Before dating apps lived in our pockets and became routine, unlikely romances unfolded across the virtual spaces of Second Life. This early multi-user world let residents customise avatars, build and trade property, and mingle throughout ‘the grid’, where virtual currency often translated to real-world value.

In this excerpt from the SBS documentary Podlove, Australians Blair and Diana develop an unexpected connection, spending long stretches together in their customised digital world. Their story offers a vivid glimpse into the internet’s early promise to stretch beyond geography and daily routines – a place where dream bodies, imagined jobs and idealised relationships could be designed and lived.

It’s telling that Second Life’s population began to shrink in 2007, just as platforms like Facebook nudged online life toward public identity and polish over anonymous fantasy – a shift that still defines the digital landscape today.