This evening I visited the Beach Front Community Club at Hunts Point Beach, which is more or less a social place for dancing. Im not much for dancing in real life, but my avatar is not to shabby at dancing using dance balls. What interested me more, however, is the reflections of real life social interactions I noticed. I know that the Boelstorff text discusses sociological aspects of SL and how they mirror RL interactions between people/avatars. Frankly, I still felt quite awkward making friends, and some of the dancing had some seriously sexual overtones to it. Mostly though, it seemed like a place to have a good time and meet friends. I wonder if there is judgement in SL as in RL about clothing or hairstyles. Are there such things as cliques in SL? Is it more open than RL in terms of who you can comfortable talk to? Are people behind their avatars similarly judgemental about who they will talk to in terms of attractiveness? I can’t help but feel some sense that others are judging my clothes and hair. I would be very interested to talk to different avatars on their perceptions of social acceptability in SL, if they feel that they belong based on what they wear. Do people feel that their avatars belong within their groups in SL? I feel like so many of the avatars’ physical specs are so idealistically proportioned. It is very difficult not to look like a Barbie doll most of the time…is there such a thing as less attractive avatars? Is it possible to look less like a Barbie and Ken in SL? I feel it is very easy for someone to make their avatars be impossibly attractive to fulfil a self esteem need in Real Life. This is all speculation, of course, but it is so interesting the vibes I got in terms of social interactions…
