The second life that wasn't

[Beth Macbain]

I reread the article and still feel the same way about it. Yes, the journalist might be a tiny bit more literate than the others, but the overlying message is still the same. It's been rewritten and rehashed a thousand times. 

And, as per usual, it had to go to this bit of tripe - "Then third is likely a sub-niche of extreme adult roleplay, some of which has led to a huge lawsuit." This lawsuit has absolutely nothing to do with "extreme adult roleplay" and it is in no way "huge". I have no doubt that Hamlet pointed the journalist to that article, and filled his head with the notion that it's about dirty, icky sex. And let's not forget that Hamlet believes all sex is dirty, icky sex. 

This is just more of the same finger-pointing and poor reporting that has been happening since Philip's vision failed to take root and SL evolved to be what is something amazing for most of us. No, it's not a pixelated version of Wall Street with large corporations filling every nook and cranny. That aspect failed because we residents had no interest in that sort of thing, but just because that failed doesn't mean the entire grid failed.  

All of these articles about the past are detrimental to SL because they fail to talk to anyone about what is happening now in SL or, god forbid, the future of SL because the tech industry, for whatever strange reason, loves nothing more than to see SL as a failure filled with losers. The article didn't interview a single person still active in SL other than the DJ who compares SL to... Reddit? Reddit?!

The article speaks in past tense. It focuses on how-to books that were written over a decade ago. Of course they're out of date. The only talk about the future is from a book from 2008. SL is spoken of as if it's dead and/or dying, and nothing could be further from the truth. 

Yes, on the surface this article seems to be about how in spite of all the odds, SL is still alive. When taken line by line, or paragraph by paragraph, or link by link, it's just more of the same drivel about the failures of the past with absolutely no nod towards the future. 

I'm sick and bloody tired of stories and journalists who treat SL as a stagnant failure. Part of this is the Lab's fault. Perhaps they are gun-shy due to what happened in the past and the way they are always represented in the media, but a skilled PR team could overcome that. 

Just once I'd like to see an article written about the present and the future of SL with a positive light. The fact that everyone else seems to think this was a balanced and objective article just shows how poorly SL is represented in the media. 

[DilliDallagio]

9 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

Just once I'd like to see an article written about the present and the future of SL with a positive light.

What is stopping you from writing such an article?

When I read the article in question, I did not see it as an opinionated piece against Second Life as it is now. Rather, I saw it as a retrospect from a historical perspective... what Second Life is now and how it either met or fell short of the much-hyped future that was promised at the beginning. I suppose if one believed the original hype to be the "good stuff" and the current Second Life is no where near that, then perhaps the article can be viewed as a negative slam against the service. But, if one believed the original hype was well overblown gibberish, then the article may be concluded to be negative on the original vision as Second Life currently has evolved in a natural way. But at no time did I feel the article was negative about the current Second Life.

 

[Stranger Hoxley]

1 hour ago, BelindaN said:

I never see an advert for SL, and it never comes up in conversation with friends.  Maybe they all have secret second lives 🤔

SL=Secret Life?

[Beth Macbain]

9 minutes ago, DilliDallagio said:

What is stopping you from writing such an article?

lol... clearly you haven't seen my blog...

But if LL wants me to write press releases for them and sent them out to tech and gaming blogs, they know where to find me. 

Y'all can keep arguing with me that this is a nice article if you want, but I'll just keep reiterating my belief this article being considered balanced and well-researched just shows how low the bar is set for LL and good press coverage. 

[Janet Voxel]

3 hours ago, Beth Macbain said:

lol... clearly you haven't seen my blog...

But if LL wants me to write press releases for them and sent them out to tech and gaming blogs, they know where to find me. 

Y'all can keep arguing with me that this is a nice article if you want, but I'll just keep reiterating my belief this article being considered balanced and well-researched just shows how low the bar is set for LL and good press coverage. 

I think it’s being so well received because it could’ve easily been written by a regular poster here and it echoes things that have been said 1000x.

I agree it’s focused on the “history” of SL with very little about the present or what it’s doing right currently. It is slanted on a “The failed experiment that is SL” bias. Which, again....has been written a thousand times before.

With a title like “The second life that wasn’t” you kind of know what’s coming. Which is basically “People had really high expectations and hopes for what SL promised to be and then none of those things happened cause reasons”.

Eh....

 

[lucagrabacr]

Read that article and tweeted the author complimenting him for his rather extensive take on SL, a nice break from the usual 4-paragraphs "Second Life is dead" nonsense

[ItHadToComeToThis]

4 hours ago, Beth Macbain said:

lol... clearly you haven't seen my blog...

So your a blog snob. Understood.

Either way, you grossly misunderstood the articles point and intention. Ah well

[Beth Macbain]

14 minutes ago, ItHadToComeToThis said:

So your a blog snob. Understood.

Either way, you grossly misunderstood the articles point and intention. Ah well

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha... OMFG. You obviously haven't seen my blog, either. It's nothing but boobs and sex, not highbrow literary criticisms.

I grossly misunderstood nothing, but you go ahead and dig in your heels in your quest to be right if it helps you sleep better, boo-boo. 

[ItHadToComeToThis]

A blog snob isn’t somebody who writes specifically highbrow articles. It’s a person inflated on their own sense of self importance and critique because they own a blog. Plus, I was just jibing at you. I really don’t care if you have a blog or not 😜

[Tolya Ugajin]

SL will always be what it always has been.  Primarily a place for socially awkward or isolated people to come to try and live a "normal" life, or people who cannot live out the lives the want in RL.  All the business, content creation, etc. are merely part of that, or exist mainly to support that customer base.

Having 40K+ users logged in at once more than 15 years after it hit the attention of the masses demonstrates just how appealing such a place is.

[Beth Macbain]

2 hours ago, ItHadToComeToThis said:

A blog snob isn’t somebody who writes specifically highbrow articles. It’s a person inflated on their own sense of self importance and critique because they own a blog. Plus, I was just jibing at you. I really don’t care if you have a blog or not 😜

Dude, there’s like 12 people that read my blog. That’s what makes it so laughable that I write the article I’d like to see. Trust me - there is no sense of self-importance when I look at my analytics... though I do recognize that my pixel boobs are fab. 😊

[Mother Mystic]

On 12/5/2019 at 6:04 AM, Tolya Ugajin said:

SL will always be what it always has been.  Primarily a place for socially awkward or isolated people to come to try and live a "normal" life, or people who cannot live out the lives the want in RL.  All the business, content creation, etc. are merely part of that, or exist mainly to support that customer base.

Having 40K+ users logged in at once more than 15 years after it hit the attention of the masses demonstrates just how appealing such a place is.

I would also add that much like gaming online in general (not saying it's a game) it lets you actually interact with other people rather than your local squad. As a half russian, half egyptian living in eastern europe, i cannot relate with these people so i'd rather meet randoms online and then meet them somehow irl too and i have and they have been the strongest bonds i've ever made my entire life (not only in sl).

[Tolya Ugajin]

12 hours ago, ErukaVonD said:

I would also add that much like gaming online in general (not saying it's a game) it lets you actually interact with other people rather than your local squad. As a half russian, half egyptian living in eastern europe, i cannot relate with these people so i'd rather meet randoms online and then meet them somehow irl too and i have and they have been the strongest bonds i've ever made my entire life (not only in sl).

I'll bet your parents were constantly fighting over the thermostat! 

Слишком жарко!

لا ، إنه بارد جدا!

(I seriously hope Google translate got that correct!)

[Mother Mystic]

lol it's alright and nah, never met my dad 😛 it was just me and mom and yus we didn't use our radiators that much