Socially|Mundane

If you've been in SL for awhile, you've become familiar with it's quirkiness. And, you may have forgotten some of the frustration of learning the interface, how to interact with the world and the SL culture. yes, I said SL culture. There really is one.

Now, I've always believe that if you first come into Second Life and can't figure out the viewer interface within say five-minutes (how to walk around for example) then I believe you really don't have much business being there. Or in World of Warcraft. Or practically any 'game'-style anything on a computer.

So, how refreshing it was to read a blog where the author (B. J. Schone of eLearning Weekly) 'finally' took a look at Second Life, and with the issues he has raised, isn't ready to totally give-up on it. What is refreshing to me are his [or her] issues raised: they are smart, intelligent issues that I haven't seen raised in any media description before.

We usually read what some amateur journalist became frustrated with after about five-minutes goofing around in the orientation island. Regularly simple whining and exaggeration to make SL look bad and their article look good, usually in a sarcastic, laughable format.

However, in this posting, the issues are highly plausible ... and genuine. In fact, a couple of them I had not even thought to think of. So, it's a fresh perspective of how plausible Second Life is for any kind of serious business oriented meeting (such as for education or commercial reasons) and presented with refereshing questions that Linden Lab will have to answer.

As for the first issue raised (below) - should I mention to this author that custom surnames are available at $1500 a year and $500 a month (maintenance fee)? Certainly there is an educational institution discount one could look into. :)

Weird names: Why do I have to take on some goofy alias/username in Second Life? It makes formal meetings and training sessions really difficult because everybody has to reintroduce themselves. I equate this to wearing a mask to a real live meeting; it hinders communication incredibly. (And how are you supposed to take somebody seriously when they’re named Flippy McButterbean?)

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