Popular Flickr post from Strawbery Singh's pre-Linden Lab days
News that Second Life social media queen Strawberry Singh just joined Linden Lab as a social media employee has provoked some interesting reactions in the SL social media ecosystem, chief among this comment from reader "irihapeti", which at first seems seriously controversial:
A thing that Linden Lab should reconsider is to allow the LL marketing team to provide marketplace and/or in-world shop links to the stuff that appear in the pics and vids blog posts.
A big reason why [SL] content-influence blogs are popular is because of the links to where the readers can get the stuff shown. Not just in SL but in the real world as well. Some well-known person wears something and the next day the shops are full of people wanting that garment.
I'm fascinated to find out how often real world fashion in pop culture immediately influences virtual world fashion shopping. But irihapeti's core argument is this: Linden Lab should actively promote user-owned SL brands and commercial content on its massive social media channels.
This despite the fact that when Strawberry announced her move to Linden Lab, she also announced "I will no longer be sharing style credits or reviews on items in-world" to avoid favoritism. irihapeti argues this is the exact wrong direction to take:
Linden Lab does this with regions already, with Destinations, so it is not totally alien for them to do this with stuff.
Some people who create/sell stuff are not going to want LL to do this, when their stuff is not included or when they are included but feel guilty at being promoted when others are not. However, the base purpose of a content influencer is to drive sales overall, to lift the economy.
When the base purpose is only to provide nice pics and helpful information to the users then LL has already done that - the Torley Linden experience. Torley made lots of helpful and pics/vids/tuts which while fun, entertaining and informative had little influence on driving content sales to the point where it affected economic growth.
Another thing is that when [users] read Strawberry's blog and take out all the posts referencing stuff that we can get from the SL shops then there is not a lot left, relatively speaking.
My advice to LL is to let Strawberry Linden continue to do her thing, post about stuff that she likes and where we can get it. And for LL to not think that a new strawberry-flavored Torley-like-LL-restrained experience is going to make any more difference to sales than the Torley experience did.
And to let the other Lindens link to the stuff they like on their blog posts also. For the exact same reason. Where can I, the user, buy what I am looking at?
This seems basically on point: Linden Lab constantly promotes user-made sims and experiences on its official Destination Guide, even if the publicity is a commercial benefit to those users. But most people don't use Second Life to explore places. Seriously: 70% of SLers don't even leave their last logged-in location. What they do far more actively is customize their avatar and home location through shopping. So why not Linden Lab actively serve that market and boost its own virtual economy?
Yes, that would open up Linden Lab to angry accusations of favoritism, but there's easy ways around that:
For instance, create a transparent policy that official Linden Lab social media posts will only promote SL user content with a certain number of positive ratings by users, but not content creators who are already grossing over (for example) $1000 a month -- and not content that is poorly optimized (which happens to include some of SL's top-selling brands). Instead, leverage Second Life's huge social media channels (like its Facebook page with nearly 400,000 followers) to promote high-quality content from up-and-coming creators, and everyone wins.
Right?
See no problem with this at all - the <1K a month is interesting (to say the least) and would really showcase a diverse selection but try to get 2 people to agree on what is 'optimised' ;)
Admission - been finally badgered in to learning that rigging nonsense for a project so might even get back in to retail myself..
(And on that 70% figure. C'mon, that was 2011 and you still haven't said who the 'credible source' was. Didn't we read that the average staffer now is around for 7 years? So chances are they have moved on so go on - tell us who it was ...)
Posted by: sirhc desantis | Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 04:24 PM
How do you turn a Strawberry from sweet to sour in two quick steps?
Make her last name Linden and have her start promoting favorites on official Lab channels.
Strawberry Singh was a beloved fashion goddess.Strawberry Linden is a SL bureaucrat. The last thing she or LL needs to do is ignite a firestorm in that viciously competitive little mine field of body enhancement/fashion. Any gains LL could possibly hope to make will be offset ten times in blood. Ratings? Gross Sales? Optimization? Help the up-and-coming creators? We're talking fashion. There's nothing rational or sensible about it.
Posted by: Clara Seller | Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 08:04 PM
I actually don't think Linden Lab should get involved in promoting any commercial content from its users. Why? Because then it does become heavily embroiled in issue and frankly if there is any legal issues with content within Second Life, that Linden Lab go on to then promote it then puts them at a huge disadvantage possibly legally as well.
I think Linden lab should continue to support artistry etc but not get involved in commercial activity of its residents as that may prove to be a huge conflict of interest.
Continue to promote events which are aimed at charity, etc but not in any actual commercial activity which would possibly make them be seen to be favouriting or at risk of appearing to gain from it.
There are many ways Linden Lab can promote but without putting themselves at risk.
These are my thoughts anyhow.
Posted by: Isabelle Cheren | Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 07:35 AM
It really is a good idea, but honestly I do not think it could get to a good conclusion, the rational point of many people (including myself) is quite irrational, although it is a contradiction, but it is reality, a part of the people are going to to be always looking for problems and problems, and I think that it would become a conflict of interests that could harm many designers and creators.
What really LL, should worry much more seriously, is to radically eliminate all the amount of copybotter products that still exist, especially in the Marketplace, that is still a big plague that harms both creators and buyers
That is still a real problem, it does not matter if you report false items in MP, they are still there and dozens and dozens more, every day :( to finish with that, it would already be a big difference and help for many creators and buyers of SL, I think that if it's a big pending task for LL.
Posted by: Kira Balestra | Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 04:57 PM
I posted what I did because I wasn't really getting what else a content influencer actually does other than post about product/content in a friendly conversational way. Which I just assumed was user-generated content because Strawberry Singh
It may be though that the product for Strawberry Linden is SL as a whole, Sansar too, LL itself even. Like how can LL better use viral influence to market the company and its products. That could work, Strawberry now Linden is a pretty smart cookie when it comes to the whole viral influence thing
I still like your idea about LL promoting stuff from creators who make quality performant products. Can waste a lot of money, when we users really only have each other to guide us in product selection
Like I was looking for a mesh strap for my neko tail. Saw one full-perms on MP. 200L. No demo. But a rave review from another user. Take a chance and buy. Really lovely to look at. 272 LI. Oh! man lol 200L down the drain :)
Posted by: irihapeti | Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 06:24 AM
This sounds like a great idea on paper. And in a perfect world it might be a good idea. But this is Second Life. A place where LL makes the effort to revamp their premium housing and launches a whole new continent and people largely get out the pitchforks and torches and complain that they did not do enough. The blowback on something like this would be more trouble than any benefit is worth.
It would also be pretty pointless to identify user content in images and articles going out to people who are looking in from outside of SL, which is what I believe is the idea here. (Not to reach out to SL users to but to reach outside of LL and draw people into Second life and Sansar.) That person will not care where the hair on the avi in the photograph came from
Posted by: Soda Sullivan | Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 08:11 AM
I believe SL did promote SL content at one time, the furniture made by Anshe Chung, how did that work out for her. I remember the furniture was rather dull.
Posted by: Dekka Raymaker | Thursday, May 02, 2019 at 10:10 AM