Wagner James Au / New World Notes

In 2010's "What Rebecca Learned By Being A Second Life Man" recounts a young woman's experience roleplaying as a hot male avatar in the virtual world dating scene: 

… she had her own challenges in this male form: "I kept thinking to myself, 'How do guys talk? What am I suppose to say?'"

Again, her solution was to reverse engineer the social dynamic: "I went over to Franks Jazz Club, and chatted it up with a few of the women there, trying to remember the same conversation starters that the various players in my past had used on my main female avatar."

With the women she tried this on, as a Second Life male, she had more success: "I got a variety of responses from the women at the club, ranging from 'Buzz off!' to 'Why thank you, I would love to dance with you.'"

Her male patter worked really well in one particular case, a woman she danced with at the jazz club… The lines worked so well, the woman began giving her free clothes, effectively trying to make Rebecca's Second Life male even more attractive. "I could tell she was becoming attached, so I told her I had to log off."

Apparently crushed by Rebecca's male, the woman persisted, sending her several offline Instant Message. But Rebecca decided not to respond, or explain who she really was. "I think telling her the truth would have freaked her out."

Read the rest here!