Communities and Connections
(No, I have no idea where this essay is going to end up. Or even why I am writing it or what it will be about for that matter.)
Communities. Intentional families. The more I use Second Life the more I realize that is what it is constructed on. It is why I spend as much time there as possible and never want to leave it, even if that means going from one place I have access to it to another. It is also why I get depressed that so many people I know in Real Life will not join me there (they either see it as a game or a waste of time and money). One friend characterizes people in Second Life as Immersionalists and Augmentalists, I think I would clearly fall in the former category!
Communities? Did I say communities? Perhaps the word community would be more fitting. Last night I was at a memorial service and, while I realized several of the people there would know other people I was completely blown away by how much interconnection there was. This even extended to later going to an unrelated party which included people (or people connected to them) I or my alter-ego (more on her later) had met previously. In order for this ramble to make sense though, I will use the plural form of community.
Let's see, where was I? Oh yes, my alter-ego. Like many people in Second Life I have several characters that I use. Two are most prevalent though. As I explained in another blog post, it gets tricky to decide which is the main one. One was the sole one I used last year (and the account I pay for). The other is the more active this year. Some people know one or the other, some both. Some people know both but primarily interact with one of them. Like I said, telling which is the main one and which is the alt tends to be a tricky concept. This led to a tricky question though. Which one to send to the memorial yesterday since the person who told me about it knows both characters. One is more apt for a solemn occasion like that but was not the one the invitation was sent to. In the end though, I went with the one she knew better.
Two months ago the character that was my primary one last year wound up in a dispute with a group in a community I was in. Essentially, they wanted to exclude another community I was a part of with my other self. Solely on irrational biases about how they looked, acted, and a fear of "how it would look" These were very dear friends but I knew they were in the wrong and could not let them continue that mistake. I tried to get them to listen to reason and be educated on the topic. I guess they never realized 'I Won't Back Down' is practically my theme song. When I tried to make peace between them and another group they recently dissociated themselves from (in the same community as them) I wound up being voted out of the administration in their group and generally made to feel unwelcome. Now they want to bury the hatchet and I have reciprocated. Still though, my other character is unwelcome unless she disavows the community she is in, which is one also vulnerable and often on the fringes of acceptance. It is for this reason that, while my original character can interact with them again, I feel like an outsider looking in as they refuse to allow my other character to also be welcome in their group.
Interestingly though, at pretty much the same time as I was on the outside of one group, I found myself on the inside of another group in the same community and also in several new communities. Some other communities I was not in, but was friends with people in them. Going back to the links again, I was taken completely by surprise at most of them. Especially so when communities that had absolutely nothing in common (although sometimes individuals in them were part of another shared community) would be oblivious to their differences and work together.
So, I may as well start wrapping this up. What have I learned from all of this? That even though we think we are separate communities, in a way we are all the same community. There are so many links between them and similar struggles that any differences are purely arbitrary. Yes, there are events which can split one group from another, but that happens with any family. While all of our paths may appear wildly different, all of them are just different ways to head towards the same fundamental goal (and, no, I have absolutely no idea what that is).
Well, I certainly have touched on more topics than I intended to all while trying to talk about one idea. So, who do I send this to? Is it just for myself? People in the various communities I am a part of in Second Life? People I only know in Real Life? People I know in both Real Life and Second Life? Oh, I know, the person who introduced me to Second Life? Maybe a blog post? Only one answer is possible based on the above paragraph: all of them. As separate letters though, because, as I have learned, I have no idea where the connections are.
Communities. Intentional families. The more I use Second Life the more I realize that is what it is constructed on. It is why I spend as much time there as possible and never want to leave it, even if that means going from one place I have access to it to another. It is also why I get depressed that so many people I know in Real Life will not join me there (they either see it as a game or a waste of time and money). One friend characterizes people in Second Life as Immersionalists and Augmentalists, I think I would clearly fall in the former category!
Communities? Did I say communities? Perhaps the word community would be more fitting. Last night I was at a memorial service and, while I realized several of the people there would know other people I was completely blown away by how much interconnection there was. This even extended to later going to an unrelated party which included people (or people connected to them) I or my alter-ego (more on her later) had met previously. In order for this ramble to make sense though, I will use the plural form of community.
Let's see, where was I? Oh yes, my alter-ego. Like many people in Second Life I have several characters that I use. Two are most prevalent though. As I explained in another blog post, it gets tricky to decide which is the main one. One was the sole one I used last year (and the account I pay for). The other is the more active this year. Some people know one or the other, some both. Some people know both but primarily interact with one of them. Like I said, telling which is the main one and which is the alt tends to be a tricky concept. This led to a tricky question though. Which one to send to the memorial yesterday since the person who told me about it knows both characters. One is more apt for a solemn occasion like that but was not the one the invitation was sent to. In the end though, I went with the one she knew better.
Two months ago the character that was my primary one last year wound up in a dispute with a group in a community I was in. Essentially, they wanted to exclude another community I was a part of with my other self. Solely on irrational biases about how they looked, acted, and a fear of "how it would look" These were very dear friends but I knew they were in the wrong and could not let them continue that mistake. I tried to get them to listen to reason and be educated on the topic. I guess they never realized 'I Won't Back Down' is practically my theme song. When I tried to make peace between them and another group they recently dissociated themselves from (in the same community as them) I wound up being voted out of the administration in their group and generally made to feel unwelcome. Now they want to bury the hatchet and I have reciprocated. Still though, my other character is unwelcome unless she disavows the community she is in, which is one also vulnerable and often on the fringes of acceptance. It is for this reason that, while my original character can interact with them again, I feel like an outsider looking in as they refuse to allow my other character to also be welcome in their group.
Interestingly though, at pretty much the same time as I was on the outside of one group, I found myself on the inside of another group in the same community and also in several new communities. Some other communities I was not in, but was friends with people in them. Going back to the links again, I was taken completely by surprise at most of them. Especially so when communities that had absolutely nothing in common (although sometimes individuals in them were part of another shared community) would be oblivious to their differences and work together.
So, I may as well start wrapping this up. What have I learned from all of this? That even though we think we are separate communities, in a way we are all the same community. There are so many links between them and similar struggles that any differences are purely arbitrary. Yes, there are events which can split one group from another, but that happens with any family. While all of our paths may appear wildly different, all of them are just different ways to head towards the same fundamental goal (and, no, I have absolutely no idea what that is).
Well, I certainly have touched on more topics than I intended to all while trying to talk about one idea. So, who do I send this to? Is it just for myself? People in the various communities I am a part of in Second Life? People I only know in Real Life? People I know in both Real Life and Second Life? Oh, I know, the person who introduced me to Second Life? Maybe a blog post? Only one answer is possible based on the above paragraph: all of them. As separate letters though, because, as I have learned, I have no idea where the connections are.