THE THIN LINE

Some people mix them, some keep them very separate, others mix and match as they see fit, but what are the repercussions when some of your RL finds its way to your second life or viceversa? This is the thin line I am talking about.

I for one, do not oppose to letting in a few very close friends on both sides of this line on “some” info from either reality, but as a rule I never encourage RL friends, family or close acquaintances to “find me” in-world as I have learned it never ends well; same goes for RL, it is fine as it is, you will never see me revealing RL info in-world in order to meet under any capacity or with any intentions, friends and family I have made in second life -and be reminded I have a SL son that basically means the world to me and a RL brother sharing my in-world experiences-, in my honest opinion, my RL is fine as it is.

Why then do we draw this line to separate both worlds and on which obscure reason does it affect us so violently when the line is crossed with us unprepared? Isn’t the person controlling the avatar and interacting with others the same one that goes out to RL, eats, has a shower, hangs with friends and socializes?

According to Dr. Leon James’ Avatar Psychology studies “The avatar’s personality is not fully in control of the owner because its behavior is partially a response to situations inworld. The owner’s performance of managing the avatar’s social presence is adaptive and spontaneous. Unexpected things happen around the avatar, and the owner reacts by engaging the affordances with the keyboard and mouse, such as moving the avatar towards or away some object, camera zooming in on an object, clicking on an object or avatar, typing in the local chat, or IMing an avatar (“instant messaging”). These behavioral actions are adaptive, and respond to practices of owners inworld, also called “Residents” of Second Life”

Simply put, now matter how real we try to keep it and how true to ourselves we claim to be, our avatar persona is somewhat different from our RL selves, mostly influenced by our in-world interactions and evolution which differs from our RL day to day, but the scary concept of Avatar Psychology is the AO influence in our body language, how many of us have subsconciously started mimicking the standing animations of our own avatar when standing idle, let’s say waiting for the bus or standing in queue at the bank? or has the phone viewer to check up on your loved ones during a boring meeting at work -I’m guilty of that one-

So basically, it is irrelevant claiming that both our realities mixing a bit will not affect us, when it happens and you are not prepared you can’t help but feeling a bit violated -after all this in-world reality is yours to share with whomever you choose, welcoming RL people that directly varies how you relate to your SL relatives and loved ones affects us all, on several degrees-

I’ll stick to trying to have fun and keeping that thin line, very distinctively drawn… there for the world to see, because like my son always reminds me “SL should be fun, if not what’s the point?”

https://www.facebook.com/spikecls