Thoughts on Self Image in the Cyber World

I'm a woman of many fierce passions and tho I'm not spending as much time in the Cyber World as I did in the past, it's will always be a huge part of my life. I found the little corner of it Second Life when I needed an outlet of escapism. It provides the ultimate advantage for those who seek this & in the last 10 years I've seen several other similar cyber worlds such as Avakin Life or IMVU. These imo, probably spung up from the those very 1st generations of online forums that formed in the initial creation & spread of the internet. The lure of being able to create a completely alternative reality for oneself is appealing, it allows a personal freedom and for thousands of people globally, it also can provide them with access to communities that may not exist in their own physical locals due to the size, politics or prejudices of the area. It allows someone to safely in many ways to try out & seek adventures they might not ever be brave enough to experience in their real lives

There's always the question of ethics that arises tho, as one thing I have learned after spending nearly 14 yrs in/out of cyber communities is that they can be extremely positive or extremely damaging & dangerous for some people if they don't or cannot be trusted to take care of themselves and view their experience with some distance. For me, while I've made many extremely close friends, including those who eventually gained my trust over time and I finally felt they had earned access to my true self & real life, I've never had long term intimate dedicated relationships. Second Life is very active with an American non profit Cancer Support org, the American Cancer Society and it was 15 yrs ago when dealing with ACS that I 1st heard of the game. After doing some research on them one of the initial things I had discovered was the company had done some in house research on how individuals using a physically attractive avatar were affected VS a more unattractive one and as you might guess the difference was radical, the thing that really stood out to me is the self confidence that the individual gained was also seen to carry back into their personal real, physical lives... The for better or worse. The relevance of this? When I came to SL, I always had a rather large degree of transparency within reason of course, and also protecting my privacy and safety but beyond that, what you see is truly what you get from who I am. I'm a seductive, sensual, passionate person who who has always known who she is and what she wants and I'm willing to work to get it. That's not always the case among those in cyber worlds, unfortunately some people are flat out predators and then, there's the gray area of those that aren't legally predators but derive joy from the manipulation and exploitation of those around them, the Cyber World is honestly a prime hunting ground for them. In one very close example concerns my dearest & oldest online friend who now I've claimed as my own beloved submissive and "wifey" as women online in world often refer to partners in female/female relationships. Before us being together, we were close friends yes, but she spent nearly a decade with a female Domme who nothing about true domination, and honestly at times we suspect had never been with a woman in the real world as when they were together "intimately" and it often was confusing to say the least. But the woman left her in tears most days, being abusive & manipulating her into doing things that were completely unethical for any Dominant to do with some one who had place their trust in their hands. She was treated less than a human being, less than a pet would have been. Now why, you ask wouldn't she simply log off or just not talk to her? Because that is exactly how real the emotional connections become between people and she had become essentially an abused spouse before she finally was able to break away. I've been sitting in discussions groups before where people proudly discuss their predilections and. My 1st job on Second Life was dancing & managing a combo strip /escort club. I became good friends with one guy but as time goes he drifted & and I didn't see him until this last year. Imaginey surprise when I asked him how things had been going & and he told me he'd been mostly aware bc he'd been busy finishing up high & had gone to college and was just now in his Junior year. With me piercing the chronology together, that made him about 14 when I met him and he was one of our most popular male escorts who had been in a relationship with the woman who owned the club & I knew had been over 40 when I met her. Kinda scary isn't it when people can be whomever & whatever they want. This post is just a little commentary that especially in the aftermath of the year 2020, when so many of us have spent so much time online it's time to look a bit closer at the image we portray on there and yes, please be safe and guard your heart ♥ and a bit more as well as maybe think about the hearts 💕 of others.