SL Blogger Network

[Prokofy Neva]

I'm going to stay far, far away from this myself, and I'd never be accepted anyway -- the "guidance" language is extremely overbroad and can basically be interpreted to be anything LL and its favourite avatars don't like. Policing will be WORSE than the forums because more people -- and possibly more influential people like RL journalists -- will look at the "network" whereas most wouldn't dredge down into the forums.

I think even the worthies who have been selected don't realize how much they may have to start watching what they say. 

And there's the SL viewing public which is mainly censorious in mindset.

Few people seem to realize that outside of SL's servers, their TOS does not apply, and that if people don't like what you have placed on your own blog owned by another corporation -- for example inworld chat that reflects something negative about griefers, scammers, annoyers etc. (which is not allowed inworld or on the forums), they can't abuse report you and LL cannot police you. It is outside their domain.

But if you become a part of their official network, their domain in a sense expands. That is, they would only have the power to eject you from their network or not select you for publication, but it could have a chilling effect as the incited mob gathers against you.

I was wondering who could possibly join this network and risk the problems involved -- not only LL's wrath but the wrath of the incited mob as the two have traditionally always go together and one serves the other.  When LL gets a shower of ARs, it feels it "must" act because "the community" has spoken.

And then I realized what this is about. It's not so much an open call for anyone to join the network and get more traffic. It's more about pre-selecting who already fits, and blessing it with the formality of "openness" in that "anyone can join". But...I don't think there will be a stampede.

The blogs chosen are perfectly fine for what they are, and I particularly read Inara Pey's work to see where to travel and what to skim through from the Linden meetings which I mainly can't get to.

I can already predict the latest FIC few that will be added to this roster.  I wonder what's driving this, as it seems like a brand-new set of governance headaches for the Lab and mainly worry about copyright.

Meanwhile, my chosen SL-related blogging platform -- Twitter -- has been "down" since an "unscheduled" maintenance back in...July. Flickr didn't work for months on end although now it does, so I've been forced to put my posts on Flickr, which really isn't a medium for people like me who don't take arty pictures. Downloading the photos and uploading them to a blog is an extra chore I seldom take on these days. LL may not be able to fix Twitter as it may depend on Twitter which is constantly disrupting its apps.

 

[Erwin Solo]

There is an inworld FIC group that is free to join: secondlife:///app/group/2a5d64d0-65a4-34d1-1462-c62242c1494b/about 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

And then I realized what this is about. It's not so much an open call for anyone to join the network and get more traffic. It's more about pre-selecting who already fits, and blessing it with the formality of "openness" in that "anyone can join". But...I don't think there will be a stampede.

This seems rather . . . cynical? I don't doubt for a moment that LL had particular bloggers already in mind when they first pitched this idea (it's hard to imagine this working without the inclusion of Inara's blog, and it's nice to see Sasy and Kess there too), but I can't imagine why LL wouldn't want to promote other bloggers who fit into their (admittedly rather narrow) definition of suitability.

What struck me about the Content Guidelines was this, in the very first bullet point: "The blog post highlights a positive implementation of the Second Life experience . . ." What that suggests to me is that LL isn't much interested in "critique" or cultural criticism of any sort. I haven't blogged about SL in 5 years, and I'm unlikely to pick it up again, but if I did I'm pretty sure that most of my posts wouldn't qualify as "positive" implementations (although, they also wouldn't be especially "negative," either). I think that what this is about is promotion and PR, first and foremost, as well, possibly, as "education," in the sense of the provision for tutorials in things like BOM, navigating the viewer, photography, etc.

But . . . it also seems to fit in very well with what seems to be LL's newish emphasis on nurturing community with SL. And that's a good thing -- even if I don't think I'd be invited as a featured speaker at the block party.

[Madelaine McMasters]

5 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

I'm going to stay far, far away from this myself, and I'd never be accepted anyway

I feel your pain, Prok.

I too hate that childhood tennis coach who picked another girl for the first double's tennis team because I kept hitting my partner in the back of the head with wild serves.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 minute ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I kept hitting my partner in the back of the head with wild serves

"Wild serves"?

Pfffft. It was deliberate, and you know it.

It's why I refuse to stand in front of you with my back turned.

[Lindal Kidd]

I wasn't going to sign up, but if Prok's against it...

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 minute ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I wasn't going to sign up, but if Prok's against it...

We already have you marked down as prime FIC anyway.

More seriously, though, you should: you provide really useful guidance on all sorts of subjects relating to SL. If this is going to be a useful resource, they'll need more bloggers like you.

[Madelaine McMasters]

3 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I wasn't going to sign up, but if Maddy's for it...

FIFY, I'm with Scylla on this.

[Selene Gregoire]

Thanks LL. Now I know which blogs to avoid reading. 

[Love Zhaoying]

What is a “FIC group”?

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

What is a “FIC group”?

https://secondlife.fandom.com/wiki/Oldbie_Conspiracy

And I'm a member!

https://3dblogger.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2012/04/ll-doesnt-have-a-sense-of-humour.html

From which I quote:
"Meanwhile, I noticed that Madelaine McMasters -- is she FIC royalty?"

And to which I respond:
Yes, yes I am!

ETA: For those who aren't ancient SL historians, that blog is Prok's.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Madelaine McMasters

[Lindal Kidd]

42 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Thanks LL. Now I know which blogs to avoid reading. 

Don't be that way, Selene...the blogs I've seen on the network list so far are (in my opinion) some of the best SL blogs you could hope to find.

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

1 hour ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I wasn't going to sign up, but if Prok's against it...

More seriously, though, you should: you provide really useful guidance on all sorts of subjects relating to SL. If this is going to be a useful resource, they'll need more bloggers like you.

Scylla's right - You definitely provide the type of info that LL should be pointing people towards.

[Beth Macbain]

Oddly enough, I agree with Prok about this, albeit for mostly different reasons.

It wouldn't be difficult for SL to put adult blogs behind a page where you accept that you're about to see adult material. SL is full of adult material and I'm really bloody sick and tired of SL acting like it isn't full of adult material.

Some of the adult material is absolutely trashy, yes, and should never see the light of day, but other adult material can be, and often is, more erotic in nature. There are beautiful adult destinations, events, clubs, stores, lifestyles, and some amazing bloggers featuring these things. 

Adult material needn't be treated like SL's dirty secret. Even where adult content is acknowledged by LL, it's hidden at the bottom of the page, like in the destination guide or on these forums, and that is inexcusable and oh-so prudish in my opinion. Sexual activity between consenting adults is healthy. 

Sexuality, and the exploration of it, IS a positive implementation of the Second Life experience, and I this is the mountain I will die on.  

[Love Zhaoying]

59 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

https://secondlife.fandom.com/wiki/Oldbie_Conspiracy

And I'm a member!

https://3dblogger.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2012/04/ll-doesnt-have-a-sense-of-humour.html

From which I quote:
"Meanwhile, I noticed that Madelaine McMasters -- is she FIC royalty?"

And to which I respond:
Yes, yes I am!

ETA: For those who aren't ancient SL historians, that blog is Prok's.

Ah, I remember now, the “feted inner circle”! Should have remembered but I thought Prok was referring to a real thing.

[Rhonda Huntress]

 

Quote

 

The following will make a blog post ineligible for our SLBN:

• The blog author has been warned for failure to comply with some aspect of the Terms of Service.

 

So one strike and you're out?

[Garnet Psaltery]

4 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

https://secondlife.fandom.com/wiki/Oldbie_Conspiracy

And I'm a member!

https://3dblogger.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2012/04/ll-doesnt-have-a-sense-of-humour.html

From which I quote:
"Meanwhile, I noticed that Madelaine McMasters -- is she FIC royalty?"

And to which I respond:
Yes, yes I am!

ETA: For those who aren't ancient SL historians, that blog is Prok's.

Well poot, I've never been FIC and I'm heaps older than you.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Garnet Psaltery
Missing full-stop, egad.

[Madelaine McMasters]

6 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

Well poot, I've never been FIC and I'm heaps older than you

I'll sponsor your induction, Garnet!

Edited September 27, 2019 by Madelaine McMasters

[Adam Spark]

Any time a company officially acknowledges or incorporates a third party into its business, that third party has to adhere to a level of standards. This is no different than the Third Party Viewer Directory, in which resides multiple popular viewers which must adhere to Lab rules or be dismissed from the directory.

Linden Lab is selecting these because they are popular, and probably because they already like the content as is.

Oh and no company on earth would ever associate itself with critics of its own work.

Blogs that get handcuffed by the rules will either stay because the blog author is fine with that, or they will leave the network and continue doing what they do independent of LL. I see no reason to judge a blog merely on its being on this list, but instead will be judging them on the content they submit to LL for publication.

[Alyona Su]

8 minutes ago, Adam Spark said:

Linden Lab is selecting these because they are popular, and probably because they already like the content as is.

I concur with this and I presume the main reason is to make these blogs more easily accessible for us, Second Life users, not as some public showcase for the outside world. But Linden Lab has always had their critics, and @Prokofy Neva has always been a very loud one and that's okay because it gives balance and perspective to things, paranoid-sounding or not.

When I owned my estates with multiple regions and went to many Linden parties, I'm sure I would have been tagged FIC, also LOL But I always managed to keep myself relatively below any controversy-radar.

In short, I think this blogger network is a good thing, generally-speaking. Because @Strawberry Linden's previous life and blog was a definitely must-read when doing any kind of research, for example when I was deciding on the new beta Genus mesh head (and so many other things, etc.) Having a directory of the better-blogs will be helpful to me and I know I speak for many others because they also can serve as discovery.

And there's nothing in the Linden Lab TOS that says you must read any of them in order to use Second Life, right?

Edited September 27, 2019 by Alyona Su

[Chic Aeon]

I will not be applying :D.    

[Sammy Huntsman]

I would have to say this seems legit and good, now let me explain. For one, it allows for recognition and some communities within SL need some sort of recognition than most. It also allows the outside world to see what SL is all about. Albeit the whole assumption that SL is mainly about sexual interactions. Yes I agree with some points, especially Beth Macbain. Certain aspects of SL are being put underground. But for the exact opposite reasons, most people who take those pictures are into SL porno. I really can't change the word, or think of another word to say. The one thing that bugs me though, that throughout SL's history, there have been these cynics and naysayers that seem to only shed the negative light. But even then, form and speculate your own opinion, and then on top of that, give it a try. There is nothing wrong with giving something new a try. I will kinda keep my eye on it and see if it is to my liking or not. But yeah, it's in its infant stages right now. Give it a chance, and see what it has to offer before you make a judgement on it.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Beth Macbain said:

Oddly enough, I agree with Prok about this, albeit for mostly different reasons.

It wouldn't be difficult for SL to put adult blogs behind a page where you accept that you're about to see adult material. SL is full of adult material and I'm really bloody sick and tired of SL acting like it isn't full of adult material.

Some of the adult material is absolutely trashy, yes, and should never see the light of day, but other adult material can be, and often is, more erotic in nature. There are beautiful adult destinations, events, clubs, stores, lifestyles, and some amazing bloggers featuring these things. 

Adult material needn't be treated like SL's dirty secret. Even where adult content is acknowledged by LL, it's hidden at the bottom of the page, like in the destination guide or on these forums, and that is inexcusable and oh-so prudish in my opinion. Sexual activity between consenting adults is healthy. 

Sexuality, and the exploration of it, IS a positive implementation of the Second Life experience, and I this is the mountain I will die on.  

Yeah, ok, this. I really like your idea of a hub for adult blogs -- curated, I guess, by LL -- behind a wall that includes a content warning.

The rank hypocrisy of LL's tendency to hide adult content, all the while profiting from it -- and indeed, allowing just about anything to be represented in-world -- has always rankled. And I agree that, while it's not my thing, the expression of sexuality here is as valid as anything else that appears in-world.

I guess my only slight reservation is that I worry that SL might be perceived, more than it already is, as a purely sexual platform. But I don't think that'd be much of an issue if there were content warnings.

[Selene Gregoire]

2 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Don't be that way, Selene...the blogs I've seen on the network list so far are (in my opinion) some of the best SL blogs you could hope to find.

You misunderstand. It's not the blog writers. It's LL's high handed "guidelines" where everything has to be Better Homes & Gardens magazine picture perfect. It's also because it's all free advertising for LL but you have to advertise SL their way, not in a way that actually works.

I'm not interested in reading any blog that paints everything pertaining to SL in rainbows, glitter and unicorns because that is nothing more than a load of bull manure. 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Adam Spark said:

no company on earth would ever associate itself with critics of its own work.

No, of course not. But don't confuse "critique" or "cultural criticism" with criticism of, or attacks upon, LL and/or SL.

What should be permitted content, but undoubtedly won't be, is thoughtful analysis of what makes SL and virtual worlds tick, how this culture works, and what things like identity mean in their context. That kind of analysis isn't "critical" in this sense that it directs criticism at the platform or the company behind it: rather, it represents an attempt to understand it more fully, while demonstrating how very interesting, and different it is from our more mundane RL existence.

But, that kind of thing isn't, as Selene puts it, rainbows, glitter, and unicorns, so it won't likely interest LL much.