Re-adding the mentor system to SL

[LuciaRiley]

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-7980 is the URL for debate. I have made it clear that LL needs to make the requirements harsh so they choose the right people this time. 

I really want this system back, because it COULD BE  alot more helpful than NCI and those groups. Most of those helpers don't even do their job properly, or at all. Would there even be concern with re-adding it?

[Griffin Ceawlin]

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LuciaRiley wrote:

Most of those helpers don't even do their job properly, or at all.

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These are all volunteers that you're talking about, not paid helpers. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

[Imnotgoing Sideways]

I think SL9B shows that Linden Lab is currently in the state to say "Your world" and mean it by not intervening other than to enforce the TOS.  Is this a good or bad thing? I don't know. (>_<)

I was a Mentor up until the final days of the group and I'm currently a member of NCI's staff.  I can say this; managing volunteers is extremely difficult.  Re-creating what the lab formerly had as the Mentor program would be flawed, to say the least.  From what I remember and continue to observe, people very quickly forget their position of service as a volunteer and tend to wear their tag as though it were a badge of authority. (._.)

And, authority is where the troubles really begin.  Anyone who chooses on their own that they have achieved authority often find themselves faced by anything from mockery to full blown rebellion.  Long story short; it is near impossible to find people who will do good for the sake of the better without asking for anything in return. (T_T)

On the other hand, in spite of the flaws, I can't be against this.  A volunteer organization is a necessity for SL and the learning curve that comes with initial orientation.  If any such organization were to come along, I'd be more than willing to offer any help I can profide. ()y

[Storm Clarence]

Very well stated Immy.

[Irene Muni]

Voted & Watching.

[Solar Legion]

While I'd love to see the old Mentor program back in some fashion ... Immy is right. The system was badly flawed. 

[Innula Zenovka]

Practical question.   Presumably the difference between this revised mentor programme and existing independent initiatives is that the Mentor programme will have some sort of Linden sponsorship and supervision.

That being the case, what should the Mentors say when someone says, "My friends tell me there's several third party viewers, made by residents, which they find preferable in some ways to the official viewer.    What do you think of them, and which one do you suggest I should  try?"

Or, in a variation of that, what happens if a Mentor is trying to explain how to do something, and the new resident they are trying to help says, "This is confusing me, because I'm using Firestorm (or whatever it is) and the layout in front of me is different from the one you're describing.   Is there a Mentor around who can help me with Firestorm?"

 

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

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Innula Zenovka wrote:

That being the case, what should the Mentors say when someone says, "My friends tell me there's several third party viewers, made by residents, which they find preferable in some ways to the official viewer.    What do you think of them, and which one do you suggest I should  try?" 

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Pat them on the head and say "that nice near, now run along and play, cause granny's gotta hop on this poseball here with the pool boy until 6."

 

That said, I think an official mentoring program returning would be a VERY good idead.

 

 

[Dilbert Dilweg]

If they do. I hope they recruit better than thery did at the end of the last program. Before they nixed the mentor program I happened to see many new mentors that got inducted to the mentor program asking silly questions in mentor chat like. How do it create a notecard. and how do I change my clothing...  It was lookiing pretty cheesy to see mentors asking basic questions that they should have already known

 

The groups doing the mentoring now seem to be acting as special intrest groups

[Jeny Howlett]

Hi. All you do is whine and criticize , try to be a mentor for 1 day and lets see how well you will do. NCI is one of the best help places around and mentors are usually busy helping several residents at once.

[Phil Deakins]

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Imnotgoing Sideways wrote:

And, authority is where the troubles really begin.  Anyone who chooses on their own that they have achieved authority often find themselves faced by anything from mockery to full blown rebellion.  Long story short; it is near impossible to find people who will do good for the sake of the better without asking for anything in return. (T_T)

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I came across that effect in SL one, in an LL-owned group. Sometimes spam would be posted in group chat so a few of the members requested to be made moderators to deal with the spam when it came. They were made moderators for that purpose and almost immediately decided that they were in charge, when one of them tried to control what was discussed. Specifically, he'd watched a topic being discussed one day and then later in the day the topic came up again. Thinking himself in charge now, he decided that the topic had been discussed enough for that day, and he tried to stop it, even going to the lengths of chucking one person out of the group. The topic was redzone and wasn't even slightly heated. That same day, another of them said to me, "Do you think we should allow....". In other words, she also thought she was in charge to the extent of controlling what was and was not discussed.

They were made moderators to deal with the spam posts but immediately decided they had authority for everything - even to decide what could and could not be discussed.

Wanting to be 'in charge' of something is a common trait, but many people don't succumb to it. I don't think it would be too difficult to find people who are not so enamoured with self, and who would make good mentors if the system was ever brought back.

[Shelby Silverspar]

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Jeny Howlett wrote:

Hi. All you do is whine and criticize , try to be a mentor for 1 day and lets see how well you will do. NCI is one of the best help places around and mentors are usually busy helping several residents at once.

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THIS! 

 

Don't you just love it when the newbies tell LL how things should be done? Quite comical.