Would you rather be in Second Life right now... or are you already..?
A recent commenter on my blog claimed you can’t be addicted to Second Life. I countered with a “oh yes you can be”.
It doesn’t take much of a Google search to find people making the claim that it’s possible (examples of relevant links include this and this and this).
Inspired by my good friend Rrish over at Metaversally Speaking who did a quiz about Second Life body shapes, I’ve decided to provide a link to an Internet Addiction Quiz that I found quite interesting and relevant. When I took the quiz purely in regards to “Internet addiction” (which is it’s intention and wording), I received a score of:
25: Internet addiction possible: Based upon your responses to this quiz, it appears that you are likely experiencing fairly frequent issues related to your online use. This often occurs when individuals start exploring or using Internet resources (or game playing) to an extreme, without considering balancing them with their real-life needs. Think of it like this… You generally don’t spend 5 or 6 hours in front of the television, every night, nearly every day. Most people wouldn’t think that’s normal. So if you find yourself spending that amount of time online day after day and it’s affecting your ability to interact in your real life, you should seek change or additional help.
I took the quiz again specifically inserting for myself the words “Second Life” instead of “Internet”, “email” and “online”and got this (again, with “Second Life” replacing the words “online” and “Internet”):
11: No Second Life Addiction: Your use of Second Life falls within the range of the average user. From the way you answered the questions, it is unlikely that you have any problem with Second Life use at this time. You have a balanced relationship with your Second Life use.
Sounds good right? It does now. This is the honest result I would have gotten answering those questions about Second Life a few months ago:
33: Second Life Addiction Likely: Based upon your responses to this quiz, it appears that the amount of time you’re spending in Second Life may be causing you significant concerns within your real-world life. People who spend a lot of time in Second Life often find that they have difficulty balancing their Second life with their real-world life (especially if you are new to Second Life). You should look at how you’re using Second Life right now and see if there are ways that you can reduce or otherwise change your use of Second Life to reduce the issues it may be causing in your life. Think of it like this… You generally don’t spend 6 or 8 hours in front of the television, every night, nearly every day. Most people wouldn’t think that’s normal. So if you find yourself spending that amount of time in Second Life day after day and it’s affecting your ability to interact in your real life, you should seek change or additional help.
So things have clearly changed for the better, and I stand by what I’ve said before in my blog: I used to be addicted to Second Life but no longer am.
What about you? Are you addicted to Second Life? Run through the quiz the way I did – inserting “Second Life” for those other Internet terms, and if you’re brave, let me know what your score was. Or just pop it into my attached poll, or even better – do both 
23? A measly 23? That quiz is so wrong judging me
May I ask for a reevaluation?
My score was 6.
I scored 14, which probably means I was lying.
[...] there isn’t anything wrong in seeking solace when things are bad, and it may even help. Things may get a bit obsessive? At least we aren’t talking alcohol or drugs, and you will be having a bigger opportunity to [...]
Go me, I scored 5
0_0
London, lol, sure – do it again in a few months when your addiction has had time to cement further :p
Chestnut, Dale and Hell, yay!! (And you’re only lying to yourself Dale :p)
I’m actually impressed at your non-addictions, and frightened by the fact that mine was once higher than them all (though not too surprised – I was in pretty deep).
For the record, I got 18 – but of course i’m a programmer so my productivity goes DOWN if i’m offline, amongst other things.
Hmm, but that won’t effect the test if you changed the words “online” to “Second Life” like I suggested – because time spent in Second Life could still potentially decrease your productivity.
Now if you were working *for* Second Life you might have a point – but even they could run through the test only answering it for time spent there independent of their paid work and still get a meaningful outcome.
Good point, though the stuff I do is virtual worlds, so that sometimes involves SL interop work……
Again though Gareth, same point as I made in my above comment: If it is your work environment obviously you don’t answer it for that aspect. The same way that a wine-judge wouldn’t call himself an alcoholic despite being around and thinking about wine all the time, but could and would be an alcoholic if he was abusing it in non job-related ways.
And yay that someone who did the test finally got in the 30+ category, I feel a wee bit better now
Point taken
Doing the quiz again your way got me a score of 16
lol, yay! I love it when my point gets taken :p
(Sorry, I’m a stubborn wee thing sometimes ^^)
The trick to the test is to be honest. I scored a 20. Would have been a full blown 30, two years ago. And I would say because I stay away ( for the most part) from SL. On top of my list of first things I would do after winning the lottery. Is to throw the computer out the door. I dream of being off the grid. Seriously…
It is the Anti-Christ…
36—time for an intervention
i,m leaving my family because of sl
Hey all, I took this test a few hours after realising that secondlife had completely taken over my real life. I scored a 37…yes 37. Im 22 with a full life ahead of me but instead I was wasting it sitting in front of a computer controlling a make believe character thinking this would make me forget the pain of my past.Im now taking steps to quit secondlife for good and urge anyone reading this to do the same.Sl/internet addiction is real!
Sam, whether that’s a good thing or not depends on what your family was like..! And what does leaving your family even mean – you’re moving out of home finally, or divorcing your wife, or what? By itself your comment is totally ambiguous.
Ash, good on you, sounds like you’re doing the right thing. Best of luck
SL addiction is very real. I just ended a relationship because of it. My ex kept telling me how he loved me and his time on sl meant nothing all the while spending 10 hours a nite with his sl “pet” and arriving late to his rl job. I couldn’t deal with this anymore- I felt like I was being cheated on….with a cartoon.
You did the right thing by moving on Elena, I hope it helped him wake up to reality – in more than one sense. It’s a common story of people fooling around (either online or in real life) while keeping their current partner handy in case their fling doesn’t work out, etc. Whatever his motivation for what he was doing, it was clearly destructive – and addictive – behaviour.
I used to play and i broke so many rules and i really wanna go back but i really dont at the same time because its soooo addicing and Im so mad because i spent over 400 dollars real money in that game and i get banned like 5 times and i dont stop playing i really need help its crazy and im only 15=[ i have like no friends now and no one except my family knows where i am “on the comp on secondlife” ive been trying to get better and get my grades up but its so hard even when i try to play any other game than secondlife i always wish they would let me back in even when i know that banning me was the best thing because i still have skins i made and ao’s and the app. i just cant bare deleting them and moving on its so hard when you played since july 2009 till january 15 2010=/ i still keep in-touch with my friends in sl on skype and msn etc but i miss the game so much i really need to get over this and it feels so good to let this out i never did before
Good on you for letting it out, that can’t have been easy. Sounds like Second Life is quite bad for your mental and emotional health, it’s definitely not the right place for everybody. Keep focusing on having fun in real life away from the computer – you’d be better off replacing Second Life with real life, instead of trying to compensate with other computer games and skype etc. Go out with friends, take up sports, etc. I know it’s easier said than done but especially at your age, you’d really benefit from the change in focus. Good luck, and take care of yourself
I, uh, got a 37. Good thing I left SL about a week and a half ago. *sigh*
[...] their lost job, their empty bank account? Yes the various virtual worlds can be quite addictive, but it brings up the classic chicken or the egg issue: were you already inclined to get distracted [...]
Got an 8 with no fibbing. BUT if I’d taken this test a couple of years back, who knows how high I’d have scored?
Once the pretty wore off, I started spending much less time in SL (and on the web in general). Now it’s something I do in an idle moment and not a daily routine.
Scored 36. SL is destroying my life. I go back to it as it prevents me from the reality of my life (which just gets worse the more I play). The relationships are addictive…even the unhealthy ones I have there. I know they are meaningless ultimately. If only I could stop…
At least you’re aware of it’s negative effects on your life, that’s a good first step! You just need to dedicate yourself to finding real-world activities to replace whatever Second Life is giving you (whether that’s love, or creating things, or whatever it may be). It’s a hard road breaking any addiction, but worth the effort. You’ll be a stronger person afterwards. It took me many many months to break my addiction to SL, and now I am a much happier and more fulfilled person (and a mummy to a new baby boy). Good luck, and don’t give up on yourself.
Hi there “I need help”. I just wanted to let you know that you’re not alone. I posted my old blog – I got myself away from SL on my own a couple of months ago. I saw “Second Life” in the name of an email that just popped up and I rolled my eyes. I then saw that it was someone who I understood completely…reaching out for help. If you need anything, please let me know. You can get my contact info on my blog. Take care of yourself – and I know how much it hurts and I know how hard it is. I am here – and there are a lot of others who are too. Best wishes to you.
i got a 30 i think i need to quit SL but i know im addicted so its hard.
If it was easy to quit it wouldn’t be an addiction! It doesn’t sound like you actually want to leave it yet though, and that’s fine if it’s not causing negative consequences in your life.
uhm, i got a 37 and i guess i am addicted to it. i’m seeking professional help and will start this Monday. hopefully, i’ll get thru it.. i have a “partner” in SL and couldnt stop myself from thinking about him all the time. though i try to keep RL & SL separate but to be honest its already taking over my RL. and i hate admitting it.
(
I scored a 31. It would have been higher but I find I am developing a dislike for SL, therefore I am more happy when not on. I usually get sucked into something with a login to check messages. It is becoming a chore & I have sent my SL landlord a notice I will not be renewing my land rental. The first step.