If you’re on Instagram, @slgridmemes is definitely a fun follow -- like the account name suggests, it’s a near-daily cascade of chuckle-worthy memes only active Second Life users are likely to find funny. (I.E, IYKYK)
Created and run by Ryan Johnson in his spare time, now with nearly 9000 followers, Ryan joined the virtual world in 2007 and sporadically played from time to time. But he became much more active through a curious comparison:
“One of my friends from Yahoo Chat told me I should check Second Life out,” Ryan tells me, “[because] it reminded them of Grand Theft Auto.”
That analogy might seem surprising to some, but a large portion of Second Life activity is now devoted to luxe GTA Online-esque city life roleplay in fashion, cars, and clubbing.
“I think if you look at Grand Theft Auto now and how they purchased FiveM, then it’s basically just like Second Life,” as Ryan puts it. (He’s referring to Rockstar’s acquisition of FiveM, a mod for GTA the company once banned.)
“I know a few people who mesh and build on FiveM servers. The only difference is you have to teleport to certain regions versus GTA having a big world connected in a way. Unless the sims are connected on SL, then you could probably do the same, I guess. But it’s pretty much the same.” (Indeed, I interviewed SL/GTA YouTuber Meela Vanderbuilt on this topic a couple years ago.)
Inspired by another Instagram account creating IMVU-themed memes, Ryan started creating SL memes on Facebook, but then jumped to Instagram when he noticed more activity there.
Here’s his most popular meme so far:
“I know a lot of my friends shop with friends-only [mode] on because the lag, but they always end up bumping into people a lot.”
His most controversial meme is this one:
“It was about Second Life doms. I actually received a few DMs from people cussing me out about it,” he remembers, laughing. One guy complaining at him “basically fit the description of the meme.”
Posting memes has become something of a side gig for him, attracting some paid promotion deals for various SL brands. It’s also helped him sell more of his own items on the SL Marketplace.
But really they’re mainly a reflection of the man behind the avatar.
“My memes help me express who I am and who I always been,” as Ryan Johnson puts it to me. “If I can make someone laugh then I did my job for today.”
Speaking of which, Ryan wants to shout-out his Instagram friends @adriana, @kuntree, @flex, @dizzy, @Galore and @zoezo, who often help with his memes. And of course his girl @seance -- who he first met via Insta, when she slid into his DMs to ask about a product of his in the SL Marketplace.
Here's some of my recent favorites below:
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