promote and protect those terms in the marketplace. And so freebies get resold and disgust is the sole enforcement.

[Marianne Little]

- 16 years 1 month.

- It is impossible to reply, some times I can be here 10 hours/day, some times 2 hours/week. Some months I have had a break from SL and not logged in.

- I invest a lot of time in SL, but not all of it goes on changing my avatar. I buy new hair and clothes, mostly. I am always tempted to buy more than I need in weekly sales, events and Black Friday. I follow some blogs for news about fashion and sales. The time I spend on that, count as time invested? I have a way too big number of avatar apparel and acessories I have not worn. (Do not ask how much, I have over 100 K in my inventory) I take pictures in SL and I change my virtual land with new buildings and new landscaping.

- No one knows my name and date of birth. I can share stuff like location(Country), age (not in detail), interests and such information.

- There are some who try to hack accounts. Malicious links that the gullible can log in with their SL password. I have not experienced it myself.

----------------------------

I recommend you to look up land prices and Premium prices. I rent from another resident, who has in turn bought land from Linden Lab, and pay tier to them. Land is a very big source of income for Linden Lab.

To have a place in SL to set as home is important for so many of us. It gives us a place to log in, to be undisturbed when changing clothes and unpacking stuff. We can set security so we do not get unwanted visitors. And we can use our creativity on the builds and landscaping, and invite friends over.

I do not consider myself as a big spender. I see Second Life as entertainment, and when I have SL, I do not spend money on subscriptions like Disney+, rent movies and things like that.

I would hate to lose my account, even if I know it is possible that SL can close suddenly. It is not primary the money, since I know that I would have spent the same on other entertainment. It is the emotional loss, and I would miss spending time on SL.

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Marianne Little
typo

[Phil Deakins]

How long have you participated in Second Life?
Since December 2006, with a 2 year break just before covid struck.

How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?
For some years early on, probably around 50 or 60 hours a week in SL. In recent times, precious little unless I'm writing a scripted system when it may be around 30 or so.

How much time have you invested in your avatar?
Almost none, and almost no money spent on it either.

Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?
Yes when someone wants to know, but it's rare that it happens. If I refused to share such information, I wouldn't have the decorated Christmas tree that someone sent from New York to me here in England 

What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?
I don't really know. Possibly spreading lies about another user. It hasn't happened to me that I know of, but it does happen.

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Phil Deakins

[Sid Nagy]

On 9/26/2023 at 11:51 PM, TechLawProf said:

I'm currently researching for an article related to digital identities. I'd like to better understand how people interact with Second Life and what community norms are around avatars. 

If anyone regularly participates in Second Life and has a good handle on the platform and community norms, I'd love to talk to you.

In addition, I'll post some questions to this forum for anyone to answer:

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?
2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?
3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?
4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?
5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

Thank you,

TLP

1. 16 years

2. The last few years less than before. Nowadays about 10 hours per week.

3. My main goal in SL is not my avatar, but over the years it still will be a lot of time. No idea how many hours have accumulated over the years. But I guess about 1-2% of my SL time, which is far below avarage for SL IMHO. Finding nice stuff for male avatars is harder than for a female one.

4. My real identity? Not in a million years. This is not SL specific, but my rule number 1 for all Internet forums, games and platforms: No real name, phone number, city I live in, birthday, etc.
The rest, like that I'm male, a former teacher, live in The Netherlands, love to dance on parties were actually music is streamed in SL and a lot more .... free information for everybody who is interested.

5. Simply saying only "Hi" to the average woman in SL and then no follow up.  No joke, somehow (but understandable for most of the experienced SL users) a lot of women find this creepy or at least annoying in SL.

6. About the money spend:  In the early years I had a relevant shop in SL. Made far more than my SL expenses. Gave the surplus away to charities and SL friends who really needed it at that time. 
Nowadays I have a mom and pap shop that makes my tier (land holding fees) expenses most of the time.
If I would put in more effort, like with my first shop, I would easily cover all expenses again and make a  profit, but I'm not really motivated to put in all those hours again at the moment.
Last year SL set me back about 100 USD.  This year 0 USD so far.

7. My virtual goods are not really important to me. In 16 years a lot of stuff accumulates for sure. Besides avatar stuff, I have the goods that I made myself for my stores, a nice collection of cars, boats, houses, tons of furniture, textures, scripts .....  From the start I've always realized that in the end it is no more than a bunch of data strings on servers from Linden Lab.
When the gates close permanently, or if I call it a day,  it will be all gone. But so is the money for that theater show I visited last month, the money spend on that evening in the pub, the money spend to watch that football game (we won 0-4 folks!!!!).
Only memories left in the end, same will happen when SL is somehow a past station.

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Sid Nagy
I love editing my texts. ;)

[Marianne Little]

I have something to add to #3:

I am sure I spend an average time on 30 min-1 hour per week on only trying to sort my inventory. Or looking through it to find something I vaguely remember and open things I have forgot I had. This is a part of putting together fashion looks et cetera.

When I am in the mood to take pictures, my avatar is what I take pictures of most of the time. The rest is of the pictures is of my virtual home. I also have alts to pose with me. I am spending a lot of time posing us, I need total control over their appearance and the look of the finished image. The time spent in SL when I take pictures is increased dramatically.

So that is time spent on my avatar. And my sidekicks, my alts. They get updates to be looking good too.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Marianne Little

[elleevelyn]

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?

   I am a 7th generation avatar since 2004. Deported to the Teen Grid gulag in 2005. Released from the gulag back to the Main Grid in 2007

2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?

   Less than 8 hours per week at the moment

3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?

    19 years. By 7th generation I mean Elle is my 7th account of substance. My persona remains unchanged (other than getting older in RL age) Just the name of account avatar changes. By substance I mean an account that is not a builder's assistant

    I am invested in my persona (I am neko) but not in my SL identity as defined by the name over my head

4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?

    Depends on the project. Substantive projects typically mean RL face-to-face physically. This is not exclusive to SL, I don't do substantive projects with people I have never met in person. This is not to say I haven't done online collabs, I have, they just have never risen to anything more substantial than an uncompensated voluntary exercise     

5.  What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

    Treat SL as anything other than a form of entertainment or other than as a source of income, which for some many a source of income that subsidises their entertainment

    SL has been entertainment since Evans. Structurally that is

[Love Zhaoying]

Since the OP better explained the project (and it sounds fairly legit, with credentials, etc.) here are my answers. (I am not adding what I posted earlier, which still applies about "how I feel" about things.)

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?

16.5 years

2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?

I work hours on "scripting" every day, but I am only logged in about 2-3 hours per day.  *calculating* That means I am "logged in" 14-21 hours per week. I assume "participating" means "logged in" and using the platform, even if not socially.

3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?

I do not really truly understand the question, since people have multiple avatars/accounts, and time could be measured in "total" or "hours per week", etc.  I've used the same basic avatar - same attachments, different body/head/hair/clothes for many years now. Adding it up, probably less than 100 hours over 16 years.

4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?

I share my "real" identity only with my closest friends, if they do too. It's been a few years (10?) since I had any new friends who were that close.

5.  What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

The worst things a person can do is open to debate.  The worst things I have been exposed to in my opinion, are "child abuse" and "roleplay suicide" (Russian Roulette, which I mentioned earlier).

[Helen Zenovka]

1. I have participated in Second Life since 31 January 2007, although I did take a break for a few years (don’t ask how many, I can’t remember) before coming back at the beginning of 2020 (Covid induced boredom probably).
2. As for how many hours per week I participate in SL, I don’t really know.  I might be online four or five nights a week, maybe six, maybe for three hours at a time, sometimes more, sometimes less.  Because of my RL time zone, I’m quite often online when things are quiet, and I frequently do RL work on the computer when I’m logged in, periodically checking to see who’s there and what’s happening.
3. How much time have I invested in my avatar?  I wouldn’t have a clue.
4. I don’t make my RL identity known.  I do give away some details about the real me but not enough to give anyone a chance of identifying me.  I suppose it comes down to what I feel comfortable divulging to a total stranger who I may not see again.  I don’t see any reason not to tell people that I’m married with two daughters, but I won’t hand out any further family information.  And I mention in my SL profile that I live in Australia but was born in Scotland, which is true.  If someone asks me too many personal questions (and it’s invariably a male who will do this) I just tell them that I don’t want to answer any more RL questions.  They usually are OK with this, although some just go and find someone else to interrogate instead.  Generally speaking, I answer any RL questions truthfully, albeit quite often withholding some information.  I have to admit though that I have fairly often lied about my age……
5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?  Given that you can’t be killed, physically abused or raped in SL (well, the last two are possible if you wear an RLV relay, but I don’t and presumably those who do are OK with this sort of behaviour) it would have to come down to verbal abuse, which can be quite extreme, as some people seem to forget that there is a real person behind each avatar.  Fortunately my encounters with such people have been rare.

[Ardy Lay]

On 9/26/2023 at 4:51 PM, TechLawProf said:

I'm currently researching for an article related to digital identities. I'd like to better understand how people interact with Second Life and what community norms are around avatars. 

If anyone regularly participates in Second Life and has a good handle on the platform and community norms, I'd love to talk to you.

In addition, I'll post some questions to this forum for anyone to answer:

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?
2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?
3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?
4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?
5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

Thank you,

TLP

1.  As long as I have.

2.  As many as I want to.

3.  Less than I should have.

4.  Wouldn't you like to know?

5.  Querying Second Life Residents as an academic research project.

I think that conducting academic research in Second Life should in no way be detectable by Second Life Residents, so, in my opinion, you have failed already by contaminating the data.

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Ardy Lay said:

I think that conducting academic research in Second Life should in no way be detectable by Second Life Residents, so, in my opinion, you have failed already by contaminating the data.

Competent researchers control for this. In other words, they are likely looking for results not evident in the question.

Not saying this researcher is doing this though.

[Sid Nagy]

3 hours ago, Ardy Lay said:

1.  As long as I have.

2.  As many as I want to.

3.  Less than I should have.

4.  Wouldn't you like to know?

5.  Querying Second Life Residents as an academic research project.

I think that conducting academic research in Second Life should in no way be detectable by Second Life Residents, so, in my opinion, you have failed already by contaminating the data.

My guess: This is only to get a better general idea about SL or to select people they want to talk further with.
And besides, is it our beer to analyze the procedures the OP uses for their work?
If this is for a scientific publication, their colleges will judge when it is publicized. We are no part of that process.
The OP made clear why the questions are asked.
IMHO we have a choice to answer the questions or we don't. That's the only thing that is our concern.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Sid Nagy
English, ugh...

[Akane Nacht]

17 hours ago, TechLawProf said:

I just want to understand how people think about their digital identities/goods and what kind of deprivation it would be if they lost them.

15+ years and if it all vanished tomorrow, so be it - it was fun while it lasted. I knew this when I signed up. I might feel differently if I'd created a lot of content, but I'm mostly just a consumer.

[Marigold Devin]

20 hours ago, TechLawProf said:

 

So, my methodology here is qualitative rather than quantitative. I just want to understand how people think about their digital identities/goods and what kind of deprivation it would be if they lost them. That's why I haven't asked these questions in the form of an empirical survey in order to derive statistics or the like. Moreover, to be transparent, my research on SL will comprise only a portion of my research. The rest will be boring stuff like property theory and caselaw.

 

I change my passwords frequently and would not like to lose my avatar through someone else just taking her, but if the plug was pulled and Second Life suddenly no longer existed, apart from missing some of the people (but others I am in contact with via other means), it would not be devastating to me. I do not create or run a business in Second Life, it is purely for recreation, and because I weaned myself off being logged in for most of the time many years ago, Second Life takes up only a tiny part of my life now. 

[Rolig Loon]

OK.  I don't usually respond to questionnaires in either RL or SL, but this one seems straightforward enough and has caught my curiosity:

1. I've been here since Spring 2007, so going on to 17 years.

2. It's hard to calculate an average. I own a private region, so I spend a fair amount of time dealing with maintenance and socializing with longtime residents.  I have been a scripter for most of my time in SL too, so I can easily spend 20 or 30 hours a week on some projects -- or none at all. And then there's the time I spend lurking and posting in the forums or exploring in world. So what, maybe at least 20 hours a week, with a big error bar on that average.

3. Very little. I have never really enjoyed shopping, so I tend to do it in spurts as the mood strikes me. I have perhaps 25 or 30 outfits that I like enough to rotate randomly though them, and I weed that collection or add to it at odd times. My avatar, though, stays pretty much the same day to day, other than hair styles. I'm pleased with my avatar but I don't feel driven to change often.

4. I have never let anyone know my RL identity or anything more than very vague details about where I am. Friends (and some astute forum watchers) gradually learn a few selected things about me and can probably guess others, but nothing that would say who I am. Similarly, only a handful of people in RL know that I am in SL and I don't think that any of them know my SL identity.

5. This is the intriguing question. I spend very little of my time worrying about the bad things that can happen in SL, though I I have heard enough personal stories over the years to assure me that they do happen. I'm convinced that most of them are disasters of their own making ... identity theft or worse because people have shared passwords or other personal information, for example. Some are the result of honest mistakes that might have been prevented by asking questions before making major decisions like buying land. There are certainly griefers (fewer than 17 years ago by far), but there too I believe that many of the bad experiences I hear about could have been prevented if people had followed some basic preventive steps ... like making their parcels no rez zones, for example.  Others are the interpersonal failures that happen as easily here as in RL because people violate each other's trust or are insensitive to their vulnerabilities. What's the worst thing that a person can do in SL? I don't know, but it feels like the best answer is failing to use the common sense guidelines for personal safety (street smarts, if you will) that most of us learned from our mothers.  A very close second would be failing to treat other residents with the respect that they deserve, recognizing that we are each real people with different hopes, desires, and weaknesses. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Rolig Loon
typos. as always.

[Perrie Juran]

1. How long have you participated in Second Life?

I have been here since 2017 with one brief break. And I use the word "here" with specific intent. I see Second Life as a place. We could spend a long time discussing this perception and what it means to me as well as what it may mean to others here.

2. How many hours per week (on average) do you participate in SL?

Perhaps more than I should. Twenty to thirty hour per week on average.

3. How much time have you invested in your avatar?

Gosh, I wouldn't know how to even begin counting the hours I have spent.  It is almost a never ending process. Plus there was a big change only a few years ago with the introduction of mesh bodies. That was a start all over again process for all of us who were here when then happened.  Shopping for new clothes can take up a fairly large percentage of our time in SL. While I can not speak for others, I really enjoy shopping for clothes with my female companions.

4. Do you make your real identity known, or do you remain pseudonymous?

With only a few rare exceptions I remain pseudonymous.

5. What is the worst thing a person can do in SL?

The very worst would be sexual *****. But on an interpersonal level, not treating people with respect. That especially includes people who see Second Life as a game, a subject that has been debated and continues to be debated at great length. Bottom line is that we are interacting with other real people through our Avatars and it is very, very wrong to forget this.

(This forum seems to not like a word I used, replacing it with *****, so you may need to fill in the blank but the word 'child' would be involved)

Edited September 28, 2023 by Perrie Juran