Time for lesson number two: To /me or not to /me during cyber. Typing “/me” at the start of a chat line in Second Life makes the colon disappear so you can make the line read “Legendary Charisma bakes a muffin” instead of “Legendary Charisma: bakes a muffin”. Such a small difference you say, why does it matter? So let’s start there – why does that tiny colon matter so much, and how can you deal with it to best advantage during cyber.

To fully comprehend the strength of that colon you must remember that everyday chat in Second Life uses the colon as a short-hand for “says”. When you’re in Second Life everyday using it in that way, you take its meaning for granted and its absence when someone types in “/me” instead, is always (at least subconsciously) noticed. In fact it becomes very much second nature to use “/me” when you want to say what you think (“Legendary Charisma wonders if the dishes will wash themselves tonight”) or are doing (“Legendary Charisma does the dishes because they didn’t do themselves”) rather than what you are purely saying.

So the question becomes whether you should use it in cyber, when you should use it, and why or why not.

First off we have to begin with the issue of consistency. Consistency is very important in cyber because of reasons mentioned in my previous post – rhythm and staying in the mood; not being jolted out of your frame of mind, and focus on the task. So it is less than ideal to jump around in this way “Legendary Charisma cleans the plate. I think it’s clean now. Sparkly goodness”. It starts off in the third person narrative (“Legendary Charisma..”), then jumps to the first person (“I”). If you want to consistently use “I”, then avoid “/me” altogether (it’s not really that confusing, just read that sentence again). So instead it will read “Legendary Charisma: I’m cleaning the plate. I think it’s clean now. Sparkly goodness”.

Straight away you see the problem: If the presence of the colon makes it appear to the seasoned Second Life mind as if you are “saying” the words that follow it, then it’s not very sexy or convincing to use the “I” in this way. The alternative is to always speak in the third person narrative and therefore continue through-out to use the “/me” function. For example: “Legendary Charisma wipes the dishes clean, then licks them clean. She is ever so happy with her night’s work”. See our new problem..? How damn weird is it to be talking about yourself in the third person in that way: “She”. It’s a bit unsettling, and again you’ll find people have trouble consistently using it – they naturally and instinctively want to jump back to “I” whenever it’s not the start of the chat line.

You can solve this to some extent by always starting each line of cyber anew “Legendary Charisma eats dinner” “Legendary Charisma is annoyed cause now there’s a new plate to clean damnit”. Problem is your imagination is now limited since you always have to appear at the front of a sentence; it’s tight format is not conducive to the free flow of ideas. It also sounds kinda silly innit.

So here’s where we are at: Either you’re mixing the first and third person voice, or you’re only using “I” and making yourself look like you’re talking, or you’re only using third person and making yourself look a bit wankery (though slightly less so if you avoid referring to yourself as “she” and just used the “/me” option).

So this one is going to come down a lot to personal preference and comfort zone. I’m going to tell you what I think you should do. I think the best you can get by with is using the “/me” mixed with the “I”. Use “/me” at the start of the chat line when it suits what you’re trying to say – this way the flow is not jilted by the colon implying you’re saying the words: The Second Life mind will feel more comfortable reading actions and thoughts in this way. Then through-out the rest of the sentence/s on that chat line, use “I” / “my” as required. It is a heck of a lot better than using “she” to talk about yourself in cyber, because that third person referencing almost always sounds “removed” and unusual.

Whatever you do though don’t jump around between using “she” and “I” within the text proper: “Legendary Charisma wipes the dish. Then I wonder why I’m even doing the dishes. Then she converts to takeaways so she never has to do them again”. That’s just icky and solidly in our no-no column.

There is one last closely related piece of advice here that I strongly recommend: If you want yourself / your persona to actually talk during cyber, you need to make it very clear to your partner/s that you aren’t just continuing along the lines of action and thought of typical cyber. I recommend using speech marks to separate and emphasise when you are doing that. That way there is no confusion, none of that “oh I didn’t realise you were talking to me, that’s why I didn’t respond when you said your love for me is like the first suds on the first dish ever washed” or whatever. Most chat sessions will have some “verbal” component in this way and you need to know how to spot and to respond to them.

Right, that’s lesson two done then, quick recap: Be aware of the “/me” function cause chances are your partner is. Be prepared to use it but make a conscious decision to use either “I’ or “she” through-out (not both) to avoid uncomfortable and disturbing inconsistencies. And try to make clear the difference between when your persona is thinking or doing something, and actually saying something – speech marks are good for this. There ya go, hope that helps