A big-breasted dolphin mocks... a flying breast-less dolphin appears for the rebuttal. Residents with Nonprofit Commons (an SL community which includes numerous folks close to me) just posted a fun video response to The Daily Show's recent spin on Congress' virtual world hearing, which included several riffs on the avatar name of Commons' spokesperson Susan Tenby, one of the DC witnesses. In Second Life, Susan's known as Glitteractica Cookie, a point both Stewart (and Daily Show guest Nathan Lane, who came out and introduced himself as "Glitteractica Three") pounced on. In reply, the video gently points out the many real world social benefit projects hosted at the Commons.
Since the Daily Show segment aired, I've heard the argument that mentioning odd avatar names in the House of Congress isn't the best idea, since it'll only engender mockery, but there I'm not so sure. It's understandable that the uninitiated are going to perceive whimsical avatar names as silly; in truth, they are. The only difference is they haven't embraced the whimsy. Our confidence is that they eventually will. I can remember a time in recent memory when Internet emoticons also seemed silly to most people, for example. Now you're liable to spot them in e-mails written by Fortune 500 executives, politicians... and comedy writers.
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