I guess there are two parts to that question - what keeps me coming back to SL and what keeps me coming back to the blog. So, for the purposes of padding this entry out a little, lets consider each of those.
It's probably pretty easy to list out what keeps me coming back to SL, indeed my "Slanksgiving" blog for Week 5 listed out many of them individually, but while the people are inevitably a huge factor can they be the sole reason? In theory I could talk to all of these guys or a similar bunch in RL but I don't, we're interacting entirely in SL (though frankly the whole thorny topic of SL vs RL isn't something I'm entirely sure I'm qualified to opine on just yet so maybe I'll park that for a later blog).
Of course one of the advantages of SL is that people with similar interests will tend to gravitate toward certain sims and, with geographical boundaries no longer a barrier to meeting people, a hugely increased number of potential chums to hang out with becomes instantly available to you the moment you log in. So the setting, or at least the availability of this type of setting, must also be a major factor. Without the setting, you simply don't have the opportunity to meet the people in the first place.
So when it comes to setting, I inevitably come once again to my home away from home here in SL. I've talked at some length in previous posts (in fact probably all of them) about AAi and how much time I spend there, which as I think about it is perhaps one of the least surprising things about my Second Life experience to date. Music is a big deal for me and for a long time before discovering SL I'd bemoaned the fact that I simply don't get enough time to just enjoy music, discover new tracks from new bands or just kill some free time talking with like-minded folks about what they like to listen to themselves. SL seems to me the perfect forum for just this kind of thing and has definitely helped redress this imbalance, putting something back which I felt had been somewhat lacking in my RL of late.
For some reason in RL, sitting around just listening to music has in a way ceased to count as a valid use of time - there always seems to be a pressure (both external and internal) to get off your butt and actually "do something" rather than wasting your time like this, particularly if you're in a group environment. Thus far in SL I've never really felt any similar pressure and many of my most enjoyable times thus far have involved nothing more than simply kicking back and letting the music wash over me, allowing myself to actually relax and not worry about whether or not this might "count" as a good use of my time.
Having a friendly DJ on hand who can hijack the AAi stream outside of scheduled event times to play some tunes has of course been a massive bonus too :) Indeed on occasion these have taken on a life of their own as more and more friends have teleported in to join the unscheduled fun. It's things like that which, more than anything else, probably keep me coming back.
So what about the blog? What keeps me coming back and updating this? Well that's perhaps a much trickier one to answer. Although I originally started to write this as much for my own benefit as anything else, it has probably been the reaction from others who have taken the time to read my ramblings which has kept me at this. I always surprise myself with how much I actually enjoy just writing for the sake of it, but without the kind words from everyone else it is doubtful I'd have made it much past week 3 of the blog. Without that feedback it would be all too easy to convince myself of the rank amateurishness of the whole thing and simply stop bothering.
There's also the fact that each week I'm invariably introduced to someone, something or somewhere new and this is a pretty good forum to both record those experiences and potentially share them with others who might be interested. While I was writing my blog last week for instance I would have had no inkling that within a few days I'd have beaten Pixie at SL bowling (despite her initial warning to me that "I'm really good at this") and had a blast making virtual snow angels at one of the seasonal, winter sims which are now cropping up on the destination guide.
Of course every time I sit down to actually write the blog it occurs to me that it would be a great idea to actually provide links to the sims which I'm talking about or posting pictures of in case others might want to check them out too, but by then it's too late since I've usually forgotten where they were. Also I'm not entirely sure I have the first clue how to post links to in-world locations here. Clearly an area I need to swot up on and improve for future updates then!
Finally, I'm also aware of how much I enjoy reading the blogs which others have put out there (see Meri's Pixie's and Moonletters links to the right), so it seems somewhat churlish to expect them to keep producing content without making some kind of an effort myself! Even if only a few people are reading and enjoying, that's plenty good enough for me so thanks for stopping by :)
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