iRez salon is an online magazine with over two dozen contributors, including me.
I want to point you to a two-part article I wrote, “Becoming Someone Else” which explores one of iRez’s favorite topics, Identity. The idea for the post was sparked by Ravanel’s post, “Avatars and Identity – An Introduction.”
Avatar identity in Second Life is somewhat different from other games. Many people want to be the same person they are in real life. Some assume they are the same as they are in real life and don’t recognize they’ve become very different. Other people, often gamers, have no trouble jumping right into a new identity. Regardless of what your preference is, you might find as I did, the choices you make create a path to becoming someone else.
Am I being “just me” or am I being someone else?
If I’m being “just me” then what is the point of this avatar,
just playing dress-up or is there something else?
Being Yordie Sands 
Love this Yordie!! Online identity is 1 of my main interests (bl-y shapeshifter as i am) xxx
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It’s been one of my main interests too, Mera. I’m glad you liked i, you little shapeshifter, you!! hugs xoxo
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Huggies :))
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Reblogged this on The Eternal Sunshine of the Metaverse and commented:
Quote from Becoming someone else: “It didn’t take long for me to see people role playing everywhere. Maybe I was like the hammer who saw everything as a nail, but I looked at my friends who DJ’ed in Second Life and were moms in real life. I looked at hostesses, Coast Guard captains, gender swappers, event organizers, club owners and eventually, people presenting themselves as anyone other than the person they are in real life.”
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Cool post Yordie!
“Other people, often gamers, have no trouble jumping right into a new identity.” THAT is one of the wonderfully refreshing things about games other than SL. Oh, wait… I misspoke, one is never to refer to SL as a “game” 😛 In “real” games, rarely does anyone give a rat’s sphincter that you (the human) is not really the devastatingly powerful creature you portray
I see so many profiles with belligerent statements to the effect that “you cannot separate SL/RL” implying that if you do, you are lower than a baby seal killer that I want to blow chunks 🙂 Being someone or something else for a little while is just my cup of tea.
And anyway “who are you, who? who?” – Pete Townshend
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Hi Monerda… Totally love your comment, “Being someone or something esle for a little while is just my cup of tea.” Amen sister.
I think there is a fear associated with the notion of becoming someone else, a different identity. I can imagine that there are people who feel they don’t have time for it because it seems to be non-sense (perhaps they don’t have a lot of imagination?) I can imagine there are those who feel it is a form of lying or cheating. And I can imagine there are those who feel it can lead to some form of mental illness or whatever.
I had those “you cannot separate SL/RL” profiles in mind, but I’ve learned to be sympathetic to their objections. However, I find that many of those people are not sympathetic to my desire to be who I want to be, or change who I want to be.
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Mhm and don’t forget one might get “hairy palms”! My take is like yours I think. I respect that some people want their virtual life to be exactly like their real life and that’s cool but I expect the same level of respect for people who do not.
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Yes, it’s about that “same level of respect”
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Awesome Yordie! Thanks for being such a BIG part of our virtual world! 🙂
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Oh Vaneeesa, don’t heap praise on me, we don’t want the readers to think my fame as a media superstar has gone to my head. btw, have your people contact my people and we’ll do lunch. I’ll bring my editor and publisher with me… erm, uh, wait, you are my editor and publisher. hahahha… and erm, there is no editor. heheheh
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