Rik Rolls: What A Second Life Resident Looks Like

Often in mainstream media interviews I'm asked if the typical Second Life user is an anti-social housebound dweller who only logs into SL because they don't have a first life.  The assumption has always seemed strange to me, because while there must be some Residents who fit that hoary stereotype, I personally know many more who decidedly don't. 

Just one case in point:  Rik Riel, who covered Second Life events for this blog for a couple years, joined a non-profit that uses SL as an educational tool for inner city youth... and on some weekends, can be spotted on center stage in Manhattan's Central Park, dancing with "the female James Brown", the eminent funk/soul singer Ms. Sharon Jones.  (Which is actually a reprise of Rik and Sharon performing at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater last year.)  Who has time for stereotypes, when the reality busts a move so goddamn well?

Update, 12:18pm:  Added a NWN archive pic of Rik twirling old school style in SL.

Comments

[Gahum Riptide]

I find that kind of stereotype funny, because I remember when there was a stigma to even be using the internet as much as some of the same people who say "SL is for losers with no life!".

[Barefoot Ballinger]

You have to love the stereotypes! While I will admit that SL (at times) keeps me at my computer more often than I would like, I am no way a homebound loser without a real first life. Honestly, I have no friends on the grid that do not have a healthy and active first life...

[Marianne McCann]

It's funny, because anyone I have met who is on SL does not fit the supposed stereotype. I knwo I don't.

Mari

[rikomatic]

Thanks for the linkage, Hamlet. This is all preparation for the epic b-boy battle between me and my avatar.

[Athanasius Skytower]

...I always wonder why exactly someone antisocial would use social software, anyway. Not a very logical stereotype, if you ask me.

[Francesca Poppy]

RL friends of mine who don't use the internet as more than a way to check movie listings would probably fall into the category of those who think it must attract a multitude of socially-maladjusted geeks...and yet, they know at least two people in SL (myself and my SL/RL partner) who have so much going on in their lives that they find it hard to find time to log in to SL. And like Barefoot and Mari, I don't know anyone on the grid who doesn't also have an active RL...in fact, sometimes I'm dazzled at how much they manage to fit in!