In and Out of My Comfort Zone

After my first experience really getting into Second Life, I decided to take winter’s advice and just search for places to visit and move around a bit. I was about to search for a few cool places to live, but first I saw someone with a kilt on. I decided that I should go up to talk to him maybe he’s Scottish? After starting an introductory conversation, introducing myself and stating that I’m new here. I say – “nice ‘costume’” to be met with the reply “yeah…I’m Scottish, so I wear my kilt J Where r u from [sic]?” My assumptions were correct! On Second Life appearance is key. As Judith Donath and Danah Boyd would say in their “Public Displays of Connection,” Second Life’s major function is as an “environment…in which…new ties are formed and…depictions…[are displayed as] a self-descriptive profile” (72.) By simplifying his Scottish heritage down to the mere visual representative of the kilt. The person to whom I’m talking is illustrating that he doesn’t simply just want people to know of his heritage, but he also wants them to know of it in a way that is explicitly inferred from a quick sighting out of the corner of their eyes.

Simple Representations of the Self

He then asks me where I’m from, and I say my hometown and one of the most well known cities in the USA, New York City. He replies with “Not much of any cultural wear from there L, but I flew out of Newark in January, love lookink [sic] over the water to NYC.” This only goes even further to illustrate that everyone in Second Life is aware of what those around us are wearing, and what it implies both culturally and socially. While ethnic or cultural heritage is not required to be illustrated in order to create a Second Life profile, unlike race or sex, it can be applied to what Nakumura experienced with her travels through LambdaMOO during the research for her essay as heritage can “still being evoked” by certain players through their clothing choices, or lack thereof due to my vaguely Western attire. Then, we were approached by a female user who started to dance and pose for us, after I asked, “Why are you dancing,” she responded with, “I have some problemes [sic] to resolve.” I was unsure of whether she meant that dancing would fix her problems in real life, or if she had other problems in particular, I asked her to clarify; however, I was met with no response, only more dancing. Then my Scottish chat partner went to teleport to another area and I decided to move on myself and leave the tiny dancer alone.

I decided to branch out of my comfort zone a little bit by taking myself to an area that might involve a little bit more fantasy than my welcome area. I teleported to one of the more popular areas called “Wasabi Pills Hair” which focuses “mostly on fantasy and role-playing themes, as well as the latest fashion trends.” It was a perfect place to take me quickly out of my comfort zone. The moment I arrived I was greeted with what sounded like German death-trance music blasting in my eardrums. I felt instantly out of place in my blue shirt and khakis while Goths, pixies and demons surrounded me. I did not realize that this place would be so much darker than I thought. I asked the general group “How out of place am I here” only to be responded by a pink girl with a tail who said “pretty out of place.” I asked for any tips. Another user with a name taken from an Anime series a friend of mine in high school used to watch gave me a few tips on using the second life marketplace to get new accessories like clothing and skin. I then asked if he was into Death Note (the anime) and he said that he was and that I was the second person to get the name reference. He also said, “I wouldn’t guess that from your current outfit.” 

They Think I'm Out of Place. Do You?

Which again reifies the idea that your outfit really gives a lot of power to the other avatars in the game to understand who you are and what you are trying to do in this environment. He added, to be taken seriously in Second Life “you are going to have to invest a little money into it. A good skin, shape and at least one outfit and hair.” Second Life is not just a game to some people; it is a real outlet to play out their fantasies and a place where their interests can be illustrated with as much importance as their skin tones. He then requested that I be his friend so he could give me more help, I was in no position to pass up friends so I accepted. After giving me even more tips on how to get freebies in the world of Second Life to make me look like less of a new kid, he then told me that he would give me a gift of second life money to help get me started. While this was incredibly nice, I declined as I didn’t want to accept what he intended to use on himself; however, after I declined his offer, he still gave me the money – 2,000 Second Life dollars. Even though that amounts to only US$ 8.37, it was still extremely generous of him and further went to exemplify that I would be unsuccessful in the game if I had the visual markers of someone who was new. I’ll take this money and shop wisely for something cool, a journey I will take you on in the next post.  

Sources: 

Donath, Judith, and Danah Boyd. "Public Displays of Connection." BT Technology

Journal 22.4 (2004): 71-82. Print.

Nakamura, Lisa. "Race In/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on

the Internet." University of California, Irvine Department of Humanities. Web. 11 May 2011.