Reporter looking for SL players re: "identity tourism"

[cecianasta]

Hi,

My name is Cecilia and I'm a reporter with VICE. I'm reporting a story about individuals who have changed important aspects of their IRL identity expression because of their experiences with avatars in games like SL. 

I'd love to speak with players who have had this experience. I'd appreciate it if you could DM me and we can set up a time to talk.

Thanks so much.

Best,
Cecilia

[LittleJolynn]

Hey I have something that would work for your topic

[Veronica Sidwell]

I am transgender, and SL served as my transition "training wheels". It kind of helped me to learn to socialize as female, and confirmed for me that it was the direction I wanted to take in RL. When it came time for me to legally change my name, I ended up choosing my avatar name in Second Life. So now my SL and RL names are the same. I don't regularly sign on to SL anymore, it kind of served its purpose for me, but it was very instrumental in getting me to where I am today. It's been almost 5 years since I started Second Life, and now I have fully settled into a new RL. 

[Gracie Kendal]

Hi Cecilia.

My name is Gracie Kendal in SL and Kristine Schomaker in RL. I have been in SL since 2006 and did my MA Thesis in Art using Second Life and identity. You can see some of my work on my website www.kristineschomaker.net and https://graciekendal.wordpress.com/ 

I worked through an eating disorder and body image issues using Second Life and it has made me the woman I am today. I quit my ER job and run my own business because of the experience I received in SL.

My email is kristineschomaker@gmail.com 

I would love to chat.

Have a great day.

Kristine/Gracie

[SunDrop Sucettes]

I moved continents with my child and reinvented my career to marry my SL partner. We're coming up on our 5th RL anniversary.

[Thom Serenity]

Yea, it's simple, I am in love and waiting on my US Passport so I can go meet my lady who lives in Canada on the west coast Victoria Island. I'll spend a week there and look a job prospects in Canada. Then come back to Dayton, Oh and quit my job of 14 yrs and move back and get married.

[Vavaah Voom]

http://on.fb.me/1yxKRoO

SL blew the top off my social and spiritual lives.  I've never been treated so poorly nor so well.  The link above talks about a bit of my spiritual conversion out of mainstream Christianity and into Intentional Global Spiritual expression

[Cellandra Zon]

Hi,

I have done Light Shows in Second Life since 2008.

I LOVE playing with lights and the effects and colors they make.

Doing those shows, gave me the courage to do a light show in Real Life at the Twin Cities Music Jam.

I would never have thought I could have done that without the confidence that doing the shows in SecondLife gave to me. 

I have enjoyed the friends I have made in Second Life too.

Alot of them are musicians from ALL over the world.

Without Second Life I would have never met them and became friends with them.

Some of them (from Australia, and from Ireland) have even stayed at my house in RL.

I expect to have more friends stay with me this fall again, from Australia.

I would have never believed that I, a woman who lives out in the country in a tiny town, would have INTERNATIONAL friends.

SL made that possible for me.

I also met many of my musician friends who play in Second Life, face to face at the Twin Cities Jam in Minnesota last year, Many of whom have become even closer friends because of it. 

Another thing that happened to me is that I met a woman in SL,  who was to become my best friend in RL.

We traveled all over California together when she came to the states, to meet her boyfriend from SL. She also is from Australia. (What can I say, I have an affinity for Aussies.)

Even though she lives In Australia, we keep in touch via skype at least every other day.

That would have never happened if I hadn't been in Second Life.

So I'm very thankful that Secondlife came into MY Life. I have a door to the entire world BECAUSE of Second Life.

Sincerely

Cellandra Zon

[Dillon Levenque]

Astonishing. A rather unusual OP request which, after a brief delay, gets six responses in less than an hour's time, each one of them reporting the most incredible effects, and each from someone who has almost never, or in fact never, posted here before.

I'd never really been aware that so many people with such incredible stories lurked here, just hoping that someday someone would come along and ask the question they so want to answer.

 

Edit: make that seven responses; one was in progress while I typed.

[Toscha Vayandar]

I have plenty of stories on how SL has shaped my real life.  First and foremost, i have Aspergers syndrome. SL has allowed me to experiment and practice social skills that i've applied and further excelled at since becoming a resident in 2008. in 2011 i met the love of my life. a woman whom i plan on meeting one day soon. besides this, SL has also furthered my understanding of what friends can and should be, as well as given me examples on how NOT to be a friend. i've been treated like absolute **bleep** by people i'd once thought were friends, but i've also been consoled by deep friendships that have lasted for years.

[Luna Nowles]

My experience in SL has made me choose my career path during a time when my main career focus had to switch due to me moving countries. Also, since I am not a native English speaker has helped me learn English.

I don't want to deepen too much in here but if this seems like something interesting I will be looking forward to chat about it with you.

[Madelaine McMasters]

I'd love to tell you my story!

For seven years now, I've been experimenting with appearing intelligent in SL. That always seemed to require excessive effort in RL. I've had a few people catch on to my deception, but thankfully they've mostly gone quiet. My modest success here has finally given me the confidence to actually try it in RL.

So far, nobody has noticed.

That means I'm getting away with it!

;-).

 

[Nyenna Enyo]

Sl allowed me to re-find myself. After living with my abusive husband... i was very depressed and I lost myself. My light was snuffed out. That's when I joined SL. Being in a new world with him there... without the terrible pressure that was my life... I started to laugh again and let the joy come out of me. I ade great friends who supported me and I found the strengh to leave that horrible situation. Today I am living wiht an amazing man and we are happliy engaged. If it wasn't for SL I would probably have killed myself by now... or my ex. 

 

Nyenna Enyo

[Pamela Galli]

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Dillon Levenque wrote:

Astonishing. A rather unusual OP request which, after a brief delay, gets six responses in less than an hour's time, each one of them reporting the most incredible effects, and each from someone who has almost never, or in fact never, posted here before.

I'd never really been aware that so many people with such incredible stories lurked here, just hoping that someday someone would come along and ask the question they so want to answer.

 

Edit: make that seven responses; one was in progress while I typed.

---

You noticed that too?

Something a little Stepfordish here.

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

Astonishing. A rather unusual OP request which, after a brief delay, gets six responses in less than an hour's time, each one of them reporting the most incredible effects, and each from someone who has almost never, or in fact never, posted here before.

I'd never really been aware that so many people with such incredible stories lurked here, just hoping that someday someone would come along and ask the question they so want to answer.

 

Edit: make that seven responses; one was in progress while I typed.

---

Sometimes a question resonates with the silent majority?

[Beca Staheli]

This is rather interesting, I follow Vice and their reports/documentaries on Youtube and I quite enjoy them for the most part.

Im curious how this would play out, how will this report/documentary be made and presented to the rest of the world?

Will it be in a positive or negative way?

Will it be made in real life or through the Second Life world?

I don't have an amazing identity story to tell other than I learned a lot about myself and what I like and enjoy through SL after being 8 years on it.

I really hope this goes well and its presented in a manner that is respectful of the people who want to share their story as well as the community in Second Life. Way too many negative things have been made in the past about it and its been quite unfair.

[GoodCode Writer]

well good luck... i think people in sl more like to be called residents than players?

and also virtual world would also be a nice term instead of "game"?

 

what i can say .. "goodcode writer" was "born" in secondlife and then used for my RL social identites > GoodCodeWriter

and i think it is a name that people wont forget that easy...rofl.

 

btw it is my rezday. (i am not sure if i am celebrating "being present" this year in sl, because i lost some hardware)

*edit : in my timezone it is 2015-04-01

[Eyegush]

Yeah, I can do that.

I dont really wanna type out a long drawn out reply post because I figured I would save it for (if) we talk.

Eyegush@Hotmail.com is my email
Eyegush Resident is my Second Life name
Leftovertrash is my skype.

Thanks.

[Dillon Levenque]

---

Madelaine McMasters wrote:

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

Astonishing. A rather unusual OP request which, after a brief delay, gets six responses in less than an hour's time, each one of them reporting the most incredible effects, and each from someone who has almost never, or in fact never, posted here before.

I'd never really been aware that so many people with such incredible stories lurked here, just hoping that someday someone would come along and ask the question they so want to answer.

 

Edit: make that seven responses; one was in progress while I typed.

---

Sometimes a question resonates with the silent majority?

---

 

Maybe the way the question was asked; something in the phrasing. I mean, it's a subject that gets talked about all the time here and other places. Many of us (I would not be surprised to learn that in fact MOST of us) have had our real lives 'changed' because of our involvement in Second Life. Just making the social connections—meeting and melding with people we'd never have known existed if not for SL—counts as an RL change, and I know the both of us have experienced that. You were expecting it because of your previous long presence in online conversations, I was not. But I know that we both have been RL enriched because of SL experiences.

Others have actually been able to find a worthwhile and important source of RL income by being able to create things that other people in SL will purchase. How's THAT for real life changing? Making a living, or perhaps a portion of a real life living, working from home in your spare time, developing on an online platform that is, if you want it to be, free of charge. That's the thing all those emails I keep getting offer, with the difference being that this one actually works if you're either knowledgeable and skilled in that field when you get here, or if you're willing to bust your ass to learn if you're not.

There are a bunch of other things we've all talked about. Treasure being able to fully converse with one or a group, in the moment and on the same level, with anyone whose language she could understand. That had to be a pleasure (although I would imagine she'd had plenty of chat room experience prior so she might have gotten used to the concept before SL).  Many who have not only been able to temporarily 'shrug off' physical limitations, but in at least a couple of reported cases have even found that SL somehow seems to make them able to overcome some of the physical limitations they are hitting in RL. Those stories don't surprise me too much as I have always thought that the mind has more to do with how the body feels than does the body itself (and at least on the subject of pain there's a ton of research that suggests that's exactly right; the problem is nobody has yet figured out how to throw the right switches).

I should never post at night. I just go on and on and.... During working hours I just sneak in during quiet moments or on my lunch break, read and maybe throw in a couple of quick comments, and then go back down in the mine until the next opportunity. When I at my desk at home, I can just rattle.

My point is we've all talked about this subject either in passing or in response to an OP many times, so I found the response to this OP unusual.

I do like the current badge, but even in California there won't be any cherries until almost June. You're rushing the season, there.

[RacerX Gullwing]

Hi I've been hosting the Giant Snail Races in second life now since 2004. I am a magic bunny in second life last year I became a full time year round Santa Claus in real life. Partly due to my vast experience hosting events and also the fact that I look a lot like Santa. I now have the confidence to walk into a room full of strangers and act like I've known them since they were children and keep them entertaind. You can see my races on http://treet.tv/shows/snailraces and I have  Santa website I'll show you if your interested

[Eiri Dragoone]

Feel free to set up an interview with my partner and i . I'd love to share

[RavenSkye Waverider]

There are both positives and negatives to Second Life. There has been some pretty bad stories too. I'd personally like to see the effects of both. Though experiences also depend on the people involved and their reasoning for being on Second Life.

Both aspects need to be seen, I do also believe that people have done some great things here as well as there have been som pretty bad situations.

 

But hopefully, in a respectful way this will be presented, Interested in seeing how it comes out. I have a lot of stories on both sides of my own here and I have been on for 6 years now. Not sure though if I should present them.

[Cali Karsin]

Hello Cecilia!

 

My name is Cali Karsin in Second Life, co-owner of Cultured The Magazine, a bi-monthly arts and entertainment publication on issuu with all SL content that keeps SL residents in-the-know on what's happening in the virtual world. Check us out!

http://issuu.com/culturedmagazine

 

In real life I'm a undergrad student attending Buffalo State College by the name of Rebecca Szabo. This has impacted my real life so very much because it's helping build all sorts of business and leadership skills, practicing running a magazine, improving my writing and editing skills, as well as learning programs like Photoshop CS6 and Indesign. The aspects that I changed about my RL identity expression is that I was able to enhance my college experience with something real and meaningful and I get to really be immersed and do what I love while I work hard through school studying and interning. I was never able to do that thus far before I started this magazine in SL. To me, THAT experience has to set me apart from the ocean of people graduating with the same degree as me because it shows I have some real valuable experience in the field, even if it's a virtual world it does not make it any less real.

If you're interested in talking further, I would LOVE to talk to you and I very much look forward to hearing a response back. I'm leaving my email and Facebook link in this response and when you get back if you prefer to take the next step with Skype or telephone that works for me too. 

Talk soon!

-Cali Karsin/Rebecca Szabo

binkybecka@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/stella.striker.5

[LlewLlwyd]

HI Cecilia

I used to be a congenital liar in rl; Walter Mitty had nothing on me, and although it got me into some trouble at school, and later on with the law, it became beneficial to my career when it spilled over into my job - I was a marketing manager for Microsoft, and now I am working for another company that develops virtual software - although nobody seemed to notice, or perhaps care, that my fantasy products have never been delivered, possibly because I initiated campaigns central to which were the distribution of free rose-tinted spectacles - which I have now developed into a USP by making them holographically 3D, although they do have an unfortunate unintended side-effect of making everybody who wears them extremely nauseous, but hey, nothing's perfect!.

However, while I continue to be employed as a spin-doctor, I have begun to participate extensively and anonymously in the SL forums, where I have learned (along with how to carefully avoid split infinitives) that truth and sincerity are characteristics of communication to be treasured, and I now spend my time almost exclusively encouraging others here to reveal their true colours, since the normalcy and sincerity of those who post here is astonishing once you are able to see through the humorous patina of mental disease and cognitive deficiency.

SL, and particularly these forums, has enabled me to develop a kind of remote empathy, engendering in me a sort of x-ray vision that sees into the souls of others across the internet through their words, however orthographically malformed, and allows me to help them with their unspoken problems. I have developed a reputation here for kindness, compassion and conciliation - and not a little faux alliteration - and my thoughtfulness in dropping metaphorical anvils on the heads of cartoon maleficents is appreciated widely, I understand.

If you are interested in further discussing my position - and even from 4,000 miles away I can sense your tumescent enthusiasm as you read my words - first place an ear next to your rectal outlet and listen to yourself.

***Oh, I have also spent some time working on the Letters page of Playboy, making up stuff from fictitious people, like you do***

[LlewLlwyd]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

Astonishing. A rather unusual OP request which, after a brief delay, gets six responses in less than an hour's time, each one of them reporting the most incredible effects, and each from someone who has almost never, or in fact never, posted here before.

I'd never really been aware that so many people with such incredible stories lurked here, just hoping that someday someone would come along and ask the question they so want to answer.

 

Edit: make that seven responses; one was in progress while I typed.

---

IN the trade it's called the "Beggar's Cap" technique.

As any busker will tell you, if you salt your "tip jar" with some shiny it makes a significant difference in encouraging potential donors of small change. It's a known psychological phenomenon that people feel enabled if others have already appeared to demonstrate public participation, however ridiculous the act might be.

***Ethically, of course, it's frowned upon, but even bull-headed fact-checking journalists worry less about morality than mendacity***