It all started with someone’s music teacher.

They mentioned that they had come across this website called Activeworlds. A 3D world where you could build houses and talk to people online, from anywhere in the world. Back in 1999 it seemed like a really imaginative use of the internet. Can you remember what it was like back then? Ive seen some photos on here, with people reminiscing about their early computers, so I guess so.

When I was quite young, I used to read my older brother’s science fiction books. He was eight years older than me but I learned to read before I went to school, so the difficulty didn’t stop my interest. In my childish dreams there was communication like this website promised.

And virtual lego – wow, you wouldn’t have to put all the bricks back in the box when you were finished, great!

I logged on and was hooked. There was a separate “world” where just Brits used to gather and chat. It quickly became very real, and totally absorbing. Luckily it happened at a time when my evenings were empty and at a time in my life when I could do with friendships.

I discovered bunch of forward thinking librarians from across the world, who were building virtual libraries, which because Activeworlds was browser based, could integrate with the internet and other websites easily. So a user could walk around and click on an image of something and be linked to a website or a real library’s catalogue about that something. As a librarian I was thrilled. Science fiction had become to life. I became part of it, and the excitement has never really left me. The possibilities were endless. Three years later my job in libraries changed and I was part of what’s called Web 2.0 in libraries. All those exciting possibilities were happening for real, in small local libraries.

But to get back to the year 2000. I distinctly remember meeting this person called Islington, - noone uses their real names, just nicknames for privacy. He invited me to look at a building he had just created – and also a spectacular hole in the ground. I had never come across anyone who had created a negative building before. Very good flying practice it was. Oh, I didn’t say, but you can fly in 3D worlds. Of course.

Turns out he had come into Activeworlds with a friend – nickname Hellboy – on a bored evening, when somewhat fuelled by alcohol. No doubt they will put me straight on that one. They both seemed incredibly artistic, and within a few weeks had created fantastic fantasy houses and galleries to house their artworks. Islington had even built a three dimensional maze, stories high, of glass blocks. It was next door to my rather more prosaic house and garden (with indoor swimming pool though) plus a cricket pitch and pavilion (don’t ask why, I don’t even like cricket).

At the far edge of my plot, I had recreated a representation of a special place for me – St Augustine’s Well in Cerne Abbas. And Islington built a priory (I remember I was invited to create the garden for the cloisters – much easier and quicker than garden design in real life!)

All this online life took up quite a bit of my spare time, and yes (as David Steele mentioned in My Favourite Waste of Time – Sunday Journal 6 April) it was totally absorbing. I used to get pangs of sadness when I logged off and descended back into Real Life). The addiction wasn’t really healthy. However, many of the people there all had the same need for a particular niche in their life to be filled. Those needs were many but there all still there – friendship, creativity, there were as many needs as there were “citizens”. And yes, some of the worlds were distinctly adult in theme!

One good factor was that it was inclusive (not only in tolerating the adult worlds with bondage, slavery etc) but that people with disabilities were as equal as everyone else. As long as you could use a keyboard, noone knew if you were deaf, disabled, housebound, fat, thin….all were equal in this world.

Of course, that left it open that you could be who you wanted to be, to present whatever persona you chose. But of course, you had to be consistent! As do liars and cheats the world over. Everyone was well aware of the pitfalls of the place. Many romantic liaisons had nasty consequences when the realities were eventually realized. Having said that, when the group of Brits that formed the core of Englandworld actually met up – there were no real surprises. And one of them who found it difficult to venture out and meet suitable girls in his home town, has gone on to meet and marry the girl of his dreams in America. A lovely life changing story for someone who deserved happiness.

I think that it was an unusual online community, because the people there actually did meet up, and forge even stronger bonds. Not once but many times. It seemed like a large village that was just spread out across England, and indeed Scandanavia and Holland too.

The educational aspect was strong, but not seen so much in our community – although there was a teacher once, who used her build to get classes from schools in different parts of England to meet up and talk online. Now that webcams are more common this isn’t such a stunning innovation. But an educational world was used for online conferences and time invested in it. Its still being used by the librarian from the Librarea world. His blog Virtual Social Worlds and Libraries at http://vbiworld.blogspot.com/ shows how difficult was the decision to stay with Activeworlds or go with the majority to the new upstart Second Life (which is much more commercial and has attracted more investment from companies therefore)

But without this time of Virtual Reality in my life, I wouldn’t be where I am now. That place filled the niche for me of a local pub and a group of friends. The confidence I gained there allowed me to go out and get a life; Islington pointed me in the direction of Samaritans too – after all, I was listening and helping people from across the world, so why shouldn’t I do the same for my own community in Dorset. The training and the experiences at Sams changed me too – for the better I hope.

They were good times in Englandworld, where I met the best people....