Reasons for being in Second Life?

People have many reasons for getting into the Virtual World of Second Life, and many other reasons for staying there, and draws that keep them coming back.

For me it was curiosity back in 2007, then I took a break, and returned late in 2008 for other reasons, mainly a 'distraction', and found myself getting into it much more "deeply" than I did during my first "taste". Learning to explore more selectively, meeting fascinating friends, evolved to setting up dwellings in-world, avatar-enhancement, photography/image editing, buying and earning L$, even serious in-world relationships! In fact caring for others in Second Life has been my primary motivation for learning and trying new things. Now I seem to get distracted gathering L$ or chasing fantasies sometimes, but the old motivations of exploring and chatting to interesting people have prevailed.

"Real Life" always comes first. I can remember meeting someone late in 2008 who really needed encouragement, support, upliftng *because* her RL was such a mess and SL became something she needed to get her through, distract and re-focus her. I always sense my part in this was accidental and temporary, but perhaps it went on too long! Yet now I see her RL back on course and can see I was right - some people are down and *needy* when they enter SL, and come away more able to cope with RL circumstances. This is why I find the "RL is RL, SL is SL" dictum a bit simplistic. Maybe people add this to their profile because they have had a bad experience of being stalked, harassed in SL/RL, or have become addicted and needed to re-assess their approach to SL. But people are always people, entire in the way they act in RL and in Virtual Worlds, even if they see themselves as SL "roleplayers". Those who distance their SL and RL selves tend to be very clinically adept at treating it as a "game" and, sometimes, making Linden$, but not in caring for the feelings of others or developing relationships, and that's usually ok with them!

After photography, and gathering L$ to help others... what keeps me interested in SL? Not too much, I think I should take a break soon and maybe come back refreshed, or not at all!!