In 2007 I started to use Second Life to build a virtual fashion brand which was big fun, but very time consuming and I did not make money with it after all. So I stopped the activities, but my colorful creations are still sold on the SL Marketplace and pay at least the costs for keeping a nice parcel of virtual land and my premium membership.
But I also made real friends in SL, who stay until now and this was more than worth to join this playful pixel world, when everybody was so enthusiastic in the beginning. Now you hardly ever hear something about SL and it seams to go down and down since years. But still exists…
Now after years of absence and with a completely new stressful career in my real life as a book writer and publisher of DIY books I logged into SL again during holidays to relax with a new laptop on the sofa and see if my avatar Freda Fredriksson or even some old friends are still there and how things are.
Our beautiful steampunk house is still hanging in the air. It was a cosy feeling of coming home. Lots of memories coming up.
Struggling with the new viewer I found at least my clothes still in wonderful named folders. I was surprised about myself, my discipline from 10 years ago. So dressing was easy. Moving was also easy after a while after I was familiar again with the buttons and sliders. So ready to go out and explore…
In the beginning it was so frustrating to find all the landmarks from beautiful places invalid and the places – gone. The destinations button showed: there is still life in Second Life.
And there are actually friends from 2007-2010 still busy in SL and so happy to see me online. After years they recognize me, say hello and ask how I am. Wow!
And I needed them! Cayenne and Gandi helped with great tipps, a different viewer, settings and newness. There is a completely new avatar system and it is so confusing.
But there are still many blogs on internet about SL and for research (I do not only love writing, but also reading). You see with the last postings, how old the informations are and if they are still used or sleeping like my own blog for years.
My conclusion after a couple of days exploring and researching in SL and on the internet is that Second Life IS still alive and still a vibrant fun world if you take the time to dive into it. My mind changed from confused to curious about the new avatar and clothing systems. Even if I do not plan to buy myself a new mesh head (I still find this horrible, how can everybody want this!) I am excited about the mesh clothing. Lets see where it leads…
" Freda " - A Real Second Life 