1. You are reading this posting.
Let’s face it, if you didn’t have a problem you wouldn’t even be reading this. Fess up. You’re hooked and you know you are. The first step to dealing with an addiction is to acknowledge it.
2. You’ve tried to fly at least once in Real Life and fallen flat on your face?
That strange Real Life force that suddenly grabbed a-hold of you is called “gravity”. It’s there to keep you “grounded”. Do you understand the term “grounded”? Probably not. Look it up.
3. You refer to real life as RL.
Sad isn’t it?
I almost can’t believe it, but Google “Second Life” + RL, and you get 246,000 hits. This means that there are thousands of people that suffer with this sad RL abbreviation affliction and they are infecting the whole goddam Internet. Nothing short of mass action to get these poor people a life is gonna cure this.
4. When you walk down the street in RL, you try to right-click people to find out about them?
It doesn’t work, does it? Never mind, there is a remarkably effective strategy that works in both SL and RL. You can walk up to them and say:
“Hi. I don’t think we’ve met have we? Are you new in this neighbourhood?”
This will usually lead to an interesting exchange of information. Try it.
5. You spend hours trying to make your SL avatar look like your real-life avatar (that would be your body – except for the bulging waistline and that unsightly birthmark on your elbow, neither of which could possibly be real).
Let’s be frank. We all know why you hang out in Second Life. It’s because no-one gives you a second glance in real-life. If you make your avatar actually look like you, you’ll be stuck with the same problem in SL. So give it up.
6. You think the sub-prime lending crisis means that your SL properties are gonna be worthless.
Don’t get confused. Those properties were always worthless. You should have bought swampland in RL Florida instead. They are not real estate, they are virtual estate, which means no kind of estate.
7. You are concerned because the exchange rate of the Linden Dollar is tanking.
Wait a minute, you’re right! If the Linden is tanking, that means the RL dollar must be rising against the Euro and the Yen, which in turn means that those nasty Islamic oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran will get more virtual value for their oil. They’ll be able to buy up SL assets at rock-bottom prices and establish a monopoly. Pretty soon all the women in Second Life will be wearing Burkahs. The virtual Fed needs to do something before it’s too late!!
~ Albert Einstein
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Actually, you might be reading this posting if you are interested in working with people who are into SL. Froma a purely human interest point of view
hee hee .. I used to be addicted to Second Life … for a whole three months! my avatar was this gorgeous sexy girl, and I found this guy who professed real love for me … we had mad virtual sex while I was reading the newspaper back home … I still think about that guy sometimes, because he really seemed to think he actually loved me! He sent me pictures of his pick-up van, and him in the navy ..It was all a learning experiene, because I sort of loved him too .. but it’s all mad nonsense, of course. Is it?Should we have actually met, in real life, across the continents?I sent him photos of me, and he said I was purdy.ahhhaww … Have I missed the love of my life?Oh, well, no, probably not. I can’t afford the air fare, and he did dress his avatar in some pretty weird looking stuff.
lol wut
I’m not actually addicted to SL, but rather this RL male is addicted to the gorgeous red head that I move about in within this Cyber Space Universe,in fact I I think I’m in love with her. Sad isn’t it
On a number of occasions I’ve been having fun in several of the Lesbian Clubs and after awhile, the more intelligent females there start joining the dots and finguring out that I’m one of those bastard males they hate and then the nasty bitches have my arse kicked out of the place. How dare they !
I’ve been on SL for like 5 or 6 months now, and yea I’ll admit I’m pretty addicted, but
try that again…
I’ve been on SL for like 5 or 6 months now, and yea I’ll admit I’m pretty addicted, but I know RL always comes first.
A few things to help somebody survive secondlife; Get an sl job, it stops you from spending alot of RL money online. Be careful who you talk to and don’t just add them to your friends after a small encounter. Make sure you see somebody on webcam before you meet IRL.
However, I love secondlife because I met my RL boyfriend on there ^-^
lul
omg I am absolutly addicted to SL.. its actually really bad, I used to have a fantastic RL, going our with my friends all the time,partying, working.. Im young and have my whole life ahead of me but SL has taken over.. It’s all i think about now.. I have a family including a man I want to marry (which also happens to be my now RL boyfriend, altho its a long distance relationship), and a son… It drives me insane that all I want to do is be on SL.. my life on there is everything I want in RL.. My friends and family say I have an addiction and I really should get off SL, but I cant seem to find the strength to get off.. Im now playing SL by secret and find excuses to stay home and play so I dont make them suspect anything.. I dont want to stop playing, I know i should but i cant… is there any hope ?? i have been on it for just under 1 year now and each day im on it i love it more
Kendra, I too have been an addict to this insanity! It’s pretty unbelievable the extent we’ll go to in order to stay in that virtual world. It is just that…virtual. Look up the definition of “virtual.” You need to try and wrap your head back around the fact none of it is real and NEVER will be! You can never teleport there or actually physically experience any of it. It’s fake. The people there are fake. The success is fake. Your avi appearance is fake, as is every avi there.
Try and think of the enormous amount of “real” lifetime you have blown and wasted in a fake world. It’s frightening and alarming. The biggest mind-fu#* is the interaction with other “real” people sitting behind computers all over the world. Their sincerity and the ones who run virtual businesses. The people who have virtual careers and operate virtual communities. They have lavish virtual homes and virtual marriages. It’s all so enticing and just like real life we aspire to have the perfect second life. It’s completely demented. I have realized and it took a lot of drama, crap and thousands upon thousands of “real” dollars blown, that it’s EXACTLY the same as real life, just visually more stimulating. That said, there is one significant difference, people in Second Life can lie and lie and lie some more. They are rarely who they portray or say they are in real life. There are no “real” consequences to the things they say or indulge in. This makes such a place very dangerous for our inner spirit and our innate sense of what’s right and/or wrong.
I am horrified at the level I allowed this “game” to suck me in. I had it all in Second Life. I had my own island paradise, mansion filled with amazing things (prims up the wazoo), exotic animals, an inventory of clothes any real life princess would envy, a fabulous job modeling, fame and a husband. I stayed up until 2:00am playing and woke up groggy at 8:00am to log on and play. It took my “husband” cheating on me (virtually of course) to finally start waking me up from this dream (nightmare). I left for two months and actually was relieved and happy again, reconnecting with my real life. However, my mind kept wandering back to my Second Life. I missed playing dress up and teleporting around to hob knob with my “friends.” I began to crave the accolades and success I had found in there modeling. So foolishly, I jumped back in and spent more crazy money. One day I went to pay my mortgage and didn’t have enough money. I got so scared and though it still haunts me I cancelled my primary account (and my alts). I struggle every time real life gets tough not to “escape” back into that crap.
The long and short of it…..you can do it! You have two choices: 1. Keep playing and “pretending.” 2. Cancel your Second Life account immediately and never look back! Get on with your real life and find happiness with things you can touch, smell and taste! Good luck Kendra:)