Threat about post in blog: Need your opinion

Hello everybody !

I need some input guys. I run a blog about SL where mostly I tell people about some cool places I have visited, with the SLUR if someone would like to check the place out. Also tips, templates, etc.

One of my friends that writes for the blog wrote about this place and when one of my readers went there, the person kicked her out saying it was private property. So what we did was, post a note saying the place is private property and I took out the SLUR.

But apparently the owners of this parcel started to threaten my friend, saying they would fill a report against her with LL. Note: all this has been done with very abusive and rude words.

Now I'm in a difficult position: I don't think these people have the right to report my friend for writing an article for the blog, and much less that LL will listen to such absurd or even ban her.

So, the post is still in the blog, with no SLUR. And one of the "owners" left a senseless message, without a verifiable email for response (how convenient, right ?)

What do you guys think ? The owners have the right to report someone for writing about their place in a blog ?

I know this sounds absurd, and I usually can care less about BS like this, but today is one of these days that I CANNOT let BS fly.

Any opinion would be appreciated. Have a great night !

Can you just remove the post? I know there is no reason to be rude, but I can see the othersides point.

The landowners have no grounds for filing an abuse report, given that the incident they are concerned about occurred outside of SL, and doesn't even remotely breach the TOS. Your friend however DOES have reason to abuse report the land owners for verbally abusing and threatening her.

I think the actions you have taken on your blog are reasonable. I would probably mute the land owner in SL, and ignore them if they comment on your blog. Maybe there is an option to prevent anonymous comments in your blog settings? These people will get bored and go away soon enough.

LL wont do anything about any Third Party Site.

Don't worry.

Tell the would be Tattles that.

*Jezebel - I can and probably will, but the thing is all this drama unfolded during the day, when I was away from the computer. First thing in the morning I took out the SLUR, and now I come back to open my mail and read desperate emails from my friend (we're at different timezones) and rude comments on the blog from this person. I'm kind of mad because I did what I thought was reasonable, taking,the SLUR out so people would not be able to visit the place, so why the abused continued ?

*Stephanie - That's what I thought, that they wouldn't have any grounds for filling a report abuse. And yes, I have that option in my blog, no anonymous comments, but the person used a go.f***.y@gmail, you know, a fake email.

Anyway, thank you for the responses.
I really appreciate it.

I'll bet you could leave the slurl in your blog too and LL wouldn't do anything about it.

Heck Id post every bad IM and email they send on your blog. Just to make them look bad.

I agree - Further -

She could leave in the SLurl, Print their RL names, addresses and Phone numbers, chat logs, .WAV voice recordings, and LL still wouldn't do anything.

As long as it was a Third Party Site.

This is LL: who let Financial Fund managers walk away with (read: steal) Hundreds of thousands of US dollars from Residents with zero repercussions.

It was an innocent mistake. Just the other day I decided to find green dots on the map to explore, and I TP in someone's house that were having sex! You can reply to the blog comment and tell them it was an accident, no harm was intended, and the SLURL was removed. You could just remove their post and let it die. Most likely nothing bad will come of this. Have your friend mute those people. Don't fight fire with fire.

if there land was supposed to be 'private', how was your friend even able to go there? do they expect people to magically know its not public land? thats why you can set access rights on land, if they didn't want somebody going to it, they should disable public access. Shows how the anonymity of the internet can really bring out the f***tard in a person.

the land owners are just being immature pricks in my opinion. I say do what you want with your blog since LL wont touch it, and file an abuse report about them if they bug you.

Pull any and all reference to the location of the plot. Out of respect for the privacy of the land owners. While I think that people should have the right to write about something they see as a highlight, at the same time I'm also quick to put myself in the position of those who like their (relatively speaking) privacy.

If you leave it up, skip the bickering and on the blog remove or edit comments with the location.

If you're willing to understand that some people don't want an influx of tourists, then ask if they'd like it pulled completely. (This is a judgment call.) You might have to ignore ranting, but the answer you're looking for is yes or no. If they've already stated in a matter of words then pull it.

The compromise would be giving them credit with a photo that does not clearly dictate the location. They might not be happy with it, but I wouldn't even mention the sim it is in or what it is near.

Or you can squash it by pulling it.

As for would this constitute a ban from LL? I doubt it unless there is continued contact from either side. Stay off the property and encourage others to leave their land alone. Otherwise it *could* be construed as harassment if someone wanted to try to take it that far. But if they said stay out and have land tools, then just respect their space and don't invite yourself to dinner.

For any more abusive contact, make it clear that language will not be tolerated and it will be reported. That you are open to discussion without abusive overtones or language. If they continue, then report it. If not, then leave it alone.

Personally I can be a private person from time to time. I used to have more than one plot of land. One I didn't mind who came through as long as there was no griefing. The other was my place that I used to work on projects or just relax alone. If I tell someone that I want to be left alone and they don't leave, I turn on the security system and use land tools. End of discussion. All I do is hope that the person understands that it's not personal. I'd do it to anyone whether I liked/knew them or not.

For the future: If I was in the writers shoes, I would try sending an IM/email asking if the person wanted the post in the blog first. It's not 'asking permission' for what to write. But you just want to repsect privacy. If an influx of people started streaming into one of my pseudo-private parcels, I would also be extremely annoyed if I didn't at least get a heads up before. At least some time to allow me to respond with a yes, no, or something to the effect of: 'Please don't list the location but feel free to write and post pics'.

Chalk it up to a learning experience, and just be the responsible party in this situation. Or else it will not defuse. That is when you'd really have to worry about it escalating to abuse reports that would be taken seriously.

Most people understand that SL is not a 'private' place. Some people still think there should be exceptions. It's a debate that has gone on for a long time, and will not be resolved anytime soon. The best way to handle it is to try to be as responsible as possible to avoid these situations. They'll still happen from time to time, but what matters from that point on is how you handle it post complaint. That is what would cause, or prevent, intervention from LL having to step in and break up a fight.

I think it's great that you want to promote excellent places you've found. Just keep in mind, some of those places are owned/created by people who like the privacy that those plots might provide. I'm sure if you gave heads up, there are more people who'd be thrilled and honored at your comments, than those offended.

Just my two cents. Not saying who is right or wrong. Both sides have valid points when playing Devil's advocate. It's just what I would do if I was in the writers shoes.

Hope it works out for the better.

I'm not as nice as the previous poster. Just for that terror and bitching? I'd put the Slurl back in.

Seriously, if the place is not access-restricted or guarded by a security system, then what you did was like linking to a web page - recommending a place that is available to everyone who wants to go there.

I totally get why people want their privacy. If they do though, they should make that clear and not leave "the front door open" and then complain about the postman standing in their living room.

blog about my place, I will not be a bitch I will not yell at your friend, heck you can even interview me

I welcome any exposure for my store

yep shameless plug

as for the crap they are dealing to you, fight fire with honey

kill them with kindness

that way they have nothing to report to SL, better yet, do not even acknowledge them

imagine that AR...
"I am reporting so and so cuz they ignored me!"

heh

There's still a difference between a parcel that's simply unrestricted and a parcel that's specifically listed in Places.

If someone - for whatever reason - wants to leave their land open to a trinkle of people who happen to pass then that's still very different from someone who specifically chooses to list their land in search.

There's also a big difference between taking pictures of an unlisted parcel because you happened to like it and post the experience on your blog and posting the actual location of it.

Regardless of what the TOS or CS state, the polite and considerate thing to do would be to simply ask any owner of an unlisted parcel whether they want to be featured in an "explorer"'s public blog or not and respect whatever answer is given.

On-topic: none of the above excuses their behaviour towards the OP's friend

You do whatever you want to on an external service from LL's TOS viewpoint. Name names, be utterly obnoxious and abusive, etc. LL have no power and no desire to police 3rd party content. The only NoNo from LL's point of view is using their logo, etc. - the usual intellectual property, copyright stuff.

However, why not just pull the entire posting?
The owner may have come across as an AntiChrist, but maybe it's just that they became very upset at finding that they had become a tourist attraction. Many people do lash out wildly when they feel their lives are being interfered with. You might have noticed emotions running high in the threads about ban lines.
They didn't come looking for you. You found them.

If someone does not wish to be referenced in the blog, then I think you should respect that, even if you don't like they way they asked.
We are all frail human beings.

If you get all emotional and vengeful about "they started it", then you are in the same situation as the landowner.

You want fun. You want to share with others.
The landowner wants fun. They're not keen on sharing their fun with tourists.
Move on.

Thanks for the feedback guys !

I agree with you all. I respect the right of privacy in SL and most of the places I post about are public, "touristic" places. The perfect solution would be to contact each person -as someone cited above- and I did try this in the beginning, but most people don't respond to IM/notecards from strangers, so I had not much to blog about. So now I use common sense and advise all my friends to use it too. I mean, is not that hard to tell when a place is private.

In any other day I would just say whatever and deleted the post. But today is the day. I got very mad that my friend got harassed all day by these people for an honest mistake, that was corrected as soon as the first visitor coming from the blog was threaten to be kicked out.

One side of me does not want to fight fire with gasoline, I know it's not worth it, but the other (the one that didn't erase the post yet, I guess) does not want to be bossed around by rude people. Don't want anybody being extra nice, and yes, it can be stressful to see your space "invaded", you can loose you cool for a moment, I understand, but why not just be "normal". The anonymity does bring the worse in people sometimes.

I guess I'm just venting.

OK, so I'll put back the SLURL. (hahhaha, nooo, I'm kidding, I won't)

Thanks again for your ideas and input.

Hi,
First of all I love people who blog about cool places to go. Having said that, I'll summarise my 2c: I would not be totally impressed to find my private home recommended in someone's blog as cool place to visit

I'd say just delete the blogpost, tell your friend to mute the person sending the IMs and go back to enjoying.


Just my 2c, MHO, YMMV, etc......

Why did this blog-post have a SLURL to what (presumably) was someone's home? Okay, if you find a nice place then a SLURL is a great way to let people share it.

What reason was for posting the SLURL? Did it appear to be a freebie area to explore/use?