AmandaKeen

I like this idea, we *should* have a Linden embassy 🙂

Until recently I DJ’d and did “club work”, so that gives perspective on my comments. When Skype & voice clients like Discord became a “thing”, I noticed an odd phenomenon.... People (whom I knew not to be Bots) dancing or sitting in a club, completely oblivious to local chat and the IMs from other people. (I’d get IM’s from guests asking if resident X was a bot). What was happening was that the tuned-out Guests were paying attention to their circle of friends on the voice client, and people outside their “bubble” had a hard time making contact. Additionally (speaking as a 15 year resident who has seen “generations” of SL users come and go) I do think that talking to “strangers” has become so fraught these days, that this gives certain people anxiety about even trying. When “Saying the wrong thing” leads to consequences, it breeds reluctance. Thats a “Life” issue, not a Second Life issue; I see that play out professionally in RL as well as here.

I may be the outlier here. I was VERY extraverted for the first half of my life (ENFJ if you use Meyers-Briggs). Then an injury, followed by a stroke changed some things for me. When you have difficulty speaking clearly, appearance-conscious business starts slotting you into fewer “out front” roles - which was semi-OK with me because I was embarrassed by how I sounded and the other smaller side effects of my situation. I was a natural extrovert who was learning to operate as an introvert; this led to any number of “issues” including a dance with depression. The great thing about SL for me (mostly) is that my avatar looks “whole”, walks normally and when I peck on the keyboard; I don’t “slurr” my speech. I frequently get mistaken for “normal” here (which I like) and as a result I can be my old extraverted self here in SL. I like it here 🙂

Either I have flickr or flickr has me........yeah....

Cold brew coffee and fig newtons...

I would call it “Donor” or “Legacy” level. Some museums or zoos use those terms. This is not a popular observation, but people who pay-in Premium are the “stable” income that keeps LL functioning. People who pay more are also paying to help maintain the backbone systems of SL for everyone. Second Life has meant a lot to me since 2005, if I can chip in a little more to keep it around I am willing to do that. Actually, I need to add that as a provision in my will :-)

Generally, alt-spotting is a great time-waster. I have several people in my social circle who have “work” alts and “social” alts because they run SL businesses and occasionally like a break from customers who need their attention “NAOW” I have alts because I used to help manage something in SL and occasionally I just wanted to be quiet so I could build. More recently I get pinged by people who see me on Flickr, so its nice to drop to an alt and talk to my friends. I think one good rule of alting is to never be creepy by having an alt and a main “unannounced” in the same social circle.

/me hunts Belinda down and starts following her.....

I tell ya.....I try to take people as they choose to present themselves here. It saves me a lot of worry as I’m more interested in how good a friend someone is; rather than their RL situation. Why wrestle with it?

It’s kinda like the issues people have with Polyamoury; if you’re into it - no problem. I think the whole cuddle thing is a great idea, but I am also poly-friendly. People whose values include strict monogamy might feel otherwise.

I misread this, I thought it was “Vintage SL PORNO vid”.... I was just making sure I was’t in it......

You’ve hit upon the dark secret of SL, there ARE no male avatars in SL, only some faux males with aftermarket equipment.

Thank you for caring. Legally, possible interventions may be limited; but good on you for taking up the concern.