How to spot an alt:

 Some people I know have asked me over the years to put this guide together and I’m just getting around to doing it.  Now, just about everybody has alts.  Some people are honest about them and other people like to use their alts for nefarious reasons.  I have about 14 alts myself; the last time I counted. Some I use for different characters in roleplay and some I have never logged into.  This guide is really for the people that feel somebody using their alts for abusive purposes like harassment.  I had a person who was upset that I ended a friendship with them and it went on for years of them trying to re-friend me or spying on me with alts.   Now, with some experience under my belt with dealing with these types of people, I am able to spot their alts much quicker and hopefully, you will be able too.

 

1.       Style, Shape & Skin:  People are creatures of habit.  This applies in real life and in second life.  People are naturally drawn to the things they like.  So even if they make a new alt, that alt is going to look similar to their other one.  They will often shop at the same places.  They will wear similar shapes and skins.  They will have the same taste in clothes.  Take particular notice to the following: Shape, skin, eyes, ears (Some people love to buy unique ears and attach them to their mesh head.)  Men are really bad about this but a lot of them like to buy packaged deals from marketplace.  It’s where everything will be included: Shape, skin, eyes and clothes.  Now, you can’t spot an alt from this alone but do take notice of everything.  Take a snapshot if you need to compare the pictures later.

2.       Personality traits:  Write down the personality traits of the person.  Are they a big spender?  Do they put a lot of thought into their avie or none at all?  Do they change their clothes often or never?   Do they talk in local a lot or never?   Compare this to the alt in question.

3.       Profiles:  As I said, people are creatures of habit so their profiles are going to be written in their style.  Save all calling cards and compare profiles.

4.       Typing:  All people type in a unique way just like in the way handwriting is unique.  Some people type with perfect grammar and some cannot spell correctly if their life depended on it.  Take note of this too. If you save conversations; you can re-read them for a refresh.

5.       Conversations: I can’t explain why because it baffles me but these people will use alts and hang out at exactly the same places and talk to the same people they are trying to hide from.   Being in an environment that is familiar is appealing to a lot of people so they return to the same places over and over.  It’s also a place they are comfortable in.  I find when somebody is having a conversation with you they will tell the same stories or repeat the same phrases.   They usually are not aware that they are doing this.  Sometimes, they just forget they are being this different alt. I once had somebody friend me 4 times under different alts over the course of several months and each time I figured out it was him because of a simple phrase he kept saying that he was unaware that he said a lot.  Also, each alt looked similar, the profiles were written almost exactly the same and with these conversations with him; it wasn’t difficult to put two and two together.  When I confronted him; he was shocked that I would figure it out. (4 times!) He honestly, thought somebody somewhere in Second Life had told me the truth.  He would not believe that I figured it out myself.

 

Personal experience: 

I used to date somebody that decided he wanted to take a break for real life purposes.  (This isn’t bad and I fully encourage everybody to take a break from Second Life and actually go out and enjoy real life) He didn’t do that.  He basically had partnered somebody else under a different alt. (A married woman) He decided that he couldn’t hack two SL relationships and so ended up lying to me so he could fully pursue the person he wanted to be with it.  The problem was that his alt looked exactly like his old alt and he hung out in exactly the same places.  His profile was typed almost exactly like the old one.  He really didn’t put much thought into it.  I just rolled my eyes and moved on.  I just figured that liar can be that chic’s problem now.