I have had mixed experiences inside the Second Life community. In the beginning, I met very pleasant people who were happy to give advise, and were eager to welcome new people to their community. Then as time went on and I began exploring the more mature level areas, I began to meet people less happy to see new people joining the community. With my good and bad experiences, this experience has been very interesting.
My usage for exploring, and talking to people in Second Life mainly happened at night (when I wasn’t to tired), or on the weekends (after other school work and tests were done). I’ve discovered through some of the different times I have been able to explore and meet people, that in the evening during the week I am more likely able to meet or come across pleasant people. Weekends seem to be when the younger crowd’s are online, and like to make others outside their click feel unwelcome. These “younger” people are the ones who turned my experience from being a very good one to a 50/50 ratio.
Last weekend I discovered an area which was having an “online concert.” When I began walking around, and observing how people were interacting with each other I discovered how much my avatar stood out from everyone else. First off I must say even with a made up avatar I’m not comfortable wearing skimpy outfits. My avatar was wearing a normal jeans, teeshirt outfit, while everyone in this concert area was wearing almost nothing. Right about the same time I noticed in chat people were poking fun at my avatar for dressing the way I have her, along with being just plain rude to me. After that experience I’ve begun being more cautious of the areas I visit, and have tried to avoid others who seem to like being rude to people minding their own business.
Through my experience’s with Second Life, once this class is over I will most likely cancel my account. Though it is nice to meet other people online in a safe setting, this type of online community isn’t for me. I’ve found myself feeling very awkward when entering a new area, which isn’t how I want to feel when trying to unwind and relax. After this quarter is over I may go back to playing Everquest (yes its old, but I still love it), and actually have some fun doing quests while meeting new people along with playing with friends.
This picture is of a neat stage I came across. There wasn't any events going on unfortunately so there wasn't a concert to to grab a picture of.
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