SL5B - No Kid Avatars, please!

Second Life's 5th birthday is ahead, but this year one of the biggest communities, the kids community, will not be allowed to contribute to the big celebration:

http://secondlifechildren.blogspot.com/

Kid avatars *might* even be not allowed to visit!

Where is SL going? People who break no rules, who simply decided to live their second life as a kid, who just want to participate and celebrate this world they are a part of, this world they contribute to big time, are censured and pushed out now?

Who will be next?

Codpiece-wearing, naff looking dragons?

First they came for the child avatars, and I did not speak out
Because I was not one of them
Then they came for the furrys, and I did not speak out.
Because I was not one of them
Then they came for the goreans, and I did not speak out.
Because I was not one of them
Then they came for me, and there were none to speak out.

To punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty is not a good idea, leads to far more trouble than it's supposed to help.

Great, yet another round of witch hunts comming our way, every kid hater reading this (and you can bet that most will read this because they do seek for things to use against us) will no doubt twist it around to meaning LL has outlawed being a child in SL.

Wow stunned ...this is a very silly move by LL .....?

I think this is a really bad move to make. I mean (and I intend no offence) I don't understand the kid community, but then, I have a furry avatar so I'm sure plenty of people will say the same about me. But I wouldn't for a second put the burden of guilt for child-porn/pedophiles onto every child avatar, just as I don't want to be accused of bestiality or such.

It shows an incredible ignorance of their own residents to think to exclude an entire community. Whether LL likes it or not, the kids, the furs, the goreans etc. are ALL residents of Second Life. They are as much a part of Second Life as the "regular joes" that play boring human avatars (I jest =)

Bad move by LL but I blame the Republicans first and foremost.

I'd like to say I'm surprised by this, but I'd be lying if I did.

LL's main drive isn't the community. It's the platform that they feel they need to preserve. If they had cared the least little bit about the community, they'd have left the general discussion forum open, they'd have a response team of Lindens stationed at each welcome area to help keep griefing under check while new users get settled and they'd go back to holding town hall meetings. There are a lot of things they could have done to protect the community that simply aren't going to be done.

Frankly, while they could open the general discussions forum, there really isn't much they can do about the rest. They don't HAVE the manpower to do it, not when compared to the huge number of users that enter the world every day. So they have to settle on the realistic: Protect the platform and company.

Linden Labs only create the platform. WE create the community.

I am very saddened by this.

Youre right they dont care about the welcome areas. i should know better then anyone. They never did care or make much attempt to work with residents, unless they are already personal friends with them.

wish i could say im surprised but im not. ive seen my adult avatars banned for places for being 5'4 - 5'6 which is taller then i am in real life.

Pretty much all my worst fears about the SL community have come true and after being in SL off and on for well over 4 years, i can say im completely disillusioned with the entire platform.

Even if i had a voice to speak, no one would listen. Its like watching the body snatchers or a zombie movie. I give up. No one cares and its all hypocritical.

Many people are just blatantly alienated without any consideration at all.

Society enjoys a villain.
Go after the "villain" so everyone feels like they're doing something good.

Question: Given the cautious tone of the blog post (which I find at least as ominous as the ban itself) about seeking any "retribution" until the political clouds blow over, is there anything supportive that other residents can do to show solidarity without making the situation worse?

(That is, besides throwing the bastards out of office; on that, we do what we can, but living in the Bluest of states, my vote doesn't have much impact on the Reds.)

anything we could do??? sure, all furries and dragon etc could post on their profile that they are five year old furries, dragons etc. Let people chew on that ambiguity for a while...

Personally, I am seriously thinking about attending, WITH my daughter, as a visitor. No in-your-face protesting. Just a well-dressed mother and daughter in proper Japanese kimonos, both of us Kitsune (multi-tailed spirit foxes), strolling about and looking at the exhibits.

Reisuki may be young in appearance and by Kitsune standards, but she has two tails, and most Kitsune don't achieve that until they have served Inari for at least 100 years...

I wonder, with all the other "communities" in SL, how many fetish groups did they say COULD exhibit their group? BDSM? Goreans? Escorts?

Humph!

Hugs to Mari and the other kid avatars, and scorn for the political glory-hounds.

Gah, that's horrible. I can *kind of* see their reasoning process, but in the end, they're really just buying into all of the unnecessarily negative assumptions about child avs.

/me whips off her pants and waves them in salute
Been a while since we've had a Godwin.

My advice. If this bothers you, don't attend the event. Don't participate in any way. And let them know why. Or maybe hold some competing events.

Heh, good quote. I agree that it ain't fair to the users w/ kid avs...but SL's reputation is so crappy in the mainstream that most folks I talk to who have heard about it mention porn and other bullcrap they put on the News, instead of anything "productive". LL is tryna cut off a toe to save the foot. I wonder where they'll stop? Lookin into the future, I (think that) I can say this platform is meant first & foremost for business.



I gotta agree. This is why IBM is still in-world to the same extent as they were last year, and they're not going anywhere.

Whoever makes somethin even SIMILAR to SL, and creates a useable & secure standard to trade between these " Virtual Worlds" will have made a huge leap in conveniece, entertainment & consolidation on the web.

The platform has so much potential that most folks can't wrap thier brain around that part of it...even a lot of SL "oldbies" I know. We're Beta testers who pay the company during testing, instead of the other way around. It made sense that they would re-name the "Beta Test Grid (Aditi)".

It's cowardly. Everytime SL has been attacked by these media whores, LL has never done anything , at least as far as I can see to defend SL , and all of us. The either bury their heads in the sand, or run around like a Chinese Fire Drill, isntituting bullshit policies that just cover up what those idiots are railing against. There is a thread scolding us for not making more of SL, for making it a place that some feel ashamed to visit. How about LL starts taking some initiative, and responding to these types of attacks? Show these clowns what SL really is, and take real steps to do away with the things that are offesnsive , illegal and detrimental to the platform.

Wasn't so much a Godwin, as nothing else quite fit to express the fact how one community can be targeted... and if none besides them speak out others can to fit the societally norm


There is nothing preventing ad-board being worn at the event to show displeasure at the decision.

I plan to make some up after I get some rest.

The sentiment is fine, I agree with it. It's just that here, that poem has been used so much, in some of the most unnecessary circumstances, that it pretty much constitutes an automatic Godwin, two free throws, and maintain possesion of the ball, no matter what the context. It's not your fault.

Look at it this way, you got me to take my pants off, and it's not even 9:30 AM

Well shoot. I guess I'll have to wait for the next Burning Life. That's a shame, I was really looking forward to the party, too!

On the one hand, it would've been easy for LL to just completely ban kid avs altogether from SL a little while ago (from what I've read); but they didn't, so I suppose we should be happy about that at least. But on the other hand...man, this sucks.

How many plan on showing up anywayz? (o.o)

I kinda do. (^_^)

I might even dress decently. I found a really cute ao dai lately. (^_^)y

In a way, that just adds to the problem. Now the kids are SL's shameful secret, the 2nd Class Citizens (tm). If they are such a problem and cause such headaches, does merely pushing them underground help matters any? To continue the Godwinning all they are doing is hiding them in the Attic for awhile. "Shhh. Hide here, don't make any sound, we'll tell you when the coast is clear." The difference here is LL is charging them rent for that attic.

You can if you want. I think my heart's not really in it.



Yeah, I think "2nd Class" is really how I feel about this. It doesn't feel very good being somewhere you know you're merely -tolerated- (as opposed to welcome). I have absolutely no truck at all with people who don't want kid avs on their private land or whatever - I don't even dislike them for feeling that way. But LL? Banning kids from a grid-wide celebration? That really smarts. Ah, well.

As far as I'm concerned, If you are allowed to be in SL, and give your money, then you should be allowed to participate in any LL sponsored event on an equal basis as any other citizen.