Six Surprising Ways Using Second Life Improved Users in Real Life

This is a pretty fascinating thread on /SecondLife where community members answer the question, "How has Second Life helped you sharpen for any real life experiences?" 

The examples given range from the funny:

Fashion. I used to dress well, then during lockdown started dressing like a trash pile, but dressing up my avi made me want to get my nice things back out in RL too. - greeneyedwench 

To the poignant:

I started playing SL in 2004. 6 years later I was in Afghanistan and another year and a half after that. SL put me in contact with fellow Vets and helped me relearn how to adjust to Civilian life and how to cull my social anxiety. - HellHoundActual

Several more of my favorites after the break:

I got a job ten years ago which require me working with oversea offices all the time. SL definitely helped me in remote communication and how to develop working relationships and friendship virtually. - nd1online

Accepting my real life body after realizing how much more amazing my avatar looks with the skin imperfections from Izzies. People would comment on the stretch marks, guys made comments about how soft it looked. It definitely made me realize that those things that make us look human, the things that Instagram filters try to remove for us, are actually attractive to real people. - Learach

I started playing SL in my early 20s. Many of my friends are older women who give advice on my RL issues. Two of which I invited to my RL wedding 15 years later. - Extension_Prune3707

Learning to surf in SL gave me the confidence to take surfing lessons in RL. - After-Try-1443

Still more here. While many of them also happen in other virtual worlds, others are notably pretty unique to Second Life in particular: For instance, it's rare for a virtual world to have such a large active user base of older users (40s and above).

Image via "West Shaka Photographs Second Life's Surfer Community"

Comments

[Honza Noyes]

I added a story of my own: https://www.reddit.com/r/secondlife/comments/rsxxti/comment/hrgwfkm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

[Holly Hammond]

Surfing in SL also gave me the confidence to surf in RL and I became very good in the real world & virtual world

[Cindy Bolero]

'Can't even begin to touch on our case studies on first responder training. Several team avatar roleplayers that joined in to help train with pros ended up going for a career as EMT, firefighter, and other related occupations.

One of our younger roleplayers came upon a multiple car accident in real life. He triaged the scene, and when the first responders arrived, he reported and spoke like a pro and they were amazed! "Where did you learn that? he responded, "Secondlife". The mayor of his town acknowledged him with a special hero citizen award.

But family RP killed everything after 5 years of administering a 12 region continent for the first responders. Professionals saw adults dressed and acting like children and that did not fly with them. So I had to take the concepts to another game engine which allowed for better focus and experience. But with much greater expense.

To this day, first responder roleplay is one of the biggest industries in Secondlife. They have all the stuff! I remember the first fire trucks were a barely driveable box with a texture on it. Now they have gobs of interactive virtual apparatus, vehicles, aircraft, wearable gear, smart fires, smart hoses, and if you happen to get involved, you will experience very professional activities carried out. You will also learn how to save lives.

Cop roleplay? thats a whole nuther thing. Avoid them at all costs if they apply to be security on your sims. If they aren't attached to and involved with a first responder group and come with references, they could be psychos that will ruin your community. I know first hand.

[West Shaka]

that my surf pic lol

[Foxxy Scorpio]

I own a DJ School in SL, I have had several of our students go on to become real life radio DJs.
I am so proud of them all.
Foxxy Scorpio

[Innovaision]

@Holly Hammond, I posted the original note about learning to surf in SL. Glad to hear that worked for you, too! We should go surfing in SL some time!!

Coughran Mayo