A month or so ago, a simple and obvious thought occurred to me: I wonder if there are 12 step meetings in Second Life?'. After a couple of minutes of Googling, I had the Second Life software downloaded and an avatar complete with ironic username - WYSIWYG1. It was my first time on Second Life. The only thing I really knew about SL were my judgmental assumptions and the work of artist Micha Cardenas. Cardenas did a performance where s/he spent 365 hours in SL as a dragon as a way of exploring the very real lives of transgender folk through a Deleuzian framework . Cardenas has a great essay up on Cnet here expounding the philosophy behind the work.
Micha Cardenas - Becoming Dragon - Installation View - 2008
What surprised me most about the interactions in SL was the need for social mores. When I got to the meeting room, I was understandably anxious. I walked around the room, checked out the literature and AA paraphernalia. I wasn't really sure what to do with myself. I noticed a character/lady/person/avatar/state vector sitting on the couch and I walked up to her. Because I was still learning the controls. I kind of awkwardly stood in front of her and immediately felt embarrassed at my avatar's rude behavior. Eventually I figured out how to appropriately address her and we were able to converse.
S/he was very welcoming and gave me the run down: format of the meeting, meeting lists for future meetings, shorthand code for 'sharing', and the conventions around cross talk. Cross talk is something to be avoided in a 12 step meeting. Its when you address another person or something someone's said. Its a way to make sure everyone has a safe space to share what they want.
Instagram of my SL avatar
12 step meetings are interesting entities in themselves. Some say they are a cult while others say that without a 12 step, their lives would inevitably end in jails, institutions, and/or death. They have no mandatory rules, but do have 'Traditions' which are a set of guidelines that are meant to act as a way to structure the group and maintain its clarity of purpose. Some see these as nefarious, but they function in the same way as any other social contract - some individual liberties are sacrificed for the greater good of the whole. The greater good of AA always boils down to the individual member, especially the new member. The power structure of AA is rather anarchic in that its power distribution is horizontal. Even though there are committees, decisions are made by individual groups.
More people teleported into the meeting. One did a twirling dance routine before she sat down, another just lounged the whole meeting. Most people were awkward and shy, which I can only assume is how they are in the physical world. The meeting progressed awkwardly but smoothly. Once it was over, people teleported back to wherever they came from. I spoke with my mysterious friend and thanked her/him for their generosity and for making me feel welcome.
The contents of the meeting itself weren't that interesting and I left feeling as unaffected as if I had played a video game for an hour. I did have an interesting impulse to do something shady, like see what sex in SL is like. I didn't end up looking for it, but I'm sure its there and I'm sure there's a large community around it. No one wants to fantasize about doing something good for yourself, like going to an AA meeting (if you're an alcoholic). Fantasy is more about living out those things that we can't in 'real' life. It won't be long before Virtual or simulated Realty becomes indistinguishable from what we think of as the 'real' world. We are getting closer and closer to the blurry line that we are already questioning with what is reality and what isn't. A defining question, for me, in that debate, will be something along the lines of If an AA drinks in SL, is it considered a relapse?