Is this new round of mentors a good idea?

[Love Zhaoying]

I think the mentor position would be great for retirees who are long-time Second Life users.  So long as they don't schedule "work" during naptime. (I will retire in 10 years hopefully, maybe will volunteer then!)

Idea: If they called it Roleplay "work", perhaps it would go down easier.

Brilliant!

 

[Quartz Mole]

11 minutes ago, Polenth Yue said:

Whereas the mentor program as listed is only for people who want to help as a full time job.

I think if you look at the application form you'll find it says

Quote

2. Mentors should have the ability to commit to two hour shifts at a time and at least one shift each week.

 

[Robby Pomeray]

I'm reading this for a while now and here's my 2 ct.

Before LL abandonned the last SL Mentor program, I was active there and I enjoyed helping a lot and continued that in some other mentor groups that were formed afterwards. I aculattly haven't noticed much of the 'political' or whatever quarrels that are rumoured to have happened in the background. Jump forward a cpl of years and these days, with some other volounteers I am still at Welcome Island helping new arriving residents there. We do that as volounteers, no one outside Welcome Island notices us, there is no compensation, we don't wear fancy tags.

It amazes me how many come out of the buhes now with great ideas and a helpful attitude and I wish you were there when I was alone at Welcome Island and surrounded be 12 new arrivals at one point yesterday.

Now LL wants to take the mentoring on a new level again, something which I welcome. Terms and conditions appy. It is volounteering and if you don't like the terms and conditions, stay away. I have applied and I guess a cpl more.

I don't look for compensation, it's the feeling that I have done - payed back to the SL community of hich I'm part of already a few years. There was no SL Mentor program at all for the past years, so it's a start that LL recognizes the importance again. How it will turn out, if changes will be made in the process,only time can tell.

Sometines a new residence asks me about the biggest change I noticed over the years in SL and the first thing I mention is that the community spirit from the old days has gone. This discussion is a very good example for that.

Sorry, as English isn't my native language, you can keep any typos you find.

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

39 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I think the mentor position would be great for retirees who are long-time Second Life users.  So long as they don't schedule "work" during naptime. (I will retire in 10 years hopefully, maybe will volunteer then!)

Idea: If they called it Roleplay "work", perhaps it would go down easier.

Brilliant!

 

Maybe who knows.  Secretly they could be paid something. I have a CRS (Canadian Revenue Service) person who visits my bar and I'm going to pull him aside and ask him. I'll just say "can a for-profit company legally use volunteers?"  Maybe I'll get a straight answer. He also has knowledge of the US IRS agency too. I'm sure all over for-profits use volunteers or extra help in exchange for swag.

[Love Zhaoying]

49 minutes ago, Kimmi Zehetbauer said:

I'm sure all over for-profits use volunteers or extra help in exchange for swag.

"Interns".

[diamond Marchant]

13 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

"Interns".

 

[Polenth Yue]

1 hour ago, Quartz Mole said:

I think if you look at the application form you'll find it says

 

It's what it says, but it's not how it goes down for real. Newbies will tend to IM the mentor who first helped them. Telling them no because it's not work hours is not how it goes down. People who want to help will keep helping, even when they're burning out because they never get a break.

A group is more casual and people tend to come back to ask the group instead, which is going to work better for people who can't guarantee they're free to mentor all the time and who can't guarantee a set two hours a week. Every question asked there is also one that won't be IMed to a mentor who is supposed to be taking a break.

An additional issue is that people who dedicate most of their time to helping can end up cut off from everything else in Second Life. They start to feel like there's no community, everyone is unfriendly, there aren't events like the past... simply because they never get out to experience any of it. I've helped a reasonable number of newbies who had been helped with the basic technical stuff, but had also picked up on this from the person who helped them. I pointed them to communities and events. A group won't solve all, but it it will mix it up a bit.

[Quartz Mole]

9 minutes ago, Polenth Yue said:

It's what it says, but it's not how it goes down for real. Newbies will tend to IM the mentor who first helped them. Telling them no because it's not work hours is not how it goes down. People who want to help will keep helping, even when they're burning out because they never get a break.

My resident account was a mentor at one point (not the old Mentors, but at one of the hubs where new users rez) and I have to say that's not my experience.   

Sometimes I'd get a couple of questions later in IMs, but normally after I'd got people started they'd had enough of me and that was the last I heard of them.  

 

[Kathlen Onyx]

4 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I think the mentor position would be great for retirees who are long-time Second Life users.  So long as they don't schedule "work" during naptime. (I will retire in 10 years hopefully, maybe will volunteer then!)

Idea: If they called it Roleplay "work", perhaps it would go down easier.

Brilliant!

 

Do you think that retirees just do whatever they want to do unless it's during their naptime? I know a lot of retirees that are busier than they were when they were working.  Also, not all retiree's have "naptime".  A lot of assumptions there.

[Ardy Lay]

1 hour ago, Quartz Mole said:

normally after I'd got people started they'd had enough of me and that was the last I heard of them.  

You must teach us your techniques!

[LittleMe Jewell]

4 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I think the mentor position would be great for retirees who are long-time Second Life users.  So long as they don't schedule "work" during naptime.

Wow, way to knock down the older folks

[Rowan Amore]

1 hour ago, Quartz Mole said:

My resident account was a mentor at one point (not the old Mentors, but at one of the hubs where new users rez) and I have to say that's not my experience.   

Sometimes I'd get a couple of questions later in IMs, but normally after I'd got people started they'd had enough of me and that was the last I heard of them.  

 

As.long as mentors are not required to friend everyone they help, I don't see a problem either.  I have that lovely feature turned off but have passed my calling card to new folks on occasion.  Those are something I wish mlre.people took advantage of.

Back when I helped people regularly, I would add them to my list but it was rare that they contacted me more than perhaps once more.  After a couple of weeks, I'd remove them.

[FoxyEink]

As someone who personally jumped at the idea and signed up, I enjoyed reading through this post and will keep many of these ideas in mind moving forward! I think that its a great idea to implement many of the things stated here and I feel that they already have done a good job at setting things up differently this time.
When I saw that they were bringing on mentors, I didn't know they had it before. But Its something I do in my spare time anyway. So for me it would just help me better facilitate what I had in my heart to do.

I think that SL is so many things, so vast, its hard to put in words. The sooner that new interested residents can find experience and connection the better they can discover what SL means to them. I believe paying it forward is helping someone to get to that realization sooner, without the frustrations of being alone to figure it all out.

I think the way the world and grid has changed in general will bring a new energy this time around. It feels more intentional, and in the collective there is a deep yearning for connection that I feel can revive the things we have come to love most about SL over the years.

Come on guys, It'll be fun!!! 😇😘

[elleevelyn]

7 hours ago, Cinnamon Mistwood said:

I think the mentor idea is/was a good one.  If the new program addresses the issues from previous tries it could be successful.  Screen volunteers, train them, don't give them power over others, keep the negative drama to a minimum, and check up on them often.

People volunteer for things they enjoy all the time and many will be willing and happy to give an hour or 2 each week to help-a-noob.  It's a feel-good service and the Lab does need to find a way to increase retention. 

I hope the program helps.

I will not be applying, but will continue to do what I am doing now.  If I run across a newbie struggling with a box on their head, looking lonely at a music venue, or stuck under a floor,  I will offer assistance. 

this here

 

[elleevelyn]

6 hours ago, Robby Pomeray said:

 I wish you were there when I was alone at Welcome Island and surrounded be 12 new arrivals at one point yesterday.

this will still happen at times with the new mentor programme, because being volunteers is not always possible to have enough cover (people available at all times) to help out. Back in the day there were 22 spawn islands. And on the weekends the islands would often all fill up and the new account overflow redirected to the inworld Welcome Areas and Infohubs

what was helpful was the Mentor group chat channel in the situation you mentioning. Could shout out on the channel for other mentors to come and help, more often than not others would come to help. But sometimes not, so just had to deal with it as best you could. But being able to have a channel to shout out on was a real blessing

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by elleevelyn

[elleevelyn]

1 hour ago, Rowan Amore said:

As.long as mentors are not required to friend everyone they help, I don't see a problem either

i take your point on this. I mentioned friending myself earlier as a good thing. But is not a good thing for everyone

also too I am kinda biased in my view. Back in the day was also the time of the emerging social networks like MySpace and Bebo. Pretty much would friend everyone who asked, as those networks were pseudo-anonymous. So shifting that view point to Second Life was not a major at the time, it being pseudo-anonymous also

then Facebook came with real world identities and the idea of friending random people online in a real world setting is not a good idea. And tbf while Second Life continues to be pseudo-anonymous, upto 20 years of social  investment  in a  public facing persona/avatar ties a person quite deeply in a real world sense. So yes, I agree it should not be a requirement to friend

[Love Zhaoying]

3 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Wow, way to knock down the older folks

I AM the older folks!!!

ETA: "Self-deprecating humor".

Edited June 13, 2023 by Love Zhaoying

[Love Zhaoying]

3 hours ago, Quartz Mole said:

normally after I'd got people started they'd had enough of me and that was the last I heard of them.  

I see one way to achieve this, always use voice, with a chipmunk / alien voice changer!

[Solar Legion]

Just gonna not bother to read every last page here as I can already predict the tone and content of some of the responses that have likely been made ....

As a former Mentor myself I will note that burnout is a thing (kept me from doing too much at the tail end of the program and after its closure) and frankly did not see the sort of BS I noted some mentioning in the first page or two (sorry you had or heard such rough stories) either.

Having a requirement to use the Official Viewer is - I will say - problematic to a point: Windows and Mac (while that crowd lasts) users won't be too affected but Linux users certainly will. I've made my views on that whole thing quite clear in the past and will not rehash it.

Personally ... I wish the new crop luck. Be mindful of stretching yourself thin, ignore the negative tripe that'll be hurled your way by both some newcomers and existing users alike (some of the latter have enormous chips on their shoulders).

Edited June 13, 2023 by Solar Legion
Capitalization

[Love Zhaoying]

8 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

Just gonna not bother to read every last page here as I can already predict the tone and content of some of the responses that have likely been made ....

As a former Mentor myself I will note that burnout is a thing (kept me from doing too much at the tail end of the program and after its closure) and frankly did not see the sort of BS I noted some mentioning in the first page or two (sorry you had or heard such rough stories) either.

Having a requirement to use the Official Viewer is - I will say - problematic to a point: Windows and Mac (while that crowd lasts) users won't be too affected but Linux users certainly will. I've made my views on that whole thing quite clear in the past and will not rehash it.

Personally ... I wish the new crop luck. be mindful of stretching yourself thin, ignore the negative tripe that'll be hurled your way by both some newcomers and existing users alike (some of the latter have enormous chips on their shoulders).

Been missing your insightful posts!!

[Randy Pole]

Back in the day I was a mentor (on another avatar though) and I spent hours on the old help islands and new resident tutorials that existed then. In those days believe it or not things were easier as you did not have to worry about mesh bodies or even clothing attachments beyond shoes really. However it still was really confusing for a new resident.

Wind on almost two decades and the confusion that a new resident has when they appear in world for the first time must be huge. They have no comprehension of what mesh bodies mean let alone are. An animation overrider sounds like something you want to avoid instead of want.

My first steps in SL were on that introductory island and I spent days there before I ventured into the worlds outside. I tried to learn the basics before anything else - like the old adage "learn to walk before you try to run".

This new program will be much more complicated than the previous one as the complexity of SL has increased so much. However the tools and support routes have also increased and that will help a lot.

Will it be perfect? I have no idea but if it helps people to be less confused, feel as if someone is there to help them if needed then that can only be a good thing. That will result in people staying longer - trying that little but more to overcome the obstacles that they had and maybe they discover that SL is a place that they can actually put down some roots and enjoy.

[Phil Deakins]

13 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I think the mentor position would be great for retirees who are long-time Second Life users.

I'm a "retiree and a long-time Second Life user", and I have a lot of spare time to fill, but I won't be volunteering. I haven't said it for a long time now, but I still won't lift a finger to help LL. It's because of the way that LL has treated their customers in the past, and I've yet to see any evidence of a change in that respect.

[Qie Niangao]

On 6/10/2023 at 6:09 AM, Theresa Tennyson said:

I'm inclined to think it's a good idea to dissuade mentors who'll only be mentors if they can do what they're already familiar with.

Exactly this, regarding use of the Linden viewer. Honestly, if having to learn (or re-learn) a viewer is too much challenge for somebody, there's simply no way they can be a competent mentor. I don't suppose this requirement was intentionally imposed as a screening factor, but it's probably pretty effective.

18 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

I heard a lot of stories about self importance, bullying and drama about the mentors back than.
Of course I'm not implying that all mentors did so, but as far as I know all the drama going on was the main reason to stop the show back then.

Mentors who stick with the program will be those who get something from it. Ideally, then, it will select for those who find helping others intrinsically rewarding. At the same time, though, those who find it rewards less noble motivations will also be inclined to remain mentors. There will need to be a way to detect those folks early-on, before they do too much damage to the program (to mentees, to other mentors, to esprit de corps) and "graduate" them to some other role as gently as possible.

The Adult content topic is interesting because not all mentors can be expected to perform that one themselves, so a content-specific handoff must be an option. But probably not only for Adult stuff, which I'd be perfectly comfortable with myself, but if I were asked about "skill gaming" or the "social casino", say, I couldn't in good conscience answer. Same with "combat" RP. These are common enough topics though, and while I'm not cut out to be a mentor anyway, I'm just saying there may need to be a directory of mentors volunteering specifically for such "advanced topics" that will arise.

Finally, it may be that the best result of a new Mentor program would be its replacement by paid contractors, not because of some arcane (or imaginary) labor law constraint, but because it was the plan all along. Maybe it's not that resident Mentors are so cheap at performing the task, but that they're the only people on the planet capable of the collective trial-and-error creation of productive mentoring scripts and lesson plans that serve new user needs. At that point paid contractors can be trained to follow those plans more reliably than any ragtag volunteer army.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Qie Niangao

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Qie Niangao said:

Mentors who stick with the program will be those who get something from it. Ideally, then, it will select for those who find helping others intrinsically rewarding

Yes! Altruism!

[Marianne Little]

Instead of reading all the pages to try and find what I read about it, I ask:

It is no help group for the Official SL Viewer? As it is for Firestorm.

This is puzzling. A 3party viewer is offering more help... no wonder it is popular. So could there not be a SL Help Group where people can join and ask for help? The Mentors who is logged in can reply and help if they are in the mood. Or not.

Mentors who have  not been standing around in welcome areas that week, could use the 2 hours on active group work, obliged to help those hours? Signing in to the group as administrators?

Other people can also reply and help, but mentors can keep an eye on group chat in case someone say something 100% wrong?

I don't know how Firestorm support group works, I am just wondering if a group for SL help could be an idea.