As a student of sociology, I find Second Life to be one of the most interesting places to people watch that's out there. Second Life is not merely an alternate life, it is a wholly separate reality, with its own set of rules and tenets to guide our behavior. One of the things I find most fascinating is watching people interact and figure these rules out.For instance, we’ve all seen the noob on his first day in SL approach another avatar with the popular line “wanna…?”- well you can fill in the blank. Such a thing would never happen in real life and this is because all of our normal inhibitions are taken away by the cloak of anonymity we assume upon logging in. Even those who come into Second Life and try to maintain the social laws of RL soon find themselves having to adjust. Modesty, for example, is one of the first things to go as clothing mishaps and not-quite-rezzed avatars are bound to be encountered on a regular basis. We get used to all of these things pretty quickly, and soon conform to the altered manners and customs of our second world.
Sometimes, a release from our everyday inhibitions and fears can be a good thing. Someone too timid to speak to strangers might be the life of the party at some event on the grid, or someone self conscious might fashion themself into a supermodel on their virtual catwalk, and stories abound of those with the dream of becoming RL entrepreneurs, but perhaps not the means, becoming moguls of the metaverse.
But even in each of these categories, the differences in SL are clearly marked. Nowhere have I seen this to be more true than in the Second Life business community. Second Life is a powerful medium, and it allows us to do almost anything we can imagine. Indeed, just among Wilder’s pool of clients there seems to be limitless creativity and talent. And let’s not forget that Wilder Public Relations itself was dreamt up and built, pixel by pixel, by Annette Wilder.
These kinds of dreams can only be realized, even in SL, by investing incredible amounts of hard work, dedication, and a certain flair. Take our client Amutey DeCuir, for instance. We’ve just completed a job promoting her contest searching for Miss Bliss Couture 2010. She’s accepting applications until the end of July, and already she’s had an overwhelming response. Why? Because Amutey creates not just pretty dresses, but veritable works of art in this virtual world. She has spent considerable amounts of time honing her craft and is recognized by girls all over the grid as one of the best, and now those same girls are clamoring to be the face of her brand.
Wilder is proud to represent the best-people like Amutey, and Mami Jewell of AZUL, who never ceases to amaze with her gorgeous creations. These ladies as well as all of our other clients are constantly working to improve themselves and bring us bigger and better offerings as they do.
This is the type of drive that we respect here at Wilder, and these are the types of people we are honored to have as our clients. They take their businesses in SL as seriously as they would in RL and we find that admirable, for unfortunately, there are those who will always hide behind their anonymity here and use SL as a tool to stir up trouble. In RL, it is not uncommon for people to covet the success of others, but because of those social pressures absent in SL, their disquiet is largely unnoticed. In the metaverse, anyone with an internet connection, a grudge, and a blog can spread their jealously all over the web.
We at Wilder take pride that we accept only the best as clients here, the type above such petty behavior, and the type that behavior is usually aimed at. As always, we extend our deepest gratitude to those clients, as well as our friends and colleagues, for helping make us the success we are today. We are forever thankful for all that you do for us and wish also to express our appreciation also for what you do to enhance Second Life for us all.
I encourage you all to take time this week to express your own appreciation to someone who has made your Second Life better, be it your favorite fashion designer, friend, or family member. Perhaps a nice note, some flowers, maybe a hug. There are so many people trying to tear each other down; let’s do our part to build others up. For what it’s worth, I hope the following week is filled with success and happiness for you all.
Wishing you only the best,
Ansleigh Beverly
Office Manager, Wilder PR
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