Second Life's Fifth Year Celebration Is For Everyone

Kit Meredith and Charlanna get into the spirit of SL's fringe birthday celebrations

This month and next, Second Life will celebrate its 5th anniversary of existence.  The Lindens are planning a wealth of company-sponsored, PG-rated events, but several non-Linden (often M-rated) celebrations are being planned too.  Charlanna Beresford is preparing a special birthday edition of NWN's Lanna's List event calendar, so if you're planning a non-Linden celebration, please send her the details.   New World Notes will make no distinction between the two, giving equal attention to "official" and "fringe" events as they deserve.   (I personally plan on attending both.)

There's been a lot of controversy around the anniversary plans, most of it likely due to innocent miscommunication, but if I've learned anything from five years of writing about Second Life, it's this: the community is what has made this world successful, and important.  The community, as we noted last week, is what makes this world grow.  Many Residents are offended the Lindens have closed off their celebration to Second Life's many Mature-themed sub-communities, but here is the crucial thing to keep in mind: the Lindens never intended to be the world's cultural overseers, so their recognition-- or disregard-- should not matter.  Whether or not it comes with a Linden imprimatur, the community is all.

That in mind, read on for details on submitting events to Lanna's special Second Life birthday calendar.

Submitting Events to Lanna's List, 5th Anniversary Edition:

If you'd like an event to be considered, send the description and event link to Charlanna Beresford via IM or e-mail her at [email protected].  You can also contact Lanna through her Facebook profile, where she's listed as "Charlanna Beresford".

Main guidelines:

1 - Events for this coming week must be received by this Thursday at 6pm SLT.  Depending on volume, a second birthday event list may be run early next week.

2 - Include all the relevant info-- day, time, and especially the SLURL to the event location.

3 - Please send her related graphics such as screenshots or event poster, if available.

4 - Events with artistic, cultural, scientific, political, creative, and/or educational value preferred.

5 - Mature-rated events within the letter and spirit of the Community Standards are permissible and encouraged, but listing descriptions and accompanying images should be PG-13.

Comments

[Gematria]

Don't forget the Kids5B Celebration, firmly on the fun side of the Fringe! :D

http://kids5b.blogspot.com/

[Laetizia Coronet]

"the Lindens never intended to be the world's cultural overseers, so their recognition-- or disregard-- should not matter."

If they never intended to be the cultural overseers, then why did they take over organization of this cultural event? They do need to make that choice one of these days - be active participants or be a server space rental biz. For as long as I'm in-world they've been hanging somewhere between those two thoughts.

[Becca Imako]

I think everyone needs to give the Lindens a break! I am so tired of everyone saying "Why can't mature themed communities (aka anybody) be invited to the party?"

Look, LL is a public organization/company. They have to keep an image. They are already got into a lot of trouble when RL news organizations got wind of pedophilia happening in SL. If the media outlets got wind of any nudity, sexual activity, hate groups (which is in SL and considered "mature" - don't deny it), gorean, etc..., participating at this event, the press would have a field day and LL would be in a heap of trouble.

What seasoned SLers don't understand either is that when people unfamiliar with SL see these types of things in SL for the first time, they are quite shocked. Many of them believe SL is a video games, and of course, many of them associate video games with children. And for them to see nudity/ sex/ hate groups within a video game is something they would definitely see as inappropriate. So, for these things to occur within a "public event" such as the SL 5 year celebration, is definitely not something LL wants to show.

For us seasoned SLers, these acitivities are old-hat, we are used to it b/c we know enough about the nature of the SL world. We need to remember that there are others that are not used to it, and we do not want to turn them off from SL w/o assure them that there are positive aspects of SL that they would want to participate in.

[Katharine Berry]

It's not for everyone - it would be more accurate to say that it's for everyone *on the main grid*.

Linden Lab never did the followup they had promised for the TG, and nobody had the resources to do it themselves. So, as a result, the teen grid has nothing. :(

[Bettina Tizzy]

"Whether or not it comes with a Linden imprimatur, the community is all."

Hamlet and Charlanna, ye rock.

[Ricardito Castaignede]

Hamlet & Charlanna,
I couldnt agree with the superhuman Bettina Tizzy any more - you two do indeed rock (and as some of us may remember from the Kissing Booth, Hamlet, you are also a great kisser!)
I am really looking forward to reading Lanna's SLB5-related list. While I greatly appreciate your commitment to giving equal attention to both sets of events, it would be very helpful if, after each listing you put (LL) or (Fringe) so that those of us only interested in supporting the non-Linden events could know which is which. Thanks!

[BjRazzz Qinan]

Here's a funny thought. I'll bet the reason the media won't touch it, is because the media staff live there too. Now try to swallow that! Media reps and reporters living secret lives in SL. Of course its private, who would want to air it? Who would "want" to say what "they" do in "their" private time.

"Their private Second Lifes"