front page picts

i think it's very cool that pictures from sl residents are being displayed dynamically, and i think it would be a shame if that stopped, but the issues aimee raises could be a problem.

any of you want to propose some solutions?

There's really no substitute for good old-fashioned human judgement.

The downside is it can be very time consuming and thus expensive to have someone actively monitor and approve photos for inclusion on the website.

My personal opinion - while it does have an "oh neato" quality to it, I don't think that as the "first look" into SL that the homepage represents for the prospective customer, these pics do a really good job.

People take pics of themselves, of crazy/goofy/wierd stuff, and yes, people will eventually spam/game the system.

Not that there is anything inherently bad about any of the above, but its not the kind of photos that would really get me excited about joining SL either. When I joined my imagination was sparked by seeing the level of customization of the avs - the pure freedom to create anything at all - having stellar examples of these featured on the website got me hooked on trying it out.

My vote goes back to having a professionally designed webpage featuring the best builds/avs/whatever, not random photographs that people take - again, not that there is anything wrong with these types of photos, lord knows I take enough of them, its just that not all of them necessarily work as promotional photographs for SL.

Please note, this is coming from a chick that uses Snapzilla almost daily. I love it. It rocks. Cris is the shizzle. But Snapzilla is not the official SL homepage, nor should it be - its more of an extended family scrapbook for residents. I'm just looking at this from a marketing/promotional/manpower viewpoint. YMMV, my two cents, etc. etc.


*ducks to avoid flying shoes*

I have seen the pics, but how does one put them up there? and who decides which ones go up?

As of yesterday, anyone sending a snapshot to [email]pics@sluniverse.com[/email] from a PG sim will have that picture also listed on the SL homepage.

One solution to the problem would be to have it pick pictures at random - to not show every picture that comes through - even if it means the pictures are not updated as often. If it randomly decides which pictures to put through, there is less of an ability to game and abuse it. You may get lucky and have an image go through, but the odds are against it appearing if it is sufficiently random, so there is less incentive to try.

Since the home page is mainly advertising for new people and not for existing customers, the photos don't really have to be live. They could be delayed by an hour or two, or even a day. Just enough time for people to take a look at them and say yes or no.

It might even make sense to have a rating system where residents rate snaps, and the highest rated ones make it to the home page. Snapzilla has a rating system already, but since this isn't hooked into Snapzilla that won't help.

The other approach would be to have a corps of trusted residents who run around taking snaps to be posted. Give them some small credit for their work, kick them out if they post something that violates whatever standards, and let them decide what looks cool enough to post.

Frankly, I think we should trust ALL residents to make this decision until someone demonstrates they aren't mature enough to do so. If someone does violate whatever standards, their snaps won't be posted anymore. Yeah, that's potentially a mess to manage, but what do you want for free?

A certain someone would have a field day with this -- a "corps of trusted residents" --

Anyway, these are good ideas Olmy, but how many actually take the time to rate pictures?

I like your last idea best

I think we perhaps spend a bit too much time worrying about potential problems that haven't shown themselves to be actual problems as yet. I think the live pics on the front page are a wonderful idea and give the site a more dynamic feel than it had previously. If and when it starts getting abused maybe replace it with resident voted pics or something. For now, I think it rocks

How about an automatic veto? Anyone can veto a picture once a day

Or an abuse report option as well. That might work too.

Thought the veto thing might be an interesting experiment.

Excellent!

Oh, I disagree Merwan.

For example, Tcoz's protest sign has longer term spot on the map. At the moment, anyone who browses the website pics is very likely to see that protest sign.

actually i am just as concerned about abuse of snapzilla as the home page, and that's why i wonder about the random picture idea Cris -- because someone with an agenda in mind might just spam your site with a zillion copies of a picture. Then again, you may have a spam blocker for all I know.

regarding this whole issue, I think spending some time to contemplate avenues for abuse and trying to design some safeguards up front is usually a good idea

would be a shame to see the homepage pics go

So you have to have email enabled using your RL email?
and send email from game?

You can give it a shot yourself without actually sending it -

Go inworld and take a snapshot.

There will be a checkbox thingie that says email snapshot (or something along those lines, I'm at work and can't check) on the snapshot preview that pops up.

When you hit that email snapshot button, the window shrinks a bit and gives you new fields to fill out - your name (at least how you want your name to appear), your email address that is associated with your account (this part is grayed out, you can't change it), the email address of the person you want to send the snapshot to (in this case, [email]pics@sluniverse.com[/email], but can be anybody - I send snaps to a co-worker of mine all the time), and the subject line/text of the message.

Nothing gets sent until you hit the Send button on that dialog, so feel free to try it out and see. It doesn't get sent through your email software, nor do you have to actually go to your email account to send it - its all done right through SL.

I personally use a specific gmail email account for my SL account only. I have tons of invitations so if you would like a free gmail account I would be happy to send you an invite, just send me a private message in the forums.

I suppose in the grand scheme of things, this is how censorship is born. A picture of a sign on private land bothers the majority. The worry abour criticism of the sovereign, and the hold a discussion as to how to "fix" the problem. Maybe the problem does not need fixing.

A resident, not even THAT resident, voiced his opinion, and it got picked up on the homepage. So be it. LL deployed a PG filter. Do they now need to depoly a popular opinion filter?

Divisiveness and rancor don't come from one person, even (to use the parlance fo the moment) THAT person. Rather they are born within a community itself. Let it go. It doesn't need to be fixed, the opinion was expressed and has been carried to the proverbial wind.

I agree with Chip, with two additional thoughts:

First, the fact that occasional controversial pictures show up can indicate to prospective customers what sort of place it is that freely allows such things, even on the splash page. And that can be a good thing.

Second, some sort of LL explanation and mild disclaimer is appropriate for these pictures.

I don't like the idea of restricting the material shown to popularly-rated pictures, because that means some of the most exciting and controversial things - things that make SL worthwhile - would never make it. Porridge, not too hot and not too cold, may not sell SL.

And as far as "trusted residents" go.... Trusted to do what? Uh-uh. That smacks of something that's been discussed far too much in these forums already. No need to give credibility to the idea of "strata" in SL.

sorry jake, but this is not society we're talking about. LL is a business, and this is their marketing website. I do not consider posting pictures on the site a fundamental right for anybody, and LL should have total control over what and who they allow there.

our being able to post images to the main homepage is a privilege, not a right, and it only takes a few abusers to spoil things.

the wonderful thing about the human race is... there always are those abusers...

if having a free-for-all on the home page serves LL's ends by representing the freedoms within game, then go for it.

Well I don't think we should jump to any conclusions about worst case scenarios. I just see a system where there is potential for unintended uses, some of which may fall well within TOS/CS but be outside the realm of what Second Life's marketing department had in mind. Example: How about posters with politely worded statements against Second Life? This is a freedom we expect in SL and the forums, but should it be the same on the homepage? Examples:

"The <fill in the blank> bug hasn't been fixed for 11 months"
"It took me 4 hours to log in tonight"
"You must be part of a small, old, elite clique to succeed in Second Life"
"The one time account doesn't allow land ownership, and SL is NO FUN without land"

I admit, it would take a truly obsessed and perpetually angry individual to start these kinds of campaigns. If SL is free of truly obsessed and perpetually angry individuals, we're golden

There is also the question of permitting these pics to advertise new products and services. Rather than take photos of cool goings on in SL, can I just start taking photos of my clothing ads and boxes?

I'm not sure what the answer is, but with free exposure on SL's front page I suspect we will find out soon enough.

What I refer to Foresti, is the oppression of ideas that comes from within a group. You will note that it is not LL sugeesting there is a problem, but rather it comes from a group within the forums. Like you I would assume that if LL has a problem with it, they can fix it.

SL is not society at large, but it is a society. My observation is that the forums community is increasingly becoming a society of shouting down unpopular Ideas. In this case an Idea that seeming attacked LL. Rather than simply disagree, it was suggested that the process is broken, and that the good of SL was being threatened. Obviously if the good of SL is threated we must limit the access of the people with the unpopular Idea. To me, this is how censorship must start.

The Lindens have, in all truth, remained seriouly committed to allowing every user a voice, so long as it is not an attacking one. They trust in the wisdom of the listener to ferret out good ideas from bad ones. All I am saying is the forum community on the whole could show the same deference and tolerance for the unpopluar voice.

I wouldn't get too carried away falling for the "oppressed minority" routine, unless you enjoy being manipulated by someone who works very hard and very deliberately to create that impression, regardless of its relationship to the truth. I personally can't think of anyone whose had more "airtime" to spout their ideas, popular or not, than THAT resident.

It is evident who "that" resident is. I resent being referred to in this fashion, it is entirely rude. There is nothing wrong with saying "Tcoz's sign". It is, after all, my sign.

Those that would refer to the "perpetually angry" could easily be countered with "those with their head perpetually stuck in the sand and/or those who perpetually curry favor of the ruling authority".

I also believe the comment mistakes perpetual disgust for anger.

However this illustrates another point.

The reason a variety of people are objecting to this is the potential harm it could do to LL and their product.

It is only able to potentially do that harm because it has been moved from the SL environment and placed on the public internet.

IN SPITE of the fact that nothing has happened, people are upset. And objecting.

Imagine that. I must say, I knew it was just a matter of time until one of YOU put my protest on the Internet for all to see. Funny how that gives people the opportunity to draw conclusions and invent ways to disturb the peace.

I have broken no rules. I am still posting, and can still log in. However, many on the forums for the past several days have broken a variety of rules by telling lies and hurling vicious insults.

And it's my land. And all this uniform look, and zoning, and other controls that people seem to wish to exert over anybody that steps out the norm and stands in opposition to the majority, needs to be shut down. In fact, let's not even speak their names. "THAT" will do.

What hypocrisy.

The signs will remain. They are apparently quite effective.

For the record Tcoz, I myself did not think of you when I read Chip's post... I am about 99% sure of who he is referring to and why he chose to do so with Jake, as Jake has defended "that" person ardently over the past few weeks.

Tcoz,

Chip was not referring to you.

I share your confusion, as I was not referring to chip's post.

And now lookee...you have something to do.

You're welcome.

Which "that resident" reference were you referring to then?