The Grass Might Seem Greener...

You know the cliche "the grass is always greener on the other side"? Well, I think it is true in this instance. For this task I was on a mission to determine how people in Second Life would interact with my newly revised avatar. I adjusted myself to be severely overweight and have facial features that were huge and exaggerated, not to mention I had ugly clothes.

Once I was all dolled down I was teleporting between lands. First of all, it was very difficult for me to find places with more than a couple people so this wasn't an extensive social experiment. There were 3 locations I will note.
Location 1: this was a Help Land and no one was rude or unpleasant. Even the guy named "Get kinky with me" was nice, polite and offered help.
Location 2: this was Second Life's version of a club/ bar/ lounge and in this instance there were more people ignoring me than ever before. I didn't attempt to speak to them but I walked by them and at one point even stopped right next to a group having a conversation. Did I already mention... My avatar was being ignored much more than ever experienced! Aside from that, there was a guy screaming at someone "you are not naked anymore :(". (I say he was screaming because he typed in all caps.)
Location 3: I teleported to y home base which is the new avatar land. This was the place where I was previously propositioned and spoken to in a very vulgar manner. This time, I didn't have all the inappropriate advances. I didn't have many people introducing themselves to me; however from my walk around there seemed to be significantly fewer people in session.

My initial session in Second Life was a weekday late night and this attempt was on a weekday daytime so I assume that accounts for the differences. I am now confident stating that the type of people logged at various times of day directly translates to a severely different experience. Based on my observations I feel that the the grass was greener for two reasons:

1) if someone is not comfortable with their physical characteristics and/ or they believe they have been treated rude in real life, if they choose to make an avatar with the an accurate likeness they may be treated better in Second Life than real life. This may allow them to build some confidence before exploring all of real life's potentials
2) if someone makes their avatar less attractive by traditional standards, they will definitely experience less obtrusive behavior by the other habitants of Second Life.

Now that my avatar experiment is complete, I will lay my mini me to rest. More importantly, I will gladly delete all the junk I had to download to enable use of the service.

Where is their sense and our cents, to boot?

The following would be my twitter to our elected government officials:

Why is common sense not common to you? NOT a rhetorical question-I do seek a reply & STOP punishing me because I am single with no children!!!

Death of Common Sense

A friend sent me the exert from the London Times and I thought it was appropriate given the challenges we are facing 10 years from it's original distribution. When I did an online search, a fellow blogger noted the following as a quote from the author of the obituary editorial:

"Note from Lori Borgman: This piece was first published in 1998 in the Indianapolis Star. It has been "modified" and "edited" by others and circulated on the Internet, even sent to me several times. Imagine my surprise to see it attributed to some guy named Anonymous. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I take having my work circulated on the web as a compliment."

I found it funny because in 1998 Phillip Howard's book titled The Death of Common Sense was published. I wonder if she wrote the obituary before or after she read the book. Hmmm... I am sure Howard is flattered, as well.


London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults not children are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly pupil, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a pupil; but could not inform parents when a pupil became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.