Auction Courtesy. Your Thoughts

[Kayla Woodrunner]

I think IMs during auctions is fine. It is better than chatting and getting off topic in local which I've seen at a couple auctions. Some joking around and comments on the kitty in local is great but personal conversations should be taken to IM. Therefore IM should not be discouraged. My mom has cancer. My friends often ask me for an update. People don't need to know when she is having a bad day or if I'm broke because I quit my job to be there as her caretaker because the meds make her fall down or other side effects. I can say stuff like that in chat to my friends as well as when I got identical tonki twins or found scotty fold finally in an xmas kitty in April. Things that make us happy or sad but not everyone in the audience needs to know.

I was in SL for a long time and never made friends. The first friend I made was at auction. Now we are also friends away from auctions. We IM each other a lot, even during auctions. I also think it is in the auctioneers best interest if we do IM each other --- because we get distracted, lol. I have bought several panels I didn't want because I thought we were already on the next panel when I had been chatting with someone. Now that I am not so new to IMing and auctions, I don't make that mistake hardly any more which means I bid half as much (yeah, I did make that mistake a lot in the beginning of IMing, lol). All except 1 of my kittyfriends were made at auction. And yes, we still talk at auctions when I go. Along with the personal chat, there is chat about the cats -- sometimes when one of us decides to bid when we were on the fence before. Also people are more apt to go to auctions when there are people to chat with. Even if people don't buy often at auction, they don't buy at all if they don't go so anything that encourages people to attend auctions should be seen as a good thing.

I think encouraging people to chat is a good thing. It deepens the bonds of friendship, creates a social network and broadens the audience at auctions. It deepens the life in SL -- otherwise we would probably lose interest because staying superficial eventually becomes boring.