Scylla Rhiadra

Well, ok. But you're generalizing from your own experience and self-knowledge, Maddy. Most of us aren't you. When I was a teen, I was taken to see a production of Les Miserables. I hated every damned moment of it -- not because it was poorly performed, staged, or written, but because it was so blatantly manipulative. By the end of the play, I was positively sobbing, and cursing the playwrights with every heave. I don't want to be manipulated (and emotional manipulation is the easiest, and most potentially abusive kind): I want to be challenged. Well, yes. Neither I, nor the OP (I think -- she can weigh in if I'm wrong) are calling for an end to Experiences. We're asking for more and better choices. And transparency is one very important way to accomplish that: I can't make a real choice unless it's an informed one. True, but also not really relevant. The fact that one form of threat is more prevalent doesn't obviate the need to respond to another, less common, one.

Yes yes yes to pretty much everything here.

Grrr. Typical. I'll have to have a word with Snugs!

Just one more note, based somewhat on personal experience and first-hand knowledge of people for whom this is an issue: "blocking" an Experience (both upper- and lower-case) after it has happened is probably more than adequate for most people. But for some, it really isn't. PTSD is a very real thing. Trigger warnings aren't actually about "censoring" material: they are about ensuring that we don't expose vulnerable people to experiences that are likely to cause real pain and trauma. And yes, that includes the immersive experiences of SL, which can certainly operate as triggers. (If they weren't emotionally impactful, we wouldn't bother with them in the first place.) At the very least, Experiences need to be pretty explicit about the kinds of things they'll be exposing people to.

Yes, I do, and probably shouldn't. I don't use Facebook very much at all, however, and partly for this reason. And I've never even installed FB Messenger precisely because it is so intrusive. It's certainly true that the harvesting of my data, and the provision of targeted ads, customized search results, etc., are closely connected: one obviously enables the other. But I was really focusing less upon the vulnerability of my data than upon the insistent bleating of the Machine that, no, THIS is what I really want to buy/see/read etc.

No, I am giving up certain kinds of choices. Yes, I can block ("forgetting" is rather more problematic, surely?). But an Experience by definition limits the ways that I can exert control. I have been waiting for this to appear in the "Most Embarrassing Moments" thread. I considered adding it there myself; it probably IS just about my most embarrassing experience. (Followed somewhat closely by your recounting of it here. ?)

To respond to this separately: I like to think that I am as "media savvy" as anyone. I've studied rhetoric ("the art of persuasion") in a scholarly and historical context: I can (for the little that it's worth) even give you the Greek or Latin names for certain characteristic marketing strategies: Cicero and Quintilian thought of them first. That said, what my "knowledge" mostly contributes is a self-awareness of exactly how much I am influenced by marketing. The experience of shopping in-world and on the MP over the last week has been a reminder of how susceptible I am to it. I know that I am, at a pretty basic level, attracted to particular aesthetic "looks" in advertising, even when I know full well that that aesthetic has nothing to do with the quality of the goods for sale. The fact that I am self-aware enough to realize this blunts its effect somewhat, but it's still very much there.

Like everyone else, I have, over the past two decades, become increasingly and inextricably entangled in a digital world that is, apparently, convinced that it knows what I "like" or "want" better than I do. My search engines customize my search results on the basis of what they "think" I am looking for, and my social media platforms are absolutely certain that they know who will make the very best new friends for me, or what I would most like to buy. I'm tired of being told what I want. When I think that the surrendering to that kind of condescending machine-control is probably worthwhile, I will choose to do so. But mostly, no: I insist that I am actually the best judge of what I want, like, or mean.

lol Well, actually, this is one of the reasons I don't use Uber. But my anology didn't suggest that you should have no trust in your driver: every human interaction involves at least some element of trust. I was drawing a parallel with a very specific case of conceding that you have no right whatsoever to choose the route you take, other than to exit the cab. I might "trust" the driver to know what she's doing, but that trust is never absolute or blind. I also don't buy the "but this is much more dangerous and we do it all the time!" argument. It's much more dangerous to cross a bus lane than a bicycle path: I look both ways before doing either.

I generally agree, but I think you go a little further than the OP, who is not questioning the "right" of sim owners to use Experiences, but rather lamenting the fact that so many force her to make a choice between accepting one, or simply avoiding the sim. It's like accepting the ground rules for any sim one enters: no one is questioning their right to impose these, but really restrictive ones can leave one with no choice but to say "no."

I don't know that it's about "being afraid." It's more about not giving up the ability to make choices along the way. An analogy: would you rather get into a cab and let your driver choose the route with the understanding that your only possible influence on the decision was to get out of the cab? Or would you prefer to at least have the right and the ability to intervene in the driver's choices, even knowing that you probably will not need to do so? I might also note that it's probably just a matter of time before some unscrupulous cookie figures out how to leverage Experiences in an unethical way. RedZone employed components (technical and social) that were, on their own, entirely benign. It was the way they were combined together and exploited that made that "innovation" so very dangerous.

I don't think I've ever tried an Experience. They were just coming in when I was last active in-world (with an alt), and I'm pretty sure I never had the opportunity. I can see lots of potential advantages to them for immersive sims, games, art installations, and the like. If Bryn Oh used one for one of her installations, I'd probably not hesitate to use it because 1) it's doubtless an integral part of the experience of the art, and 2) I know Bryn Oh well enough to trust her. But for shopping???? Seriously? Absolutely not: I'd be out of that store in a shot. I get than 99% of Experiences are probably totally harmless, but one of the appeals of SL is the amount of control it affords over who I am, what I look like, and what I "experience". SL was designed to be empowering. I'm not going to surrender that power so that a merchant can better integrate me into traffic flow through their store, and bombard me with stimuli designed, ultimately, to make me more susceptible to the allure of their merchandise.

The irony of it all is that I was actually, quite by accident, here on the day that they opened this new forum. I posted a few things, and then disappeared again. IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN WHAT WAS AT STAKE!!!! ?

This would seem to assume that the rest of you are "normal." I think that might be in dispute. (Except for Phil. Phil's normal. But the rest of you are MAD.)

That's the spirit, Love! THINK BIG!

Their cute little what-tles? I don't understand. Turkeys only have breasts and wings and drumsticks. And cellophane and styrofoam. What are these things of which you speak?

I like the way this woman thinks. I always have. "A leader. An innovator. A Go-Getter." That's how I describe her when people ask.

It is -- or was -- a kind of clubhouse for forumites here. I assume it's still there. It might be quiet now, but do a search and drop by: there might be people from here there. I'd drop in tonight and say hi, but it's late here and I have an early morning. If you're in tomorrow night, I might be on for a bit; give me a shout if you find yourself at loose ends!

Well, that's a kind of home, right? A lot of the places I called "home" have disappeared too, although surprisingly, the NGO/activist sim where I'm an administrator, is still there. I seem to have the run of the entire place, all to myself. I was also surprised by how many old friends are still apparently logging on. The hardest part is finding a place, and a community, where you can feel comfortable. Let me know if you find one: I'm still looking! (Have you thought of the checking out the Forum Cartel Hangout?)

I don't think they were missing much. ?

I don't think I pay you enough. ?

It's a pretty nonsensical question. It's a bit like asking one's opinion of the Black Death: "Yeah, that made things a bit rough for people, didn't it?" "Sure, but it helped end serfdom! Yay for the Bubonic Plague!"

Well, only as much as anyone else. My mother's family was originally from Hounslow, in west London. (My grandfather was, I think, from Kent.) So, not Cockney: only those born within the sound of the bells of Mary-le-Bow are considered "true" Cockneys. That said, my mum occasionally gives fly to an expression or two. But always ironically.

Ok, then! You know what you're talking about then! As a certified Luddite, I tend to naturally assume that "better" = "uses more computer resources." But I know that of course isn't necessarily true at all. I'll give Firestorm a shot. Part of the "learning curve" over the last week has, actually, been regaining familiarity with the LL viewer, which is, as I say, clunky as hell. I always found FS waaaaay more intuitive (mind you, I still miss Phoenix!), and it has useful built-ins like being able to derender everyone except friends. So, yeah . . .

Yikes. No kidding. You have more courage than I! i used to use Firestorm, and I've even downloaded the latest version, but I'm still using the LL viewer (which, yes, is as clunky as ever). I've been resisting Firestorm, which I gather is still really popular, because I'm not sure how it will impact on performance. I suppose I should just try it and find out.