For the better part of a decade, I’ve engaged with the Internet with a more-or-less consistent pseudonym, persona, avatar… handle… or whatever you want to call it. First I was the blogger, “Cubicle Dweller“, then “Cubey”, and finally “Cubey Terra” in Second Life. It worked for me, for the most part. Lately, though, I became concerned that I had taken a back seat to a fictional character. Just like when Leonard Nimoy published “I am not Spock” to reassert his identity as an actor rather than a fictional Vulcan, I wanted to set Cubey aside in the same way. I am not Cubey Terra.
So I killed Cubey. First I killed Twitter Cubey who had only a modest 200 followers. But Cubey wasn’t dead yet. His persona lurked elsewhere. So next, I killed Facebook Cubey, an avatar with a list of several hundred “friends” that he’d never spoken to, let alone actually befriended.
Those were just outposts, however. I turned my eye to Cubey Terra, the Second Life oldbie. If I was serious about it, I’d wipe Abbotts and cancel my account. Even zombie Cubey can’t come back from that.
My finger hovered over the kill button, but I couldn’t do it. I may not be Cubey, but in the end I want to keep him around. I’ll probably even let him make more stuff in Second Life. So Cubey gets a reprieve for now.
When I think about this more, I have changed my Facebook and Twitter name to match my real name, but are those avatars any more real than Cubey? I am not Facebook Steve or Twitter Steve either. Maybe it was all a misguided attempt at “keeping it real”, and my assassination attempt was futile.
So that’s my confession. I killed two Cubeys. And he’s still alive and well.
To be or not Cubey? That is the query.
I’m glad you didn’t kill him off :)
I don’t see HBA as me, more an aspect of me. I guess it’s like the me at work isn’t the whole me… although I’d love to have huge horns! That’d make my boss think twice!
The day the Aerodrome goes down is the day I leave SL for good. I’ve always tried to leave this Randian nightmare wasteland for good but I keep coming back for some reason or another and the Aerodrome has remained a familiar and friendly landmark no matter how much the rest of the grid changes. If one day I come back to find it gone, I’m retiring Hobonicus Engel for good.
Maybe just set your SL “Display Name” to your real name and call it a day :)
Hobonicus, I feel the same way about some places in SL. They may be “places” in the real sense, but they’re real in the emotional sense, and very much exist as social places. Luskwood is a particular example of that.
I think I’ll try to keep Abbotts for a while longer, if I can.
Troy, already done, but not without some hesitation. SL isn’t a totally safe environment, socially speaking, and anonymity — even superficial anonymity — is important. With that in mind, I may reset my display name, in fact.
Aye, although HBA is an extension of me I do try to keep my SL & RL identities apart, mainly because the nature of SL is to be so open and that’s not always a good thing. Years ago when I was a sound engineer working the HUGE raves across the UK, I saw just what being so open (in this case thanks to the dubious wonders of E) did to the poor sods dancing their brains away. It’s better to be open with the right folks at the right time I’ve found. Osprey, Sal, Enjah and a few others know the RL me, but they are in a small group of people I trust (and like) enough with that (and visa versa). Of course Sal in SL is the same in RL, but he’s the exception rather than the rule :)
Hrm. The name of this blog is cubeyterra.com.
Which means, if you’re killing off cubey, then…
Wait. What was that flickering on th3094jfd4*7lk
NO CARRIER
Abbotts remains one of the focal points of my SL existence. If ever you should cancel your account – and who am I to tell you that you shoudln’t – I would strongly urge our beloved Lab to leave it in place as is. As a monument to the fact that even on the mainland Residents can create grandiose structures surpassing those of the Lab itself.
And not just badly textured empty castles.
So glad Cubey Terra is still with us…
And I am not Liv Leigh either. It is just the last name that I picked at SL birth and made up a first name with. In the real world there are even other people who imitated me and are now called Liv Leigh. I could not have foreseen this in 2007. Yet, it is no reason to change. Actually: a change would kill a lot of the things that I have built up over time in SL.
It is my avatars name and if she is happy with it, so am I.
Remember, John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison and even Mark Twain is a pseudonym. Just think of Cubey as a commercial property, or brand identity. He is not who you are, but what you present to the public (or represent in their mind). Would the online perception be much different under your real name? If nothing else, he can be your digital Batman persona, so that you can fight crime and retain a layer of protection for your true identity. And to me, the Aerodrome and your avatar are a symbolic – if not pinnacle – representation of Second Life. You remain a beacon of light and inspiration to many. As goes Cubey, so goes SL.
Agreed, I’m glad you didn’t kill off the SL Cubey. I’d miss your crazy walks across the grid for no reason, and the Aerodrome was one of the first places I went when I was new… I still go back now and then to drool over and test drive vehicles. It’s just an awesome place.
I agree with HBA, Ilia is an aspect of me; a lot of her personality is me, supplemented by a sort of inner/fantasy me. I know the RL people behind a few of my SL friends, and I think of them in the same way– their avatars are aspects of their personality, but they aren’t the *entire* personality.