The princess dress from Adore & Abhor was released to celebrate their sixth anniversary. It is rich in design details including a sheer overskirt, a lovely ribbon belt and a cameo collar.

Let me start with a confession. I do not hate Shopping Cart Disco’s SL Secrets. From sociology and evolutionary psychology, I understand the role of gossip in defining community norms and values. It is possible that anonymity allows more viciousness than we might see in first life, but given the many stories about young people driven to suicide by online harassment on Facebook® and Twitter® coming from  non-anonymous classmates, I think that  anonymity is a smaller factor than we might think.

Sometimes the secrets make me think, sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they surprise me. Secrets often spark discussions on Plurk® and I suppose they do on other social media as well. Sometimes I agree with the secret-makers, sometimes I do not. One thing most secret-makers have in common is an idea of how the world should be and they want us all to know it is out of alignment with their standards.

Today a secret maker repeated the all too common “Get a real life” mantra that always seems so ironic coming from someone whose emotional investment is Second Life® is so powerful they are compelled to create anonymous secrets to share their opinions. This time, the “Get a real life” message included an insinuation that purchasing from SL creators could be contributing to their mental illness by promoting an attachment to this second life over their first life.

I think the secret maker is wrong on all levels – because while our first and second lives are distinct and often separate, they are both real.

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