Are You Someone Different Here?

Are you someone else here?

I remember when I first entered Second Life. I had this vision of roleplaying a totally different me. I was going to exaggerate some of my true characteristics, while adding on others, and really just play a fantasy role. A totally different second life. I was going to be a worse person in some regards, and a better person in others.

But lo and behold, one day, as I was socializing within this brave new world, and reacting to events around me and conversations going on, I realized that I had somehow become myself. I had fallen back on the same moral code, the same sense of humor, the same reactions and beliefs. I was just me. How dissapointing in some ways, and in others, a relief.

So I wondered, how many of you have been more successful at being different? Not in little tiny ways, but in how you react in-world and how you treat others. In the way you express yourself or do business.

I dress differently (because I can afford to and I can get away with it), but that's about it.

I am me...but moreso. And a bit thinner

I had this conversation with Cat not too long ago. SL is not an easy place to roleplay and if you try it your "character" will eventually fade in favor of the real you. I can think of one person that was determined to maintain an SL personae separate from his own, but I personally thought they acted eratic and strange.

Im the real world, I am not nearly as sexy as I am here, I can totally pull off things (looks) here that I could NOT pull off in the real world, and thats one reason I am in love with my second life...the goof ball side of me stays the same in and out of SL though...

For the record, I saw Camie's RL photo and I have only this to say...

"heeelllloooooooo NURSE!"

<3

Well..I'm sure we are all pretty different in physical looks. Lord knows my AV is a damn sight better looking then I am in RL. And maybe that would lead to different behavior. More confidence in-world, more of a flirt or more romantic.

I'm pretty much a sexual deviant and do my best to shock and digust people in both worlds, so I don't think my appearance has overly had an influence on how I act in-world.

In RL i look just like i do in SL.

But I am a major pain in the ass in RL!

In looks, only things that are different are hair (I change that out everyday, depending on mood) and clothes, which I can get away with, but no such stores nearby...and broke....

Plus I usually don't wear makeup.

Also don't have elf ears. D'oh.

As far as personality goes, I'm more shy in RL than SL.

In RL though, I can be myself and reform to my silly self to those that I'm really close to, which is few, because most that don't know me do not appreciate my sense of humor...

Kind of like here too....so I guess it's not all that different.

cool post

I honestly have to say I am truely a 6 armed freak from the snow, sorry to disapoint anyone.








the only difference is my look, I am more free to express myself in style and not have it effect my RL persona (which is buisness) I dont have to abide by the social peer pressures to conform into a narrow view of how a buisness man should dress and act. RL is so vain and I HATE to dress up even if I look 10X better (its the ties!) In SL i wear a t-shirt and blue jeans, with some cute little bunny slippers made by a friend (bcreative) my avi is ALWAYS comfortable even in big buisnes deals, so I guess I am the person I would like to be in SL. but my RL is pretty good so I dont have much reason to be anyone else. I enjoy meeting the various residents and working together on projects I couldnt possibly complete on my own.

RL: 34 years old. 5'11" and 199 lbs. Head web designer of a nonprofit hosting agency. Shy.

SL: Several hundred years old. 27'11" and 1,400 lbs. Huge freaking elder phoenix. Flamboyant.

No, it's a sham. In RL I'm mean.

In RL I'm a shy timid person, in SL I'm a shy timid person. Hmmmm maybe this is why I have yet to meet anyone in SL other than my RL hubby?

I am what I am. I would find it really difficult to play a role. Alexa is me - straight female, oldbie in RL, newbyish in SL.

I would have no conception of how to play a male av, so I'm puzzled how so many men can play females convincingly.

Alexa

to quote phoebe, are you kidding me? i don't have the time or the talent to be different people in different places. i am the khamon and that's all you get real or second life. it's hard enough having seven of me floating through the continuum without me all portraying differing personality traits from each me. that just doesn't translate into realtime at all does it?

Aww..you two come visit me in Mimas sometime, and we can go sightseeing and I can give you some sheep (I'm trying to cut down on them).

In RL - I'm pretty shy - and allergic to social situations. Social anxiety probably fits me to a tee. In my work environment I'm pretty gregarious - but that ends when I leave the office.

In SL - I'm social nonstop. I have no problem making friends - and talking to someone I haven't met before. Its pretty amazing to me how some of the barriers I have in RL are shed when I'm in SL

My avatars change in terms of outward appearance, but I am who I am.

Do they come with sheep dip?

I am also pretty much an introvert in real life. Online , and thus in Second Life .. i find my voice to be as loud as anyone elses. I am free to speak out more.

Am also able to part and to joke and have more fun.

So im not a different person. But I am able to say and do things that id stop myself from doing in real life.


And like Aimee said .. IN SL im thinner .. lol .. younger too i suppose.

^^

I can certainly whip up a batch. Do you prefer creamy or chunky?

Personality wise, I think pretty much the same, although of course there are some restrictions in RL that I do not have in-world.

Physically, not even close. I have short hair, I do not have a nice tan, I do not have a beard, I am not tall, I do not wear glasses, and do not have Tito's body. Tito can drink all the beer he wants and still have a six pack (as in abs)

I once tried to make an AV that looked like me in RL just for fun, but deleted it immediately when I saw the results.

Has anyone else tried to create an AV in their own image? Any luck?

T

I think my SL avatar fits my personality better than my RL appearance.

This conversation reminds me of an old Twilight Zone episode where, through the miracle of medical science, people could all choose any body-style they liked. Of course in the show EVERYBODY selected a perfect ken/barbie style body resulting in everybody looking the same. It's through a protagonist who insisted upon keeping her own ordinary body, that the audience learns some valuable lesson about how striving for the perfect body is bad.

I think Second Life creates an interesting alternate point of view. If anything, SL users all strive for an appearance that expresses how they feel inside. From "hot chick" to "furry animal" to "uber goth badass" to "butterfly ho bag". If the Twilight Zone's grim prediction of human behavior were true, somebody would have calculated the optimum slider configuration for the most beautiful AV, and we would all simply use that.

It makes Aimee happy when grim assessments of human behavior fail to hold true.

Personailty wise - I am not myself. I react differently here and do things here I would not do in real life. How many places would let me drive around in a tank in real life, etc.

Apperance - It depends as well on my mood. Sometimes furry, sometimes human, etc.

I think we all take advantage of the ability to change in this world as aimee said but does that mean if you met me in real life I would be totally different in attitude. Probably not in the core of it.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.


And if I could have four paws with razor sharp claws, a huge tail, canines the size of daggers, and the ability to sneak and pounce on certain unsuspecting persons (lovingly of course), I'd never play SL again.

You know... I could understand that trying to play a seperate personality would be incredibly difficult.

Personally, I don't really have a self-identity seperate from my conscious self (a persona per say... like a demeanor). I am just my conscious self and any social interaction is usually shearly my logical breakdowns and expected responses to situations. It's always awkward when I break new terrority because I have no clue what I should say or do... and I usually end up finding myself simple unable to think or speak.

And it still happens in SL.. but it's more comfortable since I can sit and think about it without being too rude... and nobody will see that I'm actually thinking about it. (Since more often than not in RL, I've been called "stoic" and "distant".

So to assume an identity that would react differently than the way I'm already conditioned to is rather contrived and would require a great deal of focus.

I think it's just easier to be yourself.