SL rep

well its fri eve in oz and have had a couple of drinks, hiccup..but have the strength to post this one...it bothers me the rep SL has in Oz...when my partner mentions that I am on the internet AGAIN on my "game" SL, everyone (including my young teenage daughter) look at me oddly and proclaim that they have heard about how its a porn site : ( . Of course i set them straight and say I am a fairy and only visit the good sims..but still i feel i have to defend my choice of sites. Does anyone else find this within thier circle of friends/ family? I have to add i am so glad all the xxx sites have disappeared form popular places..it reinforces my defence that SL is not all about sex!

Unfortunately Tinkerbell, being in Australia means that Rupert Murdoch's "news" empire is able to get its claws into people. Fox News in the US and Sky in the UK have shown a tendency to "report" that SL is nothing more than a porn site. Which is bollocks, but we also have a few bitter souls in these forums who like to spout the same nonsense.

It's far easier to come up with some sensationalist headlines about what a den of iniquity SL is... but tabloid media (in print or broadcast) has never been about balance or heaven forbid, research and fact.

Ty Max, I so know what u mean, the media totally is full of shit about alot of things, its a full on drama machine..I would say that people who say SL is porn orientated have not been a resident who has fully explored this beautiful land...and that is what makes me sad..I guess the small minority who just logs in to explore the pixel 'luvin" and nothing else..these are the people who have got this wonderful site the bad rep? I mean there are so many talented designers of builds, hair and fashion..and skins ...those who give up RL time to teach and create miond blowing sims (eg straylight). i guess at the end of the day..bad news travels fast and good news hardly rates a mention *rolls eyes*

Show them what you're talking about. Show or send them video-clip URLs of things like the Palomar Hospital created by Cisco, reports of people who have used SL for wonderful purposes (CBS has at least two very good reports available, although one includes an interview with Stroker you might want to avoid under the circumstances), any Relay for Life event, things being done at universities' islands, etc.

Palomar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMtMWdlX9Z8&eurl=http://www.massively.com/

A CBS clip on someone with multiple sclerosis and a group of disabled adults who have created new lives in Second Life:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3547970n

ty Miles!

Unfortunately, Tinkerbell (may I call you 'Tink'? *g*) good news isn't worth covering to these people. Bad news and scandal are what sell papers and have people switching on the TV. All the horrible kinky sex and kiddie-porn that every one of us is apparently indulging in every minute of the day that we're logged is just another thing for the ignorant and uninformed to feel self-righteous about over their morning cornflakes. Heaven forbid they should actually get their own account and log in to see for themselves what it's like; they would rather take the 'news' outlets' word for it.

An excellent suggestion. I'd just add two other things they should see: in-world art by DanCoyote Antonelli (I *think* that's his last name--can't get in-world just now to check), and especially any of the YouTube machinima by Robbie Dingo.

Skell with all due respect, not everyone has a urge to log on to to the internet like us. My family prefer RL and tv, magazines...I guess if they felt the complusion to log on then they would understand...meanwhile its media thats fueling thier impression of SL?

Very true, and I apologise if I gave the wrong impression in my reply. I wasn't inferring that your family are ignorant and uninformed; merely I was generalising, and trying to say that exact same thing: that the media give SL (and many other things) a bad reputation that those who do not have accounts willingly believe in, simply because it's in the paper/on the TV.

My apologies again. I did not mean to offend in any way.

The website doesn't help in making the case about SL being a rich and varied environment...the pics they use make it look like a paradise for Brittany wannabes.

There are so many beautiful builds in SL..why do they use such cheesy pics of such icky avatars?

Unfortunately I have the same thing here in the UK.My wife accepts that I play although she hardly looks at the screen when I try to show her something cool.My youngest son on the other hand,20 years old,hurls abuse at me when I talk about the game and says he thinks it,s full of pervs and that's the nicest thing he has to say.He will on the other hand spend hours on various games that are just shoot ups with no content creation with no problem.Can't please them all

yes Skell and Blot.. defo if peeps are uneducated(?) to SL they do believe what the media print about SL...it just pees me off as theres SO MUCH MORE!!! to SL!!! Peeps need to explore before passing this misinformed judgment. : (
Apologies accepted Skell : ) BTW *hugs*

Those were precisely my thoughts when I replied earlier. The site includes a few links to things that reveal the diversity of SL, but the impression conveyed by the pics is lame.

Robbie's latest even includes a child avatar ot two! Gasp!

I think you just have to have an attitude of, yes that sort of content DOES exist in SL, but it also exists everywhere else on the Internet and, hell, in real life too. You can, for the most part, avoid it in all three realms without too much effort.

Because the beautiful builds would ruin their story, by disapproving the 'porn only' theory that they have carefully built up by simply typing porn into the SL places search and seeing a sea of endless stupidity.

As for me, my mom used to nag that way about SL, until the CSI thing. *snorts and rolls eyes* It was no more true that the Fox News report, but it got her off my case.

QFT. I really don't concern myself over what other people think of my recreational activities, it's really none of their business.

Wait, and the internet is not for pron? Wow, I must be out of the loop!

Seriously though, the internet was, and still is fueled by porn! usenet was used to trade porn, the whole world is powered by SEX! heck porn is population control.

My real point is, there is always going to be those shady back ally places in any society, whether it be the physical world or the metaphysical world.

The "Traditional Media" is a bunch of hogwash, it brainwashes people because the simple fact of it being on TV is enough proof that it is true, why would they lie right? In all reality reading news from a blog is just as if not more reliable as any form of media. Traditional media tends to focus on the bad in the world with a small hint of good thrown in.

But, the hard truth is, we as humans do not have time to investigate and deeply think about everything and come to our own conclusions, we let others draw them for us in many cases.

Not speaking about porn necessarily, but like was discussed in another thread, we have to get off the mindset that anything dealing with sex is something to be ashamed of and hidden. There is a need for discretion and taste, but most of us have sex, and enjoy it in one form or another.

Yes, even the anchors and reporters on Fox News. I bet they are a right filthy old bunch of individuals when the cameras stop rolling.

I don't talk about SL to many of my friends - got tired of the "I just do not get it" looks.

My immediate family is very internet aware and therefore they know that the media focuses on the sex and porn aspect of everything. They have seen me in SL and know that it is about much more. They still do not really 'get it', but at least they don't think it is all porn either.

QFT .. er .. squared?

Famous First Law of Journalism: Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Most of my friends know and appreciate what SL is and what it means to me. They know my fiancee and I use it heavily to keep in contact. It is a sad fact that the media can get away with puting any spin they like on their 'reports'

Other people in my RL houshold can't say much about SL because they do online wargaming, puzzles etc!

It's to be expected. It was like that when computers first came out, and when the internet was first discovered outside of the university set, when Email first came into use, etc. etc. etc. In 10 years people who don't know what SL is or what it's about will be considered freaks, backward, and out of the loop.

oh when did I pass 2000 posts? lol