The Australian Women’s Weekly covers SL

The Australian Women’s Weekly have run an article titled ‘Internet Communities Explained’ and SL gets a guernsey. RMIT’s Dr Lisa Dethridge is quoted extensively in relation to SL and one quote caught my attention in particular:

“avatars tend to keep the fantasy alive by refraining from chat about ‘RL’ [real life] and referring to this world as if it were the only world. Unlike regular chat rooms, where people discuss the details of their lives online, Second Life is a kind of hermetically sealed zone with laws unto itself”

awwcover.jpg

The intention of the statement is clear but it also clashes with my interactions with aussies in SL, particularly the newer users. It’s rare to not hear people asking each other where they’re from in RL. The wariness around disclosing extensive personal information definitely remains but it seems the boundaries between RL and SL aren’t as defined as they used to be. Do you find the same?

It’ll also be interesting to see the level of Australian sign-ups when Meta Linden releases the June stats – between 60 Minutes and the Australian Women’s Weekly, it’s been a mainstream media feast this month courtesy of PBL – perhaps a SL presence is looming including a virtual Crown Casino?

Comments

  1. Wolfie Rankin says

    I wouldn’t tell everyone my real life details, but you do find friends online as you do everywhere else, so there’s a point where you let your guard down.

    Wolfie!

  2. Wolfie Rankin says

    I wouldn’t tell everyone my real life details, but you do find friends online as you do everywhere else, so there’s a point where you let your guard down.

    Wolfie!

  3. I agree. Protect privacy is my default position.
    Eventually though, this will hamper friendship development.

    I think a discussion on identity and trust would make for a more interesting article.

  4. I agree. Protect privacy is my default position.
    Eventually though, this will hamper friendship development.

    I think a discussion on identity and trust would make for a more interesting article.

  5. Yes I agree also, but with reservations. I find that one of the first things people ask is where are you from and giving a vague geographical answer, does not in anyway give away any of your RL details, but does give you a good handle on other things to talk about, the time zone people are in and things like that. Also one can always talk about the weather, It is always better in SL. 🙂 But I find that with so many things to do and places to see, SL generates it own conversation and if you feel uncomfortable with some one you can just Tp away.

    I only read the article yesterday and although on the whole it was pretty positive I felt that the SL statistics where way out of date, and once again there was no emphasis on the fact that everything in SL is member built and generated (unlike most other virtual realities), and also the great communications medium it is, in so many ways, You just have to look at the links on this site to see that. Still to give the writer her due she was researching a lot of Cyber space, and was most likely becoming Cyberbogged.

    Also regarding the 60 Minutes item, I thought it was very shallow and NON-researched, just bringing up the same old stuff. And surely Liz’s avatar belonged more on an asteroid than SL! That was my impression anyway. It reinforced to me why I never watch 60M!

  6. Yes I agree also, but with reservations. I find that one of the first things people ask is where are you from and giving a vague geographical answer, does not in anyway give away any of your RL details, but does give you a good handle on other things to talk about, the time zone people are in and things like that. Also one can always talk about the weather, It is always better in SL. 🙂 But I find that with so many things to do and places to see, SL generates it own conversation and if you feel uncomfortable with some one you can just Tp away.

    I only read the article yesterday and although on the whole it was pretty positive I felt that the SL statistics where way out of date, and once again there was no emphasis on the fact that everything in SL is member built and generated (unlike most other virtual realities), and also the great communications medium it is, in so many ways, You just have to look at the links on this site to see that. Still to give the writer her due she was researching a lot of Cyber space, and was most likely becoming Cyberbogged.

    Also regarding the 60 Minutes item, I thought it was very shallow and NON-researched, just bringing up the same old stuff. And surely Liz’s avatar belonged more on an asteroid than SL! That was my impression anyway. It reinforced to me why I never watch 60M!

  7. I don’t give out my real life details to people I don’t know.

    There are people in SL that I trust implicitly, some know who I am in RL some don’t.

    In real life, I hold the same values, give no information to those that you dont know, give little to associates, tell true friends what they need to know, tell your family everything

    Rails

  8. I don’t give out my real life details to people I don’t know.

    There are people in SL that I trust implicitly, some know who I am in RL some don’t.

    In real life, I hold the same values, give no information to those that you dont know, give little to associates, tell true friends what they need to know, tell your family everything

    Rails

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