Be quiet! Don't talk in chat! Don't dance!

I use some chatspeak, although when I first came to SL I despised it, I found that having to type everything, it was easier to use the shorthand. I'd never really used realtime typed chat before, and quickly learned why chatspeak developed, even though I'm a fairly quick typist.
The extent to which I use it varies according to whom I'm with and the setting though. I do use it more with people who use it heavily themselves.

Going back to the OP, it does seem to me that there is less and less open chat in SL. I get the impression people are either using voice - even if it's on the open channel I'd never hear it, never turn voice on - or in IMs, even with people standing next to them. It's very strange to me, I can't see any reason for hiding most conversations. Clubs used to be full of nonstop chat, now most of them are silent except for the hoos and howlzzzzz and those bloody ASCII pictures. It makes going to a new club very dull, and hard to get a feel for the people there. In fact the only 2 clubs I go to regularly I like as much for the fact that the regulars have halfway decent and amusing conversations in open chat as for the music, even though I'm not a very chatty person myself, especially as I and my partner are usually talking in skype all the time we're on .

I wonder which of these you favor. I am most likely to use 3 myself, but I've learned not to judge people who use 1 and 2, because of the broad range of cultures and backgrounds on SL - not all people know that LOL is considered by some people to look stupid.

I find 4 insufferably pretentious, and am baffled when people use this form of chat for every or nearly every utterance. It also takes far longer to type than any of the others, slowing down one-on-one conversation and making group conversation basically impossible to follow.

But hey, your mileage may vary.

(oh, and, I know I am being judgmental about 4 even while saying I don't like to be judgmental about 1 and 2. Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds! But all I'm saying is that I don't like the chat style of 4, find it hard to read, pretentious, and annoying - I have never acted on those impressions with respect to others though.)

Great sig.!

My inworld typing style changes, depending on the situation. For example, if I am in a one-on-one conversation, where I have little or no other chat traffic, then I tend to write everything out in longhand, if you will, so it might approximate option 4.

If I am, say, at Madhu's Cafe, or the Hangout, where people are chatting up a storm, then I may abbreviate my words or use acronyms/shortcuts as needed to keep the conversation flowing...so I would use 1 or 2.

No can do #3 inworld, but would like to!

2 and 3 are OK, 4 is more suited for a Role Play narrative. The adding lol at the end of a post when done consistantly does annoy me, it evokes the giggling some people do to either effect nervousness or to appear "cute"

QFT.... Hopefully, we can reserve judgement on people until we know enough about them to judge their intelligence and character according to the content of their speech, rather than the style. And over some period of time...hehe.

Some people are just aggressively prickish. Hell, sometimes you don't even have to talk for folks to say nasty things about you- in open chat, no less. Sorry that happened to you, but you did nothing wrong.

I use open chat when I don't mind if other people hear, and use IM otherwise- just like I whisper confidential things in real life. Conference IMs are a pain, so open chat is much easier when you're with more than one friend.

Thanks- but I can't take credit I ripped it off - with permission...- lol! hehe - sorry, couldn't help myself!

I never knew LOL was looked on as stupid sounding. I would hope folks I talk with know me well enough to appreciate there is a slight intellect behind the typing. Which, btw - is fraught with typos.

U R SO KEWL BEEZ! WE <3 U 4 UR LEETNESS!!!!!!!111111eleventyone

"Eleventyone" pwns u



P2

Hm. Personally speaking, I do prefer to use words, perhaps with the odd piece of _emphasis_, but am at times known to add the odd "emotional icon" when speaking to a person with whom I am not familiar and who, more importantly, may not be familiar or appreciative of my particular Sense of Humour, which might (I am told) appear a little opaque at times.

Casual conversation in a textual medium is, after all, not the writing of a Letter or Essay, in which one has the space to create a properly judged piece of prose, but the sort of composition which in other realms often requires various other contexts to make sense; tone, expression and such.

I am afraid I find so-called "RP" conversation rather precious, though I am sure I would not judge someone on that basis, any more than I would judge someone for writing "lol". I would similarly hope that I would not be judged for occasionally placing a at the end of a sentence, or between clauses, though never a except by accident - I am not in the habit of _winking at strangers_.

In situations like a crowd of people dancing open chat is fun and everyone can join in with everyone else. In situations like different groups of people in a shop with separate conversations it's sometimes easier if each group talks separately in IM's - as they would talk quietly to each other in a rl store.
It's almost as if some people are just looking for an excuse to be rude.
When people around me seem to be trying to provoke a rude response, I seem to be more motivated than ever to be polite instead.

People can get a little carried away with policing what goes on in the chat window. In some cases, I think you need to be strict, like in an rp environment. Nothing kills rp like random gestures, lolz, wtfz, and so on.

I run a fight league, and we try our best to keep the lag as low as possible at our events, so we will eject people who flood the chat window with too many random gestures. all the lolz and such don't bother me at all, and the more joking the better.

Sure that Cloud Chateau place is made for dancing, anytime i'm there with friends we all end up dancing and chatting and messing around so i dunno what their problem was....some people are too serious in SL™ sometimes

Yah, thanks for the Festive Humbugs....

This makes me want to suggest that perhaps ASKING them to refrain from using them is a more reasonable step before hitting the eject button.

However, I've been in places where asking people (politely) to stop spamming these things gets you nowhere. It comes down to "I have the right to be annoying" vs "I have the right to sit in virtual silence".
In the end, compromise and consideration is probably the way to get along. Funny how that works

Admittedly, I've never even considered the mute button! What a simple, elegant and non-confrontational solution
I shall no longer be irritated by hostesses or DJ's who think that shouting WOOOO is a way to get the party going.

To the OP: I've been known to dance anytime, anywhere and for no particular reason. And to do some pretty odd things to get a great shot when taking pictures during our travels. While I think I embarrassed my travelling companion by dancing "Hola" in full storm trooper costume, why stand around when you can boogie?

That would be me. And you're absolutely right.

The sign outside my Cloud Chateau (which way above and slightly east of the Particle Laboratory) says: "Peace and Welcome to All!"

It used to say "Please make all feel welcome here", and it sounds like I should revert back to that.

I've heard both sides of this particular confrontation... and I really can't say either side is at fault. Sometimes there's just "Bad Chemistry" when people collide.

You see it time and time again: The urge to include, help and defend our friends sometimes leads to an urge to exclude, hinder and harass the outsiders/strangers that invade our personal space.

The point of conflict/retaliation isn't "to deal with" outsiders, because it doesn't really. Instead, it seems to be done as a impulsively contrived (and ill-conceived) display of fierce loyalty to present friends.

Anyway, I doubt even saints could resist the temptation of a little "Hey I'm being saintly here, quit howlzzing ya bloody newb!!" from time to time.

(and yes, I often wink... I'm not the master of sarcasm that *some* people are and have to mark it accordingly. )

--
Why has the piano been drinking?
"... cause the telephone is out of cigarettes."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F31uI1vXt8

and the owner is a mental midget, with the I.Q. of a fencepost.

Great reply, Mister Pendragon

Mari

mine must have dropped quite a bit too

I use the lol's because otherwise people take me too seriously
(for some reason, unless I use an lol here and there, folks tend to take my posts (or in world chat) as dry and serious

as for the op's situation, ignore them
if they had a problem with your chat they could easily mute you and turn their camera away from you

I think they just wanted something or someone to bitch about

lol

There are a lot of very, very nice people on SL, but there are just as many buttholes and people who have nothing better in rl or sl than to make others feel small.

But if you mute them, you might miss the 5 minute reminders: "DONT FORGETT 2 TIP UR DJ AN DANCIRS." Without these incessant and extremely irritating reminders, the DJ may never make any tips at all!

Honestly, I've gotten used to lol, but its placement definitely matters. Starting with lol is most definitely better than ending with lol. Why? Who knows...

The one I can't stand is xD. That grates on my nerves incessantly.

The carpet needs a haircut.

Creampuff Caspar Milquetoast

I am SO with you on that one!
I just can't see that thing as an emoticon. I just read it as people ending their sentence with EX DEE.

i.e. "The piano is totally hungover ex dee"

.