Do You Keep Your Second Life A Secret?

[Cristiano]

This thread on reddit is an interesting topic:


Even with how deeply involved I've been with SL over the past 18 years, it isn't something I share broadly with friends and family. Some know, some don't. I have included my sites in my portfolio of work, but in general haven't really spoken of SL broadly to friends and associates.

On my return to SL, I've also explored a lot more of SL than I did during the past, including the adult side of SL. I'm not ashamed or embarassed by that, but also private about it. I am not sure how I would even go about explaining some of it

I actually recently became friends with someone through Flickr of all places. He liked my pictures but didn't understand exactly what SL was, so I tried explaining it as best I could. He's recently joined SL, and it's fun to see SL through the perspective of someone who had no idea what it was.

On a related note, SL is complicated as fuck. We take a lot for granted. Also, I am not sure explaining that we need to attach our heads, bodies, skins and genitals to non-SL users is an easy sell.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I showed my spouse in the first week and we’re both still active. Some family know, others don’t, sometimes we say World of Warcraft so the other person has an idea what we’re talking about.

Mom is entirely in the dark and will remain that way.

 

[Sid]

I tell about SL when someone else starts about the subject. So very seldom in the last 10 years.
Not that I have anything to hide. But I don't want to bother others with my SL.

 

[Free]

I'm in a similar boat to Cris.

I don't go out of my way to tell people I know about my activities in SL, but then I don't purposely bypass or lie about it, either. For example, one of my brothers knows about some of my "second life," because I feel comfortable telling him about it. My other brother, not so much. But it's like that for numerous stuff going on with me - it's more about the person I'm dealing with.

 

[Khamon]

No but very few of my friends and family have cared to ask about or explore SL. It’s hidden in plain sight. Retrospectively, I remember, back in aught-five, the general reaction to LL offering us personal advertising incentives being that we didn’t want SL invaded by most of the people we knew and loved.

 

[Romana]

My brothers wouldn't understand, but any of my friends would.
And my therapist knows, of course, lol.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

When I first signed up, it was for academic use. I even attended a conference on virtual history museums while several co-workers watched. Mrs Quandry was in Library school at the time, so we explored a bit looking at educational sims and Goth/Halloween stuff. I effectively stopped using SL when the tier increase drove out the non-profits.

 

[Ashiri]

I don't bring it up except in passing if talking about online games/venues. I did once mention it and I could just "hear" the shutters go down without bothering to find out how I experienced SL

 

[WolfEyes]

Who would I tell?

 

[Clara D.]

Anyone I'd be comfortable with telling wouldn't be interested anyways.

Other than the one RL friend that I knew before SL was a thing.

And she already knows I'm a perv.

 

[Free]

And she already knows I'm a perv.

Not a secret!

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

I was at a bar and mentioned it to some of the people I had been introduced to. They were curious, so I explained a bit. One piped up "OH! You're a gold farmer! I read about those!"

Made me laugh. "More like a boutique owner than a sweat shop boss, but sure... you could call it that. =D"

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Never told a soul in RL about SL... Total, 100% strict separation. I'm a proper, serious corporate person in RL... nobody needs to know about the horrible things I do in SL, lol.

 

[Isabeau]

Is it really that embarrassing? I mean, obviously you may not go into details about everything, and it may just not come up with some people you know only casually, but it’s just an online hobby/entertainment like any other.

Some people play golf, or knit, or collect plants () All pretty pointless when you think about it. Why be shy about it?

I wouldn’t bring up more personal stuff, like hobbies, at a board meeting since it’s a more conservative setting, but with close friends and relatives (the ones you hang with anyway), why not?

 

[Noodles]

I keep it all separate, though I do occasionally mention Second Life, I never directly mention anything I have done myself in SL. Like if there was a conversation about VR or sandboxy video games or something, I might mention it.

That said, I have several online profiles FOR SL. Like Twitter and Flickr and Github. In addition to all of that for RL (and like a zillion more things for RL).

 

[Rose Karuna]

There were a few engineers at work who played WOW and who I thought would be interested in SL so I gave them a link. One left pretty early on and I think the other is still around once in a while. My husband is the one who pulled me into SL and then eventually got frustrated with it and left. He knows I'm still here and no one else I know even is aware of what SL is.

 

[WolfEyes]

Never told a soul in RL about SL... Total, 100% strict separation. I'm a proper, serious corporate person in RL... nobody needs to know about the horrible things I do in SL, lol.

No one knows the horrible things I've done to Mortimer Goth in the Sims. Except the other half. He's the one that started it.

 

[Beebo Brink]

It's not a secret, but it's also not something that comes up very often in conversation. Mrs. Beebo knows, a few of my close friends know (but don't really "get" it), and even a few gamer co-workers of mine know. Now that my direct involvement has dropped down to practically zero, it's not something I would bring up with anyone new unless they mentioned it first.

 

[Rose Karuna]

No one knows the horrible things I've done to Mortimer Goth in the Sims. Except the other half. He's the one that started it.

Forget Mortimer, what the heck have you done with Bella?

 

[Imnotgoing Sideways]

Do I seem like someone who could keep quiet about things? (^_^)