ECLIPSE Magazine December 2018

Beneath the giggles and lighthearted competitions lies a very serious goal, increasing the social interaction that first bound her to Second Life. She is, whether she knows it or not, a community organizer, bringing people together in order to foster a sense of communal solidarity. She could be more explicit in carrying out that purpose with her talk show. For example, she would like to promote the gentle art of kindness. She recently released a video on social courtesy and respect and hopes it will also become a series. The first focused on interactions between designers and customers. “I’m hoping if at least the few people watch my videos see these, they’ll help spread kindness in Second Life.”

She believes anonymity and pseudonymity removes social constraints that promote kindness.

“We already all have our little safety shield up with social situations just by being online. People take this to their advantage and forget manners, are cruel, or have no sense of consequence since it’s “just the internet.” or “just a game.” adding on another anonymous option helps fuel this thought process, causing real thoughts most are too polite to say, to come out. It’s disheartening and quite sad and I hope to see things change for the positive one day.”

Second Life has this strange intimacy. If you buy something that disappoints in your first life, you take it back to the store and talk to a clerk who often is not employed by the designer or the factory that manufactured it. There are these levels of distribution between designer and the customer that do not exist in SL. In Second Life, if you don’t like a product, a playlist, the scenery, or the buildings, you are one inspection and instant message from voicing your opinion directly. That may not always be a good thing.

Cassie notes that this intimacy can also lead to unhealthy connections to our avatars. “Second Life is very intimate...There’s no tangible, physical connection, making everyone rely simply on emotions and a mental connection. And with it more focused on that, I feel like people start to get a bit too attached to their avatars and validation.”

Page 54 | ECLIPSE December 2018