Facebook and SL: the balkanization of our world?

My guess is that they've come to believe it's more cost effective to spend the money on advertising to attract 100,000 people to SL, of whom only 15 will stay--a 0.015% retention rate--than to spend much less on advertising, to attract only 100, and much more to retain the same 15 (a 15% rate).

Retention would mean increased labor costs, because volunteer programs haven't worked as well as hoped. Only LL employees on site where the newbies arrive could both defend the newbies from being appalled by nuts and griefers, and make them comfortable with so new an environment.

Labor is very, very expensive. A few ads on Facebook are much cheaper.

They're notorious for getting fired or otherwise messed up over Facebooking too.

I think the hypothetical being considered is: what if LL went for "accountability" and stopped permitting freebie accounts with no personal information behind them?

I have RL accounts on all three. I wonder what that makes me?

You know that, and I know that. But somehow it's never occurred to them.

(KEEP THE DUMB PEOPLE OUT OF SL!!!!)

People actually put real RL info in the "First Life" tab? I always assumed that was just to enhance role-playing.

I have no Facebook, MySpace, or any other of those "social networking" accounts. Mostly because I own a phone, can write emails, a vehicle, and even know how to lick a stamp and put it in the mailbox. In other words I have plenty of ways to keep in touch with my friends, relatives, work associates without those sites that are huge targets for your friendly, persistant hacker types. Thanks but no thanks. At least with SL only Linden Lab has that information and as long as I maintain my privacy it's not going any further than that...........if that one aspect of SL ever changes I'm gone.

But, my reason for even posting in this thread is quite different than what I've read so far. Facebook or MySpace requires nothing more than an extremely low spec'd machine wth access to the internet.........most any cell phone can be used. Second Life on the other hand requires a computer with a little muscle to run. Think of all these FB'ers whining and crying that their little Netbook can't even get to the log in page...........I mean after all, they paid $200 bucks for the thing. Forums have quite a bit of that already with the stripped down notebook computers that HP, Gateway, Compaq, and others that think it should be able to run SL. I can hear it now........."my Facebook runs perfect. SL is part of FB so it should run SL perfect too". The forums will be flooded with complaints.

This is so naive. Unless you can actually see the person, there is no way you can prevent fraudulent information.

I already stated that my Farcebook account is full of bogus information. What is stopping others from doing the same thing? Nothing and no Internet company will insist on getting identity verified by a credible source such as the police then sent to them.

You don't think there are vast numbers of adult "verified" people in SL with bogus information?

LL has my real life information on file. If they need to find me, they have several methods of doing so. I have no desire to share that information with the entire user base of SL. I have no desire to share my SL with my RL family and friends, because I prefer to spend time with them in RL. I prefer a real hug over a virtual hug. If you want to share your RL details in SL, you are free to do so already. You can place your full RL name in your First Live tab and anyone can look you up via All Search. I must admit if LL does integrate the ability to use RL names in SL, it will be cool to run into my old high school P.E. teacher at the Crack Den RP.

An influx of users from any other venue on the web would be nice. Unfortunately, the usual stereotypical description will be attached....and panic sets in.....then SL Armageddon descriptons....usual drama, instead of embracing some opportunities.

Wonder how those Facebookers describe the Second Lifers? Wouldn't that be interesting?

The issue is how will it affect SL culture.

I've been SL for quite a long time. I think it's about time someone defined this "SL culture".

SL is a petrie dish. Whatever grows in it is a culture.

I see your facebook, myspace, and linkedin and raise you one friendfeed and a bebo.

That's easy. It's the set of values and customs that pervade SL.

One concern is that a huge influx of RLOLers may create a caste system where anonymous avatars are regarded as fronts for deceptive persons, most likely perverts. As I tried to point out earlier, there are many reasons for adopting new identities within SL, only some of which are for "closed door" activities.

For example, if the mass of inworld customers refuse to buy anything which is not backed by a RL identity which is fully disclosed, then the personal growth scenarios I outlined earlier in this thread ("Ugly Betty" and the budding photographer) would simply never happen.

Has there ever been a case of a mass influx of Facebook account holders appearing in any sort of application like Secondlife? Any application that doesn't run in the browser?

We (not you and I, the collective "we" had this same battle over voice. Voice was going to segregate SL and drive non-voice users into a gender-questionable ghetto. None of the worst fears turned out to be founded. Those who want to use voice, use voice. Those who don't - don't.

People are too cheap to resist a bargain, no matter what it is backed by. They will buy out of the back of a dirty van if the price is good. There will always be plenty of customers and both the high and low ends of the spectrum. Likewise, there is no way LL will stop allowing free accounts. What they may do, however, is go back to requiring valid email and limit those accounts in some way. But, the idea that anyone should be able to access SL for free will never leave us, it is part of the core vision now.

SL is too big and impossible to reach enough residents that everyone becomes aware of copyright infringement and starts looking at who they buy from. Just because we here on the forums know doesn't mean that the other 90% of SL knows.


My closing thought.



There is no such set. We can't even agree on a set of values and customs here in this forum, much less a set that would apply to the whole of SL.

I really believe that this is the thing . . . the VAST majority of Facebookers have absolutely no interest in something as complicated and engaging as SL. Facebook is designed with a "Social-Networking-for-Dummies" interface: almost all of the "important" aspects of posting (formatting, forwarding and updating, etc.) are handled automatically. Facebook is designed for 15-minute spurts of activity, snatched between memos and meetings in an office setting. The very limitations of the app are one of the reasons for its incredible popularity. And it is precisely for THAT reason -- that SL is so much more demanding in nearly every way -- that any serious attempt to bring large numbers of Facebookers onboard here is doomed to failure.

Hmm. I keep tabs for forums.secondlife.com, facebook, friendfeed open all the time at home, and cycle back and forth between them and the other 30 to 70 tabs I typically have open. I never use facebook at work.

I suspect that things that as browsers become more powerful, things that work in a browser will have an increasing advantage over things that don't. This will include both utilitarian things such as document editing and fun things such as 3D games and virtual worlds.

You're probably right. I think a lot of people DO use Facebook at work. I don't, but then I barely use FB. I do hit the forums here a fair amount while doing other work, though; I guess it's my version of Facebook.

It's hard to imagine using SL in a browser. But as browsers (and web pages) are themselves moving closer and closer to desktop apps in function and feel, there will eventually be some kind of convergence.

How do you guys get any actual work done with all those fluff sites open?

Sorry, I'd respond, but I'm too busy "poking" 30 friends on FB . . .

Well, I guess the invasion of AOL users into Usenet in 1993 comes to mind.

Leaving out the "gender-questionable" part, that's exactly what happened. Communities were split down the line between voice and non-voice. SL is now much more balkanized than before voice.