Seeking True SL to RL Love Stories for Online Publication!

I think the OPs concept is good and with the right idea. Most "average Joe/Jane"s really take a critical eye to romances borne from computer to computer interaction (BBS', chat rooms, forums, SL etc.).

However, most of us (those who embrace technology) recognize that you can meet a romantic partner in SL, on a BBS, in the supermarket, at a party, at a bar, through the old pen friend system and more.

As Ghosty and the others said.

But I think having some sort of "proof of story" in a website format might be nice for the naysayers -- although they may still naysay.

And Bunny Boilers (Fatal Attraction reference) can be just easily found in the person you hook up with a bar, party or from the 'net. They are everywhere. Media just enjoys sensationalizing the uncommon and adding fuel to the fire of "OMG, da intarwebs be corruptin' and filled with teh evol".

Maybe your story is boring.

LULZ to the "boring" comment. I guess if he'd be willing, I'd be happy to repost his story for him to see if indeed it is unusual.

not sure why you felt the need to insult me

my story is far from boring but I choose the people I wish to share it with and how much I share of it

if it was on a blog, then I would not have that choice would I?

if you are refering to the comment directed at me, I do not find it very funny that someone felt the need to be blatently insulting

and I am not a he...

and I do not wish to place it on your blog, especially now that you show that you find it funny when another is insulted in that their life story (which is so very similar to your own) is boring...

I never claimed it was book worthy
others said I should write a book

I can not help if it people do not understand that

I do not wish to share it publicly
that doesn't mean I have anything to hide or that it is boring
it just means I value my privacy which is becoming less and less each day in this world we live in

and I am sure I am not alone, I am sure there are many more out there who do not wish to share their life story with the world, in all the little details

what might seem exciting to one, could be boring to another

*shrug*

I am done here, good luck with the baby and everything

not sure why you felt the need to insult me

my story is far from boring but I choose the people I wish to share it with and how much I share of it

if it was on a blog, then I would not have that choice would I?

Thanks, I mean for the nice baby comment in particular!!

Fair enough, if you don't want to share, but...why did you post that you have a good story f you didn't wanna share it?

Just curious...of course I don't expect you'll answer but...*tease*

Anyhow, regarding personal lives and sharing stories...if you or anyone else share their story anon, or even using your SL first name (not last), how is doing that going to invade privacy?

I never thought I was "that special". I mean, I don't take myself nearly that seriously...like people are lookin' to stalk me as if I'm famous, worthy of stalking, or something similar.

I'd suggest we give up waaaay more of our privacy through commenting in forums if we're using a full SL name and are therefore google-able.

Also, a page long story can't contain very many "details"...certainly not too many, anyhow. I wouldn't in any way call one page a "life" story as much as a love story.

Same as what's in it for me. Nothing but the glory of love, I suppose. WOO_HOO! I'm not making money or asking for money, not even a click thru. Doin' it because I can!

What people seem to be missing in the argument that "of course peole fall in love on SL...it's all just real people" is that when your RL family and friends find out you're making decisions in your life based on an online relationship they know nothing about and have no influence over, they get a bit...mmm...suspicious, worried, rightfully concerned, think you're nuts, try to talk you out of it, etc.

In my case, I sold all my stuff to finance my trip to the AU, and **I hadn't met him in RL**--nope, not even once--before I arrived (AND I ended up pregnant within about three days of arrival). Twas a bit shocking to my mom, to say the least (and yeah, I'm 39!).

IMO, don't underestimate the effects of SL2RL Love on those around you. Hence, the common embarassment and confusion people feel...particularly if they are, say, already married/partnered in RL...which many people that fall in love on SL are.

And on a p.s. note...there are very few SL2RL Love stories documented online...
And on another p.s. note...
http://sl2rllove.blogspot.com/2008/07/meeting-people-on-sl-that-read-about-us.html

Anyhow, thank you to anyone interested in writing.

well leaving out all the personal stuff my story is just like anyone elses

girl and boy meet in SL
girl and boy meet in RL
girl and boy get married in RL

all the stuff in between is the stuff I refer to as personal
and once again I never claimed my story was good, I just said that others said it is good

as for using first name only, as far as I know, I am the only Rhaorth on SL, no one else would want such a strange name, and if they did, I would have to wonder why LOL

just what kind of info are you looking for? that would cover an entire page?

I consider my story just like anyone else's story on the net, that fall in love on line meet in RL and the feeling remains the same


and to moop... what the hell is moar?

as for it being a statement, your statement is false, my life is not boring, I would not consider it book worthy either, however some do *shrug*

not sure how you can make a statement about someone's life whom you know nothing about (what you see here on the forums is not my life LOL, far from it)

Well YEAH (don't make me say DUH)! But there are HUGE HUUUGE differences also...for example, how do the "bonding hormones" get released when there is no RL eye contact, touch, etc, with the person which is what normally releases them in RL.

Imagine a child being asked to watch screen images of being held instead of actually being touched and cuddled by mum. We're programmed for RL warmth in a very real way. So even though we're in cartoonish AVs that often look nothing like us in RL, and can't show those small changes in body language that you can in RL...we still manage to get the oxytocin and serotonin flowin. Heh. How does this work?

All I can tell you guys, from my own experience, is that if you are lucky enough to actually fall in love in SL, like I have, you have fallen in love with someone's mind, who they are, what they are about, not their physical attributes.
We traded pics and skyped a lot before meeting too. Once we met, it was only a confirmation that we were truely who we said we were, and the love was/is real. Since then, I have been to visit him in Holland for 3 weeks, only further falling deeper in love. He is immigrating here to the US so we can actually start a life together.

Falling for someone in SL is only the beginning of a love affair. The real test is how it transitions to RL. Some people can't make that transition. Some can. THAT is what determines if this is an SL love affair, or an SL (internet) to RL relationship.

-Blu- (putting on her Crossing Borders hat)

All I can tell you guys, from my own experience, is that if you are lucky enough to actually fall in love in SL, like I have, you have fallen in love with someone's mind, who they are, what they are about, not their physical attributes.
We traded pics and skyped a lot before meeting too. Once we met, it was only a confirmation that we were truely who we said we were, and the love was/is real. Since then, I have been to visit him in Holland for 3 weeks, only further falling deeper in love. He is immigrating here to the US so we can actually start a life together.

Falling for someone in SL is only the beginning of a love affair. The real test is how it transitions to RL. Some people can't make that transition. Some can. THAT is what determines if this is an SL love affair, or an SL (internet) to RL relationship.

-Blu- (putting on her Crossing Borders hat)

"Bonding hormones"? This sounds like pop biology to me. Right up there with human pheromones, another unproven theory.

While there is such a thing as physical attraction, most of it is in the mind. People were meeting and falling in love long distance long before Second Life, or even the internet...or the telephone, for that matter. See the romance-by-correspondence between C.S. Lewis and Joy Chant, for example.

"ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 200 — Gazing into your lover’s eyes isn’t only romantic; it may also mimic early attachments that forever alter your brain and body.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine are studying whether the brain hormone released with touches, hugs, or when a mother and her newborn baby bond might help patients with schizophrenia, social anxiety and a variety of other disorders.

Oxytocin is a brain chemical associated with pair bonding, including mother-infant and male-female bonds, increased paternal involvement with children, and monogamy in certain rodents, according to Kai MacDonald, M.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSD..."

"A lot of people hear the horror stories about online meetings, and of course, I myself know many that have failed. But because he was a part of a much larger circle of SL friends, and I felt a certain pull to his AV from the moment I saw "him", I believe that this initial epistolary/text-based relationship grew like so many others during historic distances of wartime, or far away work and family commitments. By the time I got here "we" had enough value through the kajillion hours we were glued to the computer in fascination with what is really an unusual paring, but one that even his conservative and kind mother quickly came to terms with when we had a chance to talk. YES of course it's not exactly what I thought it would be. Even when it's tough, it's STILL better to be RL!"

you mean to say that SL can lead to RL babies???


ee gad!

*runs away waggling arms and hooting*

I think you should trawl the archive here personally, for things people have already willingly posted.

How is dating in SL any different than dating online via an online dating site or IMing someone? .

In SL you'll be lucky to find out somebodies first name within the first three years. Then by the time you've found out their species and gender you'll be bored stupid anyway.

In SL you'll be lucky to find out somebodies first name within the first three years. Then by the time you've found out their species and gender you'll be bored stupid anyway.

On normal dating sites women will happily display their gyneacology reports in their profile.

There's no comparison.