tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16907494.post116128733499074769..comments2023-09-26T04:07:26.144-07:00Comments on SLOG: the turning pointUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16907494.post-1161708032122484652006-10-24T09:40:00.000-07:002006-10-24T09:40:00.000-07:00I don't view the rest of us outside the magic circ...I don't view the rest of us outside the magic circle of early adapters and content-creators as "background noise" requiring that sensitive artistic types need to refine and close their even already-sequestered networks. It's actually a good thing that a lot of people are coming into the world, including many very talented and skilled people, and they can help break up these earlier cliques or at least make them and their perceptions (like this SLOG) cease to rule our world and be merely one take on the situation.<BR/><BR/>The idea that the Lindens or the oldbies need to "do something" about the influx of newcomers that will help them *control* them is one of the reasons the situation is out of control. Once they can concede that they cannot and should not be controlling and shaping newbie experience and steering people either to content creation or purchase of their own creations, we'll be making some progress in really grappling with this issue.<BR/><BR/>We don't need to upgrade the rank of the mentors -- we need to dismantle this ineffective, privileged, and even corrupt system. Taking care of newbies is a job that needs to be broken up into coherent pieces and outsourced to both commercial and non-profit operations who are motivated to undertake heavy customer service work -- but realize that no service can be all things to all people and this rapid of growth is not going to meet everyone's needs. I do a lot of this work in my rentals business and helping out at Ross and Hyles telehubs, and I have to say that there will always be a clueless core of people who refuse to forcus on orientation materials pushed at them; who refuse even to listen to an answer let alone scroll back to read what you just wrote several times in a row and who will suck hours of your day down if you let them. They want constant interaction and hand-holding and at a certain point you have to ask: do I want to skew the whole system to be resource-intensive to serve the needs of this small percentage of say, nearly illiterate 15-year-old girls from middle America who happened to log on to SL between trips to the mall, for example, or will I be willing to try to make as easy and coherent a system accessible as possible and let peer networks finish up the job of orientation. <BR/><BR/>Most people learn their SL not from holding pens like welcome areas or refugee camps like big newbie reception operations but from home-stays -- getting into a club, a relationship, a group, an activity that makes them motivated to learn at least the skills they need to do a chosen activity, i.e. dancing or buying a dress.<BR/><BR/>That means you need both professionalized operations that do the basics but also empowerment of lots of smaller operations, from networks of friends to small businesses, that help the absorption.<BR/><BR/>Newbies for the most part aren't children, however, and shouldn't be infantalized. They have the same access to a DSL line, high-end graphics card, and disposable time that you do -- so quite a few of them need essentially a paid 24/7 help desk supplied professionally by Lindens, or smart and brisk and non-clueless paid help (unlike the unevenness of volunteer Live Help) that the Lindens or major corporations pay for -- it's really the only way to make this rational and effective. Volunteers will still be needed. The existing volunteer system is broken and not working; the existing orientation doesn't work, either, and admitting that is the first step to coping. See my blog for more commentary.Prokofy Nevahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01182569366619678896noreply@blogger.com