SECOND LIFE COMMUNITY WITH A FACEBOOK FACE TO US.

[Silent Mistwalker]

4 hours ago, Profaitchikenz Haiku said:

OK, so is this the answer to the other thread "What happens if SL dies?" - we all migrate to facebook?

Oh hell no!

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 hour ago, Seicher Rae said:

Yup. That's your SL Feed. The thing that no one knows about. Oldbies think it has vanished. Noobs have never heard of it. There are a devout few who still use it a lot. I used to, but now very sporadically. There are so many reasons it failed. Right now it is because it is buggier than an honey smeared picnic basket. You can upload raw screenshots directly to your feed (in theory). 

There is a link to it on your dashboard, under "connect and share" and it takes you to my.secondlife.com

I heard, from a usually reliable source, that one reason the feeds are so buggy is that after LL acquired Avatars United (and oh, were the users of AU peeved at that, especially after it tanked in LL's hands), that they kept on some of A.U.'s software guys to make the stuff work. Then they fired them. Oops, before LL learned the code to make the stuff work, and no one other than the A.U. guy could figure it out. I used to have the A.U. guy's name. I have no idea if that story is true, but from the past history of LL it would not surprise me. The acquisition and then just thoroughly bungling of A.U. was not one of LL's finer moments.

I, and some friends, abandoned the feed after discovering there's a 10,000 post limit on each thread. It took seven years to hit the limit (by sharing links to music) but we did it.

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

4 hours ago, Bellatezzudea said:

Transform the Second Life community page into a more pleasant and interactive social network, so that all of us in SL can interact without the need for "Facebook".
Just like IMVU, which doesn't depend on "Facebook".
May we share our photos, videos and ideas, coming from outside or inside SL

Good thing you are pretty.

[Rowan Amore]

3 minutes ago, Tarina Sewell said:

Good thing you are pretty.

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

5 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Isn't that another version of that thing people did like those 30 second videos ,but you'd get a whole chain of them in one video.. Veens or something like that..Veen Vimes,...Umm,what the heck was that called?

........<These dots are me actually tapping a key  trying to remember that name............. Got it!!  VINES!!!  That's it, Vines!! \o/

You are adorable, Ceka.

[animats]

2 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

Yup. That's your SL Feed. The thing that no one knows about. Oldbies think it has vanished. Noobs have never heard of it. There are a devout few who still use it a lot. I used to, but now very sporadically. There are so many reasons it failed. Right now it is because it is buggier than an honey smeared picnic basket. You can upload raw screenshots directly to your feed (in theory). 

Oh, that's what LL did with it. Never saw that before. Went and looked. I have a follower there!

The idea behind Avatars United was that you'd have one social account across many game platforms, so you could invite your friends to go play something else. Steam has something like that.

Some of the "metaverse" concepts build on that idea. Log in, play or visit one of many alternatives, keep the same identity and friends across all of them.  Epic is making noises about taking Fortnite down that road.

For only one platform, it's not all that useful. We already have chat, IMs, friend lists, etc. in world, and can message via the forum system too.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 hours ago, Cindy Evanier said:

First time poster telling us how the forums should be run 🤔

Well, in fairness, I don't think that's what she's really suggesting?

And I don't think there is, or should be, a minimum post count to float an idea.

6 hours ago, Bellatezzudea said:

Transform the Second Life community page into a more pleasant and interactive social network, so that all of us in SL can interact without the need for "Facebook".
Just like IMVU, which doesn't depend on "Facebook".
May we share our photos, videos and ideas, coming from outside or inside SL

I think there is some merit in this idea.

To be clear, I despise Facebook, and I'm not big on social media generally. And anything that ties SL to RL -- such as FB -- is definitely dangerous and inappropriate. 

But Avatars United had some potential. And if the SL feeds had been better designed, better integrated into in-world interactions, and with better and more options for pics, it might have worked well. For a while, in fact, it did.

But the key is that anything like this needs to be connected to, rather than a substitute for, in-world activities. And FB, Discord, Twitter, etc. are not. Imagine for instance being able to share "as it is happening" video or pics directly in-world with others, rather than having to use Gyazo. And having something like that accessible also via the web, so people could get excited about something happening, and want to log in?

And I think that if SL is to appeal to a younger demographic -- and at this point, we're talking about 20 and 30-somethings, not teens -- then a more up-to-date way of connecting is probably going to be advantageous.

None of this will happen, of course, and old farts like me who did not come of age using social media can probably rest secure in our smug sense of superiority. "Why, I remember the Good Old Days of MUDs! Kids these days don't know how to connect anymore!" (/me shakes her stick at the young'uns.)

But the fact is, neither we, nor SL, are anything like cutting edge anymore. And a disdain for newer ideas means we are also foregoing some exciting new affordances and ideas.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Scylla Rhiadra

[Rob Huntsman]

 it's actually not a bad idea. Seeing how second life is marketed as a social video game product. Re-developing their website into something similar to Facebook, or myspace wouldn't be a bad idea. to increase social features & interactions.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

19 minutes ago, Rob Huntsman said:

 it's actually not a bad idea. Seeing how second life is marketed as a social video game product. Re-developing their website into something similar to Facebook, or myspace wouldn't be a bad idea. to increase social features & interactions.

Depends on the target audience, though.

No one under the age of about 25 or 30 uses Facebook for anything other than wishing a Happy Birthday to their Grandma, or sharing notes for school. But that may not be the target audience.

If it is, something like Instagram, and especially a "Stories"-like feature, would be the best way to go. Actually, I'd love to see something like that dedicated to SL. I'd use it.

[Rowan Amore]

27 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Depends on the target audience, though.

No one under the age of about 25 or 30 uses Facebook for anything other than wishing a Happy Birthday to their Grandma, or sharing notes for school. But that may not be the target audience.

If it is, something like Instagram, and especially a "Stories"-like feature, would be the best way to go. Actually, I'd love to see something like that dedicated to SL. I'd use it.

Although I agree on the points you're making, it still will fall flat once those targeted people actually arrive in SL and realize it's not a video game in the way they think of video games.  Or just like other social media platforms, it will be in to them for as long as it takes for a new IN thing to come around.  Think my space, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and now it's tiktok.  It will do nothing for retention IMO.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

12 minutes ago, RowanMinx said:

Although I agree on the points you're making, it still will fall flat once those targeted people actually arrive in SL and realize it's not a video game in the way they think of video games.  Or just like other social media platforms, it will be in to them for as long as it takes for a new IN thing to come around.  Think my space, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and now it's tiktok.  It will do nothing for retention IMO.

I don't entirely disagree. I don't think SL is ever again going to be the hot commodity that it briefly was, ca. 2008 or so. And I certainly agree that trying to attract young gamers to SL is a dead-end. This isn't, has never been, and never can be the sort of thing they're going to like.

Generally, I don't think we're ever going to really appeal to a younger demographic here.

BUT . . . taking advantage of some of the seriously cool things that some more up-to-date social media platforms feature would really improve the experience here, and would, I think, help with both recruitment and retention. We're never going to get swarms of 20-somethings here, on the assumption that it's the next Fortnite. But we can make it more attractive, and keep more people who are looking for what SL does offer, but are put off by the clunky and out-of-step technology that we're now mostly stuck with.

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Scylla Rhiadra
Missing words. UGH!

[Rowan Amore]

14 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I don't entirely disagree. I don't think SL is ever again going to be the hot commodity that it briefly was, ca. 2008 or so. And I certainly agree that trying to attract young gamers to SL is a dead-end. This isn't, has never been, and never can be the sort of thing they're going to like.

Generally, I don't think we're ever going to really appeal to a younger demographic here.

BUT . . . taking advantage of some of the seriously cool things that some more up-to-date social media platforms feature would really improve the experience here, and would, I think, help with both recruitment and retention. We're never going to get swarms of 20-somethings here, on the assumption that it's the next Fortnite. But we can make it more attractive, and keep more people who are looking for what SL does offer, but are put off by the clunky and out-of-step technology that we're now mostly stuck with.

 

Another issue I see with integrating other social media into the experience is what I already see a lot of in world.   People there but not really there because they're in discord with a group of friends.  Logged in, standing idly by in a group and not interacting with anyone who isn't on discord with them.  That's fine if you're at someone's home but I've seen them doing this at busy venues and I only know this because I've heard them mention it in chat if anyone would like to join.

Now making the rest of SL less clunky and out of step, I can get behind.  Things to get people more engaged inside rather than outside.

Edited October 2, 2020 by RowanMinx

[Silent Mistwalker]

LL has been down the Facebook road before. If they go down it again, it will be without those of us who can't stand "social medias".

[Rob Huntsman]

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Depends on the target audience, though.

No one under the age of about 25 or 30 uses Facebook for anything other than wishing a Happy Birthday to their Grandma, or sharing notes for school. But that may not be the target audience.

If it is, something like Instagram, and especially a "Stories"-like feature, would be the best way to go. Actually, I'd love to see something like that dedicated to SL. I'd use it.

Actually, many people over the age of 20 still use Facebook more than just saying happy birthday. Facebook is used to check the weather, news, & heck streaming video games now. Heck, I recall a meeting of Amazon, Apple, Google, & Facebook quite recently by the USA. Because all four companies are developing too much power & creating a monopoly.

Second life could compete with Facebook in a way for social media and using their 3D viewer as something on the side. And yes do something similar to Instagram, and maybe blog on your profile about RL & SL, However, this would all be quite a long shot, not sure if it'd be worth the investment.

[Bree Giffen]

Second Life is the actual social platform that should be getting any suggested improvements, not this forum. I wouldn't mind having more ways to share what I am doing inside SL. Perhaps SL could study my activities and purchases in SL and suggest people who share my interests. Perhaps a timeline feature, within SL, that shows us what our friends are doing... with selfies. We already have these kinds of things in SL but Facebook does streamline the sharing of information very well. Facebook doesn't want SL avatars, but having Facebook-like features within SL itself, related only to avatars, might be something worth having.

Edited October 2, 2020 by Bree Giffen

[Jordyn McGregor]

8 hours ago, Cindy Evanier said:

discord

 

[Maryanne Solo]

What's worse, social media or Covid -19?
Oh wow, 🥴 lemme get back to you on that one.... 🤔

😂😆🤣

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Rob Huntsman said:

Actually, many people over the age of 20 still use Facebook more than just saying happy birthday. Facebook is used to check the weather, news, & heck streaming video games now. Heck, I recall a meeting of Amazon, Apple, Google, & Facebook quite recently by the USA. Because all four companies are developing too much power & creating a monopoly.

Second life could compete with Facebook in a way for social media and using their 3D viewer as something on the side. And yes do something similar to Instagram, and maybe blog on your profile about RL & SL, However, this would all be quite a long shot, not sure if it'd be worth the investment.

No, you're quite right -- I was being a tad facetious on the Granny's birthday thing.

I actually had reason, for non-SL purposes, to do some research on social media usage and demographics a few months ago. Facebook is huge, across all demographics, but weakest among young people. They do, of course, use it, a lot, but mostly, as you say, as a sort of news source. It's not the go-to platform for connecting with friends: those would be Instagram and maybe Snapchat. TikTok is also growing, Twitter is surprisingly popular even among the young (as I recall, about a 22% penetration into the pre-20s set), and, really bizarrely (to my mind), Reddit. And of course YouTube, which is social media platform (because of Vlogs) for many people.

I think, as I suggested, that the demographic SL should be catering too increasingly is that of people in their 20s and 30s, and for them, Facebook is more important, so yes, a native FB-like add-on would be good. But I really think a good photo and video sharing application, like Instagram, would do wonders.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

2 hours ago, RowanMinx said:

Another issue I see with integrating other social media into the experience is what I already see a lot of in world.   People there but not really there because they're in discord with a group of friends.  Logged in, standing idly by in a group and not interacting with anyone who isn't on discord with them.  That's fine if you're at someone's home but I've seen them doing this at busy venues and I only know this because I've heard them mention it in chat if anyone would like to join.

Totally. That's why I suggested whatever gets developed needs to be strongly integrated into in-world activities. Right now, without that option, we do have merchants and artists and residents using non-native apps, such as Facebook, Discord, and Flickr, for those things. The point of a native LL-developed social media platform should be to render those redundant, and keep people within the platform.

That's a tall order, though. They had the chance for something like that with Avatars United, and with MySecondLife, but they've blown it even with the latter, I think.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

39 minutes ago, Maryanne Solo said:

What's worse, social media or Covid -19?
Oh wow, 🥴 lemme get back to you on that one.... 🤔

😂😆🤣

There's room on the porch here with me, Maryanne. Do you need a stick to shake at those damned kids, or did you bring your own?

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

While we're on the SM thing, this movie might give some insight on how manipulated FB and other SM's are.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Dilemma

[Ren Toxx]

6 hours ago, RowanMinx said:

[...] People there but not really there because they're in discord with a group of friends.  Logged in, standing idly by in a group and not interacting with anyone who isn't on discord with them. [...]

Quite. The OP’s original idea should be done in a way that’s just as visible for related participants—for example, other visitors at a venue, the poster’s friends, etc. Fully a two-way street, that gets external audiences viewing the web front of it and deciding to log in to participate or come from elsewhere in SL.

Of course this is all idle talk. Even the extremely basic posting abilities the social page had, were a train wreck that never got fully fixed, let alone improved.

[Cindy Evanier]

8 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

And I don't think there is, or should be, a minimum post count to float an idea.

I would agree with you there if they had stuck around 5 minutes to discuss their idea 

[Conifer Dada]

15 hours ago, Cindy Evanier said:

First time poster telling us how the forums should be run 🤔

Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can notice things others don't! 

While the forums themselves are fine as they are, the forum profiles - the ones that come up when you click on a poster's name - could be developed so that people could post on them or create a photo album. At the moment it just includes one's posting history and an 'about me' section that nobody else can see. The forum profiles pages even look like they were designed to do more than they actually do.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Conifer Dada

[animats]

9 hours ago, Conifer Dada said:

Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can notice things others don't! 

Yes. I've been talking to new users lately. There are some simple things none of the tutorials tell new users. One is simply to save your first good outfit, using the T-shirt menu. Then you have a safe outfit to which you can easily go back. I've seen more than one new user stressed out because they tried on clothing, got a mess, and didn't know how to undo.