Canary Beck

If you’ve been logging into Second Life for months, years, or decades, here’s a fact that might surprise you: you’re one of the rarest people on the platform. Over 65 million accounts have been created since 2003 but almost everyone who ever showed up left within the hour and never came back. Depending on how you slice it, the residents who stick around and actually build a life here — homes,…

The recent (2021) corporate rush into the “Metaverse”- where tech conglomerates, legacy fashion houses, and financial institutions blew upwards of $120 billion on barren digital blocks—has played out with a staggering, predictable irony. We watched as platforms like Meta’s Horizon Worlds and various Web3 spaces collapsed into multi-billion-dollar ghost towns. To anyone who has spent years…

Do you ever long for those rare, electrifying conversations that spark ideas and linger in your thoughts for days? I know I have. For years, I hosted chat salons at Basilique in Second Life, a space I co-created to bring people together for rich, meaningful dialogue. These salons became a vibrant forum for exploring fascinating questions like: How much power do appearances truly wield in Second…

There’s a bittersweetness in returning to a world you once called home. It isn’t bound by the same rules of time and space as the one outside your screen. This holiday season, I logged back into Second Life after a year of being on and off—a year punctuated by fleeting visits, whispers of nostalgia, and the pull of real-life responsibilities. As the login screen faded, I entered a vibrant…

Paradise Lost: The Movie

Second Life novelist and filmmaker Huckleberry Hax has written a wonderfully thoughtful review of Paradise Lost The Movie. Below are some highlights, read the full review here.

Are Second Life residents anxious about Project Sansar?

Change brings anxiety. I expect that. Last year in July, Linden Lab announced that they were working on a next generation virtual platform – code-named Project Sansar. Second Life residents are, understandably, anxious. I spoke a little about this in my recent panel appearance on the DraxFiles Radio Hour, and I’ll expand my thoughts on it here. What are they anxious about? I host weekly…

Survey: Women in Second Life Less Private About Their RL Than Men – and Harassed Much More – Preliminary Report

New World Notes published my summary of results of last month’s survey on Second Life and Real Life privacy yesterday. Nearly 800 respondents completed the online survey. I’ll publish a full report and commentary on these findings in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, check out these highlights: Only 1 in 4 Second Life users take active steps to protect their real life privacyWomen report…

Real versus virtual prejudice comes down to choice in Second Life

The other day I hosted a chat salon on prejudice in Second Life. I’m sorry to report that prejudice based on gender, sex, race, skin colour, sexual orientation, age, ability, language, class, and size is alive and well in Second Life. You name it, we’ll find a way to manufacture a prejudice about it. Many participants agreed that prejudice in Second Life, while easier to ignore (e.g. through…

Have you experimented with your gender in Second Life?

Last night I hosted a Basilique Chat Salon on the subject of gender experimentation in Second Life. The questions up for discussion were: have you ever experimented with gender in Second Life? Why do/did you do it? What were your reactions to the experience? How did you react to members of the opposite gender? How about those of the same gender as you? Have you come to any new insights as a…

Ambient Sound in Second Life

Ambient sound is an integral part of experiencing simulated environments, not only because it significantly adds to a feeling of immersiveness, but many people are in Second Life without their music turned on. Silence makes a place feel dead. Unless of course that is what you’re going for (like a moon landscape), then adding sounds are a simple way to add life to your environments. I was…

How advice is everywhere and why most of it is nonsense

I’ve recently noticed that a lot of the social interaction we have is in the form of one person giving someone else advice. When someone writes a blog post (including this one) – they’re giving their readers advice (e.g. know this, learn that, do this, think that). When someone leaves a comment on a blog post (including the comments to this post) – they’re often giving the poster or other…

Poll shows 72% might recommend Second Life, but more needed to sustain Second Life

Earlier this week I asked Second Life residents how likely they are to recommend Second Life to RL friends and colleagues. Over 3,000 people responded to the survey showing passionate engagement for Second Life. The poll shows 72% of Second Life users are more likely to promote it. With that said, more people need to promote Second Life to maintain user engagement level The first question of my…

How men and women draw up the “perfect body” in Second Life

A “perfect body” poll made the internet rounds in April last year: A lingerie company asked 500 men and 500 women to vote on their ideal celebrity body parts. Designers photoshopped the images to create four images of the “perfect body” based on results. A few thoughts before I begin: I know there’s no such thing as a perfect body. It’s a silly internet poll, lighten up.All the body parts…

The many roles we play in Second Life

Last week I ran a survey asking Second Life users to tell me the roles with which they most identified. 3,073 people completed the survey. The purpose of my study was to determine the most popular use cases of Second Life. I wanted also to see which group is more likely to recommend Second Life. It turns out that most people identify as roleplayers in Second Life. Educators are most likely to…

My evolving view on blog comments

I’ve started to practice Aikido. That sounds impressive. At the moment, it mostly involves me having far more skilled people repeatedly throw me to the mat. Make no mistake, I love it. And, I plan to become a lot better at it. Why? Because practitioners of Aikido defend themselves without harming their opponent. Instead, they sense an attacker’s intentions and respond in a way that incapacitates…

Resolving disputes in a virtual world

Disputes are inevitable. When they happen in families or at work, we manage to get past them because we often have no other choice. In virtual worlds, relationships can be more tenuous and more quickly discarded. Anonymous and more free of social constraint, people can forget to treat us with the same respect they might afford real world interactions. It can be easier to insult or turn your back…

Paradise Lost The Movie nominated for an Avi’s Choice Award – Watch it now for free and vote

Paradise Lost The Movie nominated for an Avi’s Choice Award – Watch it now for free and voteUnexpected news: I learned last night that someone nominated Paradise Lost The Movie for the Favourite Machinima Production Award category of Avi’s Choice Awards – The Arts. To celebrate, I’m sharing the video with everyone, right here on this blog post. No sign-in is required. Just click the image above…