In my recent editorial about the representation of aging in virtual worlds and social VR, I wrote:
Unfortunately, there’s an absolutely dire shortage of virtual places in Second Life where senior (and senior-appearing) avatars can meet and chat…Where in the fresh hell are the spaces where the age and accumulated wisdom of our elders are welcomed and celebrated?
Well, today I learned, via a serendipitous post on the Dreamer’s Virtual World blog, that there is indeed a Second Life group for those of us who are older in age!
Joining the group is easy. Just teleport here to the New Resident Island orientation sim and freebie store, and click on this board:
The sign reads:
Did you know that there are many older people who join the virtual world of Second Life?
If you are age 40 or older in real life, you can join our mature residents group to chat and share information about cool places with others who are in their 40s, 50s, 60s, or older!
Left click here to join the Silver Tigers group
While the sign below it says that you have to contact Valet Parx to join the group, I found that I was able to join immediately, without an intermediary. There is no cost to join the Silver Tigers group, and it currently has a little over 700 members. The group description reads as follows:
It is a fact – There are MANY mature residents in Second Life. This group is for those residents who are around 40 years and older, to chat, share SL experiences and socialise with people of a similar mature age range. Welcome!
You can also copy and paste the following URI into the chat box in your Second Life viewer, then click on the link it forms to join the Silver Tigers group:
secondlife:///app/group/585c2712-e58c-94ae-4449-f52fb4fbb9ac/aboutI have received so many comments and responses via Discord to my original editorial about aging in the metaverse, that I suspect I will be writing more about this topic in future! I’ve also heard some wonderful stories of people in their fifties, sixties, and even seventies who are active participants in social VR and virtual worlds. The metaverse is not just for the young!
UPDATE February 23, 2022: I also stumbled across a Flickr group dedicated to those who are (or who roleplay) senior citizens in Second Life! The group is called Second Life Senior Citizens and here are a few pictures from their photo pool:
