Success in introducing friend to SL?

I have been on SL for about three and half months now (relatively new, i know ), and i have always been keeping it a secret from friends, didn't really bother to mention to anyone about it. And i even got laughed at by my RL partner cos she saw me at work in SL and thought it was the craziest idea to take this seriously.

Only until recently did i finally get the chance to introduce someone into SL. It so happens that i had my viewer open on my desktop while my best friend came to visit me RL, and having played THE SIMS online before, she was pretty interested in SL, so i took the chance to set up an account for her and show her the controls and all.

If it wasn't she who showed interest, i wouldn't have asked if she would want to join...haha....but now i am most happy that i finally have a RL friend sharing the experience with me.

how about you all, did you ever take someone into SL?

I haven't had much success convincing my friends to join SL. I do have some RL who, unbeknownst to me, were already here.

Do the rest of you get the "rolling of eyes" when you talk about SL to your friends and family?

Considering that most of my family thinks SL is lame, playing dolls, playing dress-up, etc... I don't mention it to very many friends and definitely not in much detail.

I did bring my mom into SL a bit over a year ago and she absolutely loves it.

umm yeah i talked about sl to friends rl when i first messed around on here 3 years ago, but after the first few mentions, I haven't done so since, so therefore is a lonesome rl experience. In rl there's far too much negativity surrounding the platform and most people can't get their heads around the fact that its not some shoot 'em up computer game. They laugh because the media hype portrays sl to be some kind of perverts paradise, where we talk to shifty murky people all over the world and whats scary is that we can do absolutely anything we want in sl. There is really no limit except that of your imagination....so its like msn huh? It's difficult explaining that content in sl is created not provided. How do you explain a virtual reality?
finn

Two friends of mine showed an interest at the time I joined. One found his PC couldn't run the viewer (and that's pre-Windlight). He's about to get a new one and has been talking about trying it again. With a 2006 account he might become the oldest newbie on the grid.

The other tried it for a while, but he's too much of a competitive gamer to really enjoy SL.

I have RL friends who do other 'games' online. I find those games pretty lame and so I assume they think the same about SL or else they'd join. But....perhaps they have joined - I have no way of knowing!

90% of my friends would have zero interest in SL or computer games in general. Of the few that do play, most know about SL, and either don't care or have tried it and didn't stay. One friend was interested in it for her job, tried it, and realized her boss would banish her to the mail room if she showed it to him, so she has pretty much abandoned her account.Once in a while she will come over when I am on and will see me trying on new outfits or maybe visiting a cool place and that will get her to go back for a day or so, but that's about it.

Have you got her to join the Cartel, yet?

I do mention it openly but have never tried to get anyone interested. Either they are (and you know pretty fast when they are) or they're not.

Funny thing is, for at least a year or so, whenever I mention SL over here in Germany, first reply I almost always get is "Oh, I thought that was dead".

Well I did come into SL cause of a RL friend. She said she wouldnt chat on Yahoo anymore

So I came then later she left and well I am still here

So does that count? And yes some of my friends know I am on SL.

Bec

Well, my answer is yes My rl sis, my rl hubby and many many friends from our days as the Journey Webteam & Forum Stewards, have joined and are having a blast. Sure some of the family thinks we are crazy but that's nothing new

SL is probably the most "Normal" thing I do. I don't have anyone in RL that I'd call a friend, but, the people I know at work know who/what Immy is and are generally not surprised at all. (^_^)

Though... Because of this, I don't think anyone around would consider joining SL. Buncha old fogies anyway. (=_=)y

Actually, yes she has, though she almost never comes to the Hangout.

I have brought a couple of RL friends into SL.

One has been here since 2004.

The other joined in 2008 and she was burned by Bloodlines and left angrily.
-I warned her to keep away from that, but she knew better.

Oh now you are going to make me play detective.

I don't have any RL friends in SL. None that I know of anyway.

Several months ago a musician that I met in SL was playing in RL at a small bar near where I live. Between sets we sat at the bar talking about SL. Before long the bartender and several other patrons were listening in and asking questions about SL.

I've always wondered if any of them ever tired SL or if they just went home thinking we were crazy.

i did get one RL friend to join. but it didn't bode well for her RL relationship, and she quit.

I tried to get a couple of my RL friends to join. One liked it for a bit,a little too much. He kept borrowing lindens from me to go see strippers LOL. He lost interest though and left. I drag him back in every now and then when I need an avatar to molest..er take pics of. The other friend didn't get it from the get go. She didn't understand any of it. Though I tell her about anything SL related now, she at least understands what I am talking about now.

I'm in SL because of an RL friend. She's the one who got me hooked! *shakes fist*

One of my RL brothers was also here before me, so having the two of them here when I started was invaluable.

I've talked to my sister and a few friends about SL, all of whom are intrigued. My sister had to create an work-related avatar since her company has a presence inworld...but she's not spent much time inworld at all.

I've told a couple of rl friends. they can't seem to get their heads around it & think I'm nuts. tried talking to my sister about it, but she is severely computer challenged (cut & paste is difficult for her), so I've given up on her. my brother lives way out in the boonies & doesn't have broadband available to him. when he does get it, he wants to join.

I was working a political campaign in 2004, here in Illinois. And, one night i was in SL talking to someone all about BDSM etc.. She was a very serious Domme in SL. And it somehow came out that we were both in Springfield (well i actually live outside the city), and then as we were talking about what we were doing, we both said too much and realized that we were both working on the same campaign, in the same office and we knew who other was - that is when the conversation took an abrupt change as the topic was switched immediately.

We kept talking in SL - a lot less though, and we avoided each other in the office.

that would be very uncomfortable, for certain.

found my girlfriend on here she is a lesbian and eveything is working out great !!

I've had mixed results in attempting to introduce people to SL.

The most common response I get is for people to spout out the tired old tabloid nonsense about SL and not even take a look.

Next I've had a few people dip their toes in amid much loudly-vented skepticism and mockery while I hold their hand. Invariably they drop out as soon as I'm no longer available to operate their computer for them

I've had a few successes. One couple I introduced front a band and are very much into the cyberpunk scene. For them it was like coming home. They hooked up with like minds within a week and have never looked back. Another unexpected success was a professional astrologer who I met. After showing her around SL and a brief fling, she got settled into SL and uses it for both socialising and her work as a professional astrologer.

One thing I have not been able to do [and not for a lack of effort] is to persuade 'Real-World' music promoters and venue owners of the benefits of using SL as a way of extending their reach. Even when I present them with a detailed package and case studies they just don't get it. It's like talking to blank walls. I guess that's part of the problem of being well ahead of the curve.

As the expression goes: You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

I don't think SL is for everyone. One person me and my GF in RL introduced to the game only stayed a day and quit. My GFs mother was also introduced to the game at one time and turned into a haunting experience about who NOT to tell about a game you socialize in. She worked her way covertly into my GFs groups of friends and befriended everyone. Hanging out with my GFs friends learning about what we do and things of that nature. Well we stopped hanging out with those people but her mother still hangs out with them doing various.... *coughs* Adult things while her husband in RL works. Its really quite sad really and I think in hindsight was probably the dumbest thing to even mention to a parent. Its an example of the type of person you don't invite into a game like this. People who are manipulative, and control freaks in RL should never be told of your personal social networks.

We keep our groups relatively hidden now and our friends aren't so gullable as our old ones. They still hang out with her and see no problem with a mother infiltrating a group of friends to watch her daughter in a game. LOL.. It was borderline stalking for a while but its more humorous now. Knowing a 55 yr old woman is in game posing as a 25-34 yr old woman hanging out with young men and doing whatever is just another reminder that you never know who is behind the screen. I feel sorry more for her husband who was working to pay the bills while she "played". It also is an example that you may think some people are your friends in a game, and when it boils down to it, its only a game to them. Doesn't matter if your there or not just as long as they have someone to create a little drama with it seems.

I've decided to never invite anyone into SL again, and if they find it and mention it to me I'll talk about it. But for me its MY social network with my girl friend and we enjoy it our own way.