Plurk-To-SL: How Many Virtual Relationships Begin In Plurk?

Quaintly Tuqiri recently and happily announced she's officially partnered in Second Life to a beau named Mr. Hogarth. This is lovely news for the avatar couple and their friends, of course, but just as significant is how they met for the first time: not in Second Life, but via Plurk, the micro-blogging system that's so popular with SL Residents, when you create your Plurk profile, you can actually choose a country called "Second Life" as your national origin. This is the first Plurk-to-SL romance I'm aware of (no doubt they're many more.)  I am sure many virtual friendships also begin via my Plurk account, then later substantiate themselves in Second Life. (I've first met many Residents in Plurk myself.) This strikes me as the inevitable result of a community that centers around a synchronous, resource-heavy virtual world -- much of the socialization happens not in-world, but in asynchronous systems that accrete around it.

Comments

[Crap Mariner]

How many times do I have to tell you, Hamlet: NO!

(But you can still send me flowers)

-ls/cm

[Isle Lunasea]

"This strikes me as the inevitable result of a community that centers around a synchronous, resource-heavy virtual world -- much of the socialization happens not in-world, but in asynchronous systems that accrete around it."

I think many people, particularly those not involved in virtual world technologies tend to discount the strength and reality of the invested emotions in these highly social arenas.

Well said, Hamlet.

[Skinkie Winkler]

I know of a Plurk-to-Second Life romance that started back last summer and led to an in-world partnering. The relationship has now ended but lasted 8 months or so. So, sorry Quaintly, you aren't the first, but CONGRATULATIONS! Wishing you both a happy and healthy union :-)

[Chestnut Rau]

I actually met my partner on Twitter over a year ago. ;)

[Makenzie Irling]

Although I had seen my slpartner in world once before I will have to say it was plurk that actually introduced us to each other. I think the growing popularity of sites like plurk for people in sl will increase the likelyhood of relationships stemming from them.

[Uccello Poultry]

I'm proud to have Hamlet on my Plurk timeline (http://plurk.com/Uccie/invite) and have developed deeper friendships with folk she already knew in-world via Plurk.

[Vaughan Vendetta]

Plurk and Flickr are my two main sources of contacting MG residents, actually. :o

~V.