real-life vs. Secondlife IDENTITY

I am curious about how other players think about the relationship between their real-life identity and their identity in Secondlife...

does secondlife help people discover things about themselves?

My mental image of myself more closely matches my in world character, sort of. I don't think I look like him, but I think he more matches my personality. Which is scary because my in world character looks absolutly nothing like me. At all.

Not really, I am a cherub in RL too.

People who know me can vouch for this, I havent changed my avatar much at all since I came to SL. Against the advisory of the sign on orientation island that explicitly stated, "do not spend too much time on your avatar here, you can edit it wherever you go," I spent the good portion of 2 hours on my av when I arrived in SL.

I think it reflects the ideal me. I guess I'm kinda in a situation like Ama's; my avatar focuses on my personality, not how I look in RL. Maybe one day Ill make an av that looks like the RL me... but then I'd need to be bored out of my mind for that to happen.

==Chris

Did for me, I perfer 2nd life!

In all honesty I learned a lot about myself in recent months, for one I confuse ppl when I type my real thoughts. true tho, scary huh.

I learned that I am precieved as somewhat of a hard ass. Oh dear!

Hmmm not sure that is a bad thing lol j/k I have a hell of a good time in rl and yeah I laugh all the time. Well the alternative is to cry so what the hell right

Not sure that when you have a bad day its such a great thing for an entire world to witness it but we can't always be perfect now can we
Cat

P.S. as for my AV yeah I am an elf in real life, you deside:
104 lbs, and 4' 11 and 3/4" or does that make me a dwarf? hehe

Yes, I think it has helped me as a person in RL. This is a good question and I hope more respond.

The funny thing is your words or actions are in the present in world as it were (not the past) as in rl a memory, you can scroll back to see what an ass you were or think about what maybe should have been your reaction. It’s a new twist on things to see you actions or words printed out be fore you. And then be able to think about them in a different way. I feel I am my self in SL (personality wise). And improving as a person in both worlds I am certain of it.

Yes me too - SL has helped me to discover things about myself - the one i wake up with each day.

Now if i can only get as much done in SL as i have to in RL...

sL has helped me improve as an artist, and grow as a human being.
I'm REALLY not a social person RL. In fact, I'm pretty much a hermit. I detest even going to the gas station. Its not that i'm AFRAID of whats out there, or that I am incapable of being social, I just enjoy being in my nice comfortable controlled self-created enviornment a LOT more.

SL, on the other hand, and my business in it force me to get to know and interact with all different kinds of ppl. It's forced me to learn diplomacy and patience rather than just avoidance.

As an freelance artist (illustration/3d/concept), SL is becoming professionally useful more and more often as a tool for producing proofs of concept for various professional projects. I hope to be able to say more about that soon.

so, yeah, SL has had a HUGE impact on my RL. HUGE. And I, for the first time in my life, really truly LIKE what im discovering about myself.

does SL help in discovering more about my RL self? sort of.. i think it affords an expression of the essnce of myself. it's an extension of who i am.. without the hinderance of automatic socially induced pre-conceived notions of who i, or other people, are.

are you creative by nature? you're creativity ends up flourishing in SL. helpful in RL? you'll do what you can to help others in SL, even to the point of becoming a mentor for some.

i have always been a day-dreamer in RL. i think a huge draw about SL, for me, is that it's like living in a persistent daydream.

so, for me, it hasn't been much about self-realization, but more about self-expression. being able to be me without the constraints of RL.

however, i do think that SL has augmented my RL. it's opened a third-eye of sorts. and it's in the palm of my hand.

Daemioth is a character, separate from my FL self... but that's not to say that the character Daemioth doesn't reside somewhere in me, too. He's me in utopia format; without inhibitions, with everything I deem "good" that goes on in my head. I try to be what I would like to be with Daemioth, because I fall short so often in FL when it comes to interacting with others. I think myself to be very, very socialable in FL and SL, but in FL I have too high expectations of others sometimes. The "forums Daemioth" is a totally different character from "SL Daemioth"; Daemioth is much more the FL me--much more outspoken and edgy--in the forums. Daemioth's appearance is meant to compliment his character while also giving me a body (AV) I can be comfortable "in"... I'm pretty tall in my FL and I'm intimidated by people who are taller than me; kind of consider shorter people more benign--hence Dae's size and shape. I think AVs are important for a lot of reasons as a reflection of some part of our FL selves (internal or external) because it is probably the one most true manifestations of our FL's egocentric needs, wants, and desires (or should be, in my point of view). An AV tends to be an honest reflection of the character inside the AV. So, that's what Daemioth is.

Back when I used to roleplay hardcore in AOL, we called the person behind the computer screen the "mun," while the character in the screen the "character." Just thought I'd throw that in there; "mun" seems like such an easy word to pick up on and it really helps when talking about the FL self, hehe.

SL has been very freeing for me. For years now, I've been interested in the politics and social implications of cannabis and its legality. Over these years, I had focused more and more on acquiring knowledge about this subject without putting much thought into it.

Fighting the absolutely harmful marijuana prohibition laws has always been something I've wanted to do, but until SL, was too afraid of persecution by "The Man" and more importantly, condemnation by friends and family if I was too vocal about this issue. Legal persecution is much less concerning to me than the unwarranted social persecution/stigma caused by admitting you consume cannabis.

Coming to SL was like opening a floodgate. Finally, I could have intelligent/honest conversations about legalisation without fear of immediate retribution. Not only that, but I've also come to realise that, despite what society tells me, I'm not a bad or evil person for what I choose to consume responsibly. Being open about cannabis use and still being socially accepted by the great peeps of SL has helped me immensely.

Also, I've come to realise that not only is SL a good medium for honest conversation, it's also gonna be a great way to Actually help with the legalisation movement. We're at a stage now where politicians are gonna have to listen. All it is gonna take now is for enough people to "out" themselves as responisible citizens who use cannabis responsibly and shouldn't be punished for it.

SL is awesome for this. I can't tell you how many people have talked with me honestly about their usage. The more vocal and more open I can be about it, the more people it will encourage to do this.

Once people start talking in SL, they'll start talking in RL, and a chain reaction will ensue.

Okay, I'm gonna stop this thread hijack and get back to topic. Essentially Oneironaut (it means dream traveller - kind of like 'astro'naut) is me, but me with freedom to talk about what I truly want to talk about.

So, Oneironaut is just me, slightly in the future, when we finally legalise.

EDIT: initially I called the marijuana prohibition laws "silly" while they are really far from that. Not only do they prohibit people from doing something to themselves that is not harmful, in the process, the laws actually cause harm.

SL helped me learn vector math, and understand that the nasty algebra class I flunked was really just trying to teach me stuff I already knew, put in one heck of an obscure way
Will teachers ever learn that formal mathematics are NOT an adequate teaching tool?
I wonder how many people would know how to build stuff in SL if classes started like "Let C be a cube, and D its default texture..."

Pfft! C is NOT a cube... Anyone can see it's obviously a cylinder ...

And as for it's default texture... well, is that plywood, or hot coffee?

my sl self is definately my personality...apart from my boredom, which forces me to make up little games like n00b tipping (like cow tipping), and pavement sharks, or jumping on strangers heads, blahblah i'm not so annoying in RL but when there is nothing else to do in SL (me having no land or money, and crap money making abilities) i tend to poke at people etc to get a reaction.

Nergal is a phantasm of my RL self, limited by my avatar-creating-fu, and is much more restrained than I tend to be in RL, much to my bemusement.

It's not much of a consicous act on my part, either. Thinking about it, I don't think that Nergal's given me any miraculous revelations, as I've been part of online communities for a long time -- long enough that I don't think there are any worldview-shattering revelations waiting for me, playing as Nergal.

It's also prodding me to learn a bit of scripting here and there, which is a good thing.

However, I will admit to several minor revelations about the way I behave when I'm gendered one way or another, or wandering around as a chibi (complete with little red balloon!).

I see my SL avatar as my "real" and largely unchanging SL self. Any other avatars I make tend to be costumes for myself rather than whole new identities. My SL personality is the same as my RL personality. I act just like myself in SL, and I consider that my SL reputation reflects directly on my RL self. If I'm a jerk in SL and hurt someone I don't turn off the computer thinking the game is over; I turn it off knowing somone thinks the real me is a jerk.

I'm usually a sweet, gentle, loving person...but I'm getting all crabby and irritable. I want to be in SL all the time and I don't sleep well because I'm up all hours working on things. Gotta change that, live a better first life than a better second life. Both lives will suffer if I'm not careful.

Having said that, it's funny but I see Lumiere Noir as an avatar and that's it. I'm me and he isn't me. He's just a tool and I don't feel any particular affection or connection to him. He looks entirely different every seven or eight minutes, I've never given him a consistient look and probably never will. I imagine I'm probably very irritating in that way in world but I only see him as an extention of me rather than any kind of living being with an identity unto himself (I'm also a terrible show off...I love to display the avatars I've made).

I don't do any kind of roleplay, really. It tends to confuse me, and sometimes creeps me out. While what you see inworld is not necessarily what you get (because sometimes I'm Hot Stuff the little devil, sometimes an angel, sometimes a pair of chattering teeth) I would say that part of my personality that shows through is me

I did not feel that way about Swen_Wu_Kong in There however. I have a lot of affection for that avatar, and he does seem to have some elements of personality that I don't really access in real life. I like it better in SecondLife, but I miss being Swen here to some degree. I've just made a Hot Stuff devil avatar for Schwanson Schlagel and I can see that I'm very comfortable and happy wearing it. I think I'm drawn to trickster characters, of which Swen is definately a member.

Speaking of There, a player once undertook a fascinating role. His name was PrOnGs, and he collected the souls of avatars for $500 Therebux a pop. About enough to buy a pair of eyebrows in that world (and not the fancy sort either). There was quite a furor over it all. Does an avatar have a soul? Is that soul linked to mine? It was intriguing to see who would sell their souls and who absolutely refused to do so. It led to a lot of wonderful debate and added a rich and omnious dimension to the goings on in There.

Lumi

I posted in another thread something that might have been better placed in this one:

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"Speaking for myself, it took me a little while to get acclimated to a Second Life. I started living with an avatar that was the spitting image of myself. I think I needed to see "me" in this new world. After a while, when I felt comfortable with that, and I had met new friends, I used the excuse of the chemical spill at Zero Medici's Miramare storage facility to evolve into the avatar I use now. For me there has to be a reason, a foundation, to everything I do in SL. The cool thing is that there are a lot more reasons here to do just about anything."

Part of the reason for starting with an avatar that was so familiar was that Second Life was so unfamiliar. Since the SL chemical spill accident, I have definately felt drawn to do more rolepaying and develop a story to go along with my avatar and experiences in SL. I love stories and feel very excited at the possibilities for storytelling in SL. It has been very fun engaging new SL users who happen by my property in a completely roleplaying capacity.

Every one of them so far has played along (or at least humored me, which is very nice of them!). I guess for now I'm seeing my time in Second Life as another venue for entertainment, escape and social interaction. Sort of like being in a movie or television show with others that we make up as we go along. With (seemingly) infinite resources at our disposal for sets, locations, props, costumes, makeup, etc.

Even though I'm a big blue ogre/elf/human hybrid, my personality still shines through as I react to the people i meet or the situations I find myself in (or create). I have to admit, I don't know if "creepy" is the word I would use, but I would certainly feel uncomfortable suddenly springing the roleplaying aspect of how I'm spending more of my time in SL on those that I met here prior to going down this road. Perhaps I'll ease them into it (if they are willing -- )? Or at the very least have them help me behind the scenes!

Will be fun to see where this goes...

Salazar

My SL avatar is not a mirror of my personality as much as it is a lens. A mean looking facade for a gentle, friendly teddy bear. It's not *me*, so much as a visual representation of me.

I rather like the symbolism of the cuddly little dragon hiding behind the big mean orc. It's a metaphor for how I see myself. My yin and my yang, as it were.

I am such a nerd.

RL me vs. SL me? hmmmm..... My Second Life personality is definitely the real me, but it may sometimes be parts of the real me that I am not able to express in RL. My Av doesn't really look like me, it's more of a physical representation of my imagination and dreams of adventure. Although my RL personal interests and personality come through in my Second Life, why would I choose to look the same, and do the same things as in Real Life?? I don't want to live the same life twice! If my SL life is not going to be something different, why bother?

I've had some conversations regarding this subject in-world. My feeling is that my Second Life is a world of it's own. What goes on there stays there. I'm not sure if I would want to meet any SL'ers in person ........

Pandora mentioned boredom. I've been there. Heh, I turned myself into a butterfly, temporarily, this week just because I didn't have anything else that sounded interesting to do (but hey, I'm a pretty orange butterfly, ok?). I find myself craving companionship in SL, not the ... um ... singles ad kind, but the kindred spirit kind, and I find it is very difficult to break through the superficial layer of interaction. I do have some wonderful friends, but people can be so busy, and sometimes if I just want to visit and chat, and try to build a deeper relationship, I feel I'm just monopolizing their time or keeping them from something else. BLEH - this is a WHOLE other topic!

Anyway, as far as whether this experience has helped me discover something about myself, I will say absolutely and leave it at that!

Temis

Cool AV, Drakkus!

SL self vs RL self

Basically, my SL self would kick my RL self's butt in pretty much everything. Dancing, fighting, Twister, 3-legged races, flying, beer drinking, Monopoly... you name it.

The only possible advantage my RL self really has is a high frame rate and low server to client lag. Sure, if my SL self's internet flaked out my RL self could possibly win a relay race, but my RL self would still need a head start... and a jet pack.

Other than that, my identity on SL is more or less me (with the exception of appearance, I infact do not have a flat head or bolt through my neck in RL).

I, also, pretty much answered this in the other thread as well:



"Bhodi" is only different from "Sarah" in that SL allows for things RL does not. For instance, as an AV I spend a lot less time grocery shopping than I do as a meat puppet, so I have a lot more time to do interesting things.

When I first started SL, I created an AV that looked significantly older than I do in real life - because I had expected the age range to be lower than it is, and I wanted to be visually represented as "older than the average player." (I have this thing about thinking that's important, I'm not sure why.) Recently, I made an AV that looked more like me in RL - not so thin, but also not so old... because I realized the age range isn't really as low as I had expected, and I was tired of looking at the old me, anyway.

B

I would have to say that Princess is a part of me in RL, but she is, in many ways, what I would like to be in RL. I think it's hard (for me at least) to completely leave my RL self behind when I log into SL. So I guess you could say that Princess is a combination of what I would like to be, and what I am.

As for the way my AV looks, well I personally don't think it looks anything like me in RL, but my husband would disagree!

Yes, I have learned a lot about myself from my AVand my SL experience. What I have learned, well, we don't really need to go into that. But I can say without a doubt that SL has helped me realized many things about myself even though I haven't been here for long....and I think I'm a better person for it...so thanks SL!!

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