Canary Beck Rants About Linden Lab Enthusiast Media

Canary Beck has a great rant about all the softball questions recently asked by a Second Life media outlet to Oz Linden (i.e. Scott Lawrence, Director of Open Development at Linden Lab), and all the questions that weren't asked, including the most obvious one: Why is a public-facing Linden Lab staffer using a Second Life avatar that's five years out of date?

The elephant in the room is not that Oz Linden’s avatar is just out of date and that wouldn’t it be nice if he got some new mesh feet – the real issue is that he is a visual representative of what Second Life has to offer, and it’s under-representative. Further, avatar appearances are especially important as first impressions to outsiders (e.g. news media). The mainstream news media might not be as forgiving as many oldbie Second Lifers are about avatar appearances that look half a decade out of date (yes, 2010-2015 is half a decade!).

 ... the most likely answer being, because Second Life's avatar appearance UI is so frustrating, counter-intuitive, and out of date, most Linden Lab staff aren't willing to devote the many hours it would take to learn it. On the one hand, SLers, would you rather Lindens send five hours tweaking their avatar, when they could devote that time to fixing a bug or helping a paying user? On the other, the fact that most Linden Lab staff don't spend the time to upgrade their avatar by themselves can easily be interpreted as a lack of confidence or personal investment in their own product.

In any case, Canary outlines all the questions that can and should be asked by SL blogs and other media outlets in future Second Life-based press appearances by Linden Lab, so it's very much worth reading. As I see it, the basic underlying question is this: 

Second Life media outlets must decide whether they want to be fans and promoters of Linden Lab the for-profit corporation -- or advocates for the community who not only use Linden Lab products, but pay the company for the privilege of doing so.

 

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Comments

[HALEY Salomon]

give me a hour and I will fix his look ,, and he can work at the same time

[Fuzzball Ortega]

I DJ on an internet radio station that does reach a huge audience, and less than 12% of that audience is in Second Life.

I would love to get a Linden or four on either my broadcast, or on our panel discussion series, The Event Horizon, and ask those questions.

Maybe, maybe, just maybe, they'll answer some of those questions. With a huge audience outside of SL, they'd have a chance to promote and bring new people in, or even consider Project Sansar when it becomes available. Then again, if wishes were fishes.

Just need to find the page with the contact information, to see if any of them would be interested.

[A.J.]

Canary Beck makes valid points.

But we're all wanting answers to questions that Linden Lab should have made very clear from the start. If you respect and care about your customers, you don't want them wondering if you are going to be there for them in the future.

But the truth is... they are barely here for us now.

So maybe it's best to just pretend to be a journalist and lob softballs and play important doing it. Somebody should get something out of it.

We shouldn't need investigative journalism to find out if the company we pay to serve us is serving us.
The fact that we feel we need it... there's our answer.

[Jo Yardley]

" ... the most likely answer being..." that perhaps he has free will and doesn't want to change his avatar?
Have you asked him?
If his kid designed it it may have you know, emotional value to him.
Or maybe he just likes the retro look.
It is not like he is the public face of LL, like Xiola or Torley, who both look amazing and up to date, or even as if they are out of the future.

How about you Hamlet, got a mesh avatar yet?
How old is your outfit?

I myself haven't changed in years, same hair, same shoes, same skin, even same clothes.
Mostly because I just haven't found any mesh I like or that fits me.

"Second Life media outlets must decide whether they want to be fans and promoters of Linden Lab the for-profit corporation -- or advocates for the community who not only use Linden Lab products, but pay the company for the privilege of doing so."

There is one other option.... write for yourself.
Write what you like, what you belief, what you think is interesting, regardless of what Linden Lab wants or the community... or your sponsors... or whatever gets more clicks.

[irihapeti]

agree with Jo

investigative questioning (meaning hard-hitting) is only necessary when the interviewee is being evasive and the interviewee is in a position and has authority to answer the question

Oz Linden wasnt being evasive. He answer the questions put as openly and honestly as he was able within the bounds of his responsibility to his employer, and the authoritatives given by the employer

is no point for a supposed hard-hitting investigative journalist to slam a interviewee with questions that the journalist actual knows already the interviewee cant answer

it just make a mockery of investigative journalism as a discipline, when this happens

[irihapeti]

y u no wear any new mesh body??

bc I dont wear short skirts, beefcake togs, or get nekkid

y not???

i am Gandalf

ohh! yea! lol. that be bleach eyes time if u did

jejeje (:

[Orca Flotta]

Lindens looking like the most n00bish of n00bs is a running gag throughout SL's population. Since many many years. No wonder, since they were once even forbidden (under M's reign I guess) to mingle with the customers or spend any time in world as longs as not absolutely necessary. So why invest any time or budget into something you cannot use?

[Aliasi Stonebender]

Also, to be honest, the handful of people I've known who worked for Linden Lab were sandbox/techie types, with one exception. None of them particularly valued the latest big-booty mesh body whatevers. One might argue that they should get someone to design something 'better', but I think 'the actual alt the Linden uses on an everyday basis' is probably the better place to invest that kind of energy, as none of these people were strangers to SL as a whole, they simply didn't interact with it as a Linden unless necessary.

It's not an indefensible position to hold; 'don't wear the god hat unless you need to do something with it' has been a pretty solid rule of thumb for admins both virtual world and more mundane since the text-based days.

[Kim Anubis]

Trying to publicly shame a good, hardworking Linden like Oz makes someone look bad, all right.

[Ciaran Laval]

I disagreed a little with Canary over this article, I feel it was a tad harsh.

"Second Life media outlets must decide whether they want to be fans and promoters of Linden Lab the for-profit corporation -- or advocates for the community who not only use Linden Lab products, but pay the company for the privilege of doing so."

It's perfectly feasible to be both. I see very few blogs who won't from time to time criticise Linden Lab. Tier fees, Zindra, TOS, Account & tax info, changes to the viewer have all raised hackles in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

As for Oz's avatar, I really don't think it's important. Outside of the virtual world, Steve Wozniak isn't exactly known for his sense of style, but plenty of people would love to hear him talk.

[Metacam Oh]

Who says everyone wants ultra realistic avatars? Thats a pretty big assumption, many people def' dont. If anything the starter avatars give people the biggest impression of what SL is capable of. Im no fan of Oz but this is ridiculous.

[zz bottom]

I agree that if seems ridiculous for some.
Example, My soul mate keeps wearing the same avatar skin, shape, eyes, hair, then when i 1st meet her.
I still wear the 1st skin i bought always but now i only wear mesh, body, feet, hands, hair and clothes.
She has like 5 outfits, i did and still have them all, more then 5000 combinations.
So if one does not wish or like to change its avatar and its comfortable with it, why change Oz one?
Cause according to Ebbe, the major money maker of Sl is some girl that does feet and hands attachments.

[zz bottom]

Meaning fashion is some that LL can not put aside and for a fashion user, nothing worse then seeing a avatar keep using the same old same ugly prim shoes, prim hair and so on.