can moderation subvert social production?

yes.

I never think about the TOS when I am posting to the forums (or when I am in world for that matter). I always say exactly what I want to say, exactly the way I want to say it. I have never once censored what I wanted to say, nor avoided a topic of discussion, for fear of being moderated.

The TOS and CS have zero effect on my values, morals and perceptions.

I dont know that the community and terms of service standards enumerated in the TOS/CS could change individual values, after all, wherever we go there we are, but LL enforcement of the TOS/CS does impact perception.

Since 2003 I have seen LL impose varied interpretations and enforcement of these standards such that there can be no meaningful predictablity about what rule will be enforced and against which member. Enforcement is too subjective.

Enforcement, or lack of it, seems to go through phases, as if LL rules change according to which Linden happens to be in charge of enforcement at the time.

For example, in 2003 members pranced around naked and regularly wore prim penis' on their foreheads. By the spring of 2004, enforcement became more puritan. What was then permitted in a PG sim was so restrictive that the standard became what could be seen by a member flying over a sim, or from an adjoining sim, could not be offensive to the observer. Needless to say this was so subjective a standard that it was used as a tool for harassment.

But, enforcement of the CS became uneven. At the same time one member was sanctioned for displaying anti-war photographs of injured children in a PG sim, because the pictures were offensive, nude pictures of another female avatar in plain view in the same sim were overlooked.

It seemed the member sanctioned had alienated the sanctioning Linden in a separate dispute while the member with an actual TOS violation for nudity in a PG sim, and who was not sanctioned, happened to be a friend of the Lindens.

This selective enforcement of the TOS/CS set into place the perception of favortism, and became so prevalent that in time all Linden involved events and actions were analyzed with consideration about the "FIC" involvement. They still are.

So it is not so much what the rules are that are imposed that influences the SL community as much as the perception about how these rules are or are not enforced. When one member is sanctioned for conduct that is overlooked in another member, the community at large notices and becomes cynical. Ironically, this undermines the community aspirations enumerated in the CS portion of the TOS. In that way, LL application of the rules, enforcement, as well as preferred treatment accorded to select members ends up shaping the social sphere of SL more than the CS as stated.

I don't see moderation as a problem.

I see the problem being that the rules are very often badly interpreted, misapplied in an arbitrary manner, with no accountability on the part of the one handing out the action, and no appeals process against this action.

My biggest gripe is that forum and game are connected. What is a minor infraction of a small rule on the forums to give you a warning can have serious negative impact on your in-world experience, far far beyond whatever little thing you are supposed to have done on the forums.

I have approached three Lindens asking for evidence and proof to justify a recent forum warning I got, and nothing has been provided, no explanation given, and no attempt to come to a satisfactory conclusion. In a court of law, if prosecution cannot provide evidence, then the case is thrown out - in equivalent, my warning should be removed and my clean record reinstated.

But do the Lindens care? Not one bit. They know they're in the wrong, because of the way I have been treated over this whole issue, but they're too arrogant to admit that they fouled up. Again.

It is not griefers or hackers that will destroy Second Life. It is not DMCA violations or texture theft that will destroy Second Life. It is Linden incompetence, and their attitude of contempt towards many residents, and special treatment for a few others, that will ultimately destroy their world.

Many of us offer help to be either turned down or plain ignored. I believe there are several areas where my expertise, experience and enthusiasm would be a fantastic benefit to Linden Lab, even just in a voluntary capacity - yet there isn't even the courtesy to respond to messages with "Thanks but no thanks"; and I know the Lindens I have approached have received the message and are there because I have seen them in-world and online.

Their world has grown far bigger than they can handle, and the strain is showing. Do something before it's too late.

Lewis

I view it as being similar to being a guest in someone's home.
Which is very similar to being a customer in the place of someone's private business.
My presence there is not a right but a priviledge.

In RL my behavior will differ depending on the company I am in.
With my rowdier friends my behavior will differ than it will with my more intelligent and civilized friends. This allows me to have many different kinds of
friends.
I also have many friends that I may not agree with on various issues.
However those issues are rarely if ever relevant to our personal interaction.

When I was younger I felt that it was important that my position on issues should be stated as directly as possible. And although it was enjoyable to do so while I was doing it.
The aftermath was rarely if ever what I would hope it to be. lol.

And Kati I absolutely agree with the statement "where ever you go, there you are.".

It's fun. It gives us something to rebel against.

I met a guy in the sandbox the other day, he hated griefers and he had made all these devices to help combat them. His Second Life seemed to revolve around fighting griefers. He seemed very happy!

Now let's make a new thread to belittle the resmods. We shall win this fight!!

I really hate to say this, as I know I am going to catch hell, but I truly believe the reason people become so inflamed over these issues in SL is because they are mirroring RL too closely.

A cop pulls you over for speeding. Maybe he's in a foul mood. (Bad cop, no donut.) Maybe he just got a promotion and a raise! Now he's happy he can finally get that new baton, so he can beat hippies more effectively! You get a donut-less five-o, no amount of sweet talking will ever get you out of that ticket.

So, say you get Mr. Frownypants. You decide to fight it in court. Maybe you end up with the judge who is up for election, and he wants to show his community that he's cracking down. Possibly, you end up in front of the one who's heard his last "I woke up late" story, and cuts you the break just to move things along. Even better, to your amazement, he is your fourth cousin (twice removed), and the ticket makes him so mad he has the cop who wrote it fired.

Point being...

There will always be some kind of authority figure hovering over, and winding within, any community or population, no matter what the size. Those figures are nothing more than human beings. Wearing a badge does not erase human nature, or make one instantly view the world without bias. It also doesn't prevent abuse of power. We all come here expecting utopia. What we get makes the American justice system look efficient and fair. I do believe that, for some, this is so enfuriating that their entire focus becomes counterproductive.

Veng

I generally carry myself somewhat decently, and I've never really had any worry about the Lindens authority because I haven't really done anything that I've had to worry about, even if they were really strict.

The area that I worry about is the potential of being banned from places for doing something that for whatever reason is deemed offensive to a land owner. I pretty much live in fear anywhere that I am in SL. I don't know what new thing someone might get offended at. I pretty much walk on eggshells everywhere I go, and so far it has been doing me well, but ever since I got banned from someone's land for stating my musical preferences, the fun in SL for me has been decreasing.

I go to a place, make pleasant comments, say hello to everyone that walks through the door, and use up most of my stipends to donate to whatever place I'm currently in and for making free shirts and clothing for people, hoping that this sort of behavior will ensure that I won't get banned from anywhere else. I don't dare express myself in text when I'm anywhere in SL, with the occasional silly comment to make sure I'm being positive (although I don't do that very much since some people get offended at silliness).

I don't think the Lindens are the ones to fear, it is the land owners that one has to fear, since the land owners are the ones that make at least 90% of the content.

fmeh, i'm really saddened to read your post. it seems to me that rather than being liberating, sl is quite constrictive for you in your search for social engagement. personally, my approach to conflict in sl is to not care. since sl is a virtual world of little consequence, you have the luxury of giving no importance to negative experiences. sl is so big it doesn't matter where you are banned. all that matters is you have fun friends to hang out with when you log in.

i think my inquery might have been misinterpreted since some of the posts seem to be instances of presumed injustice rather than social production. thus:

example - if LL rules that upskirt galleries of avatars are inadmissible, does that make snapshots of unsuspecting avatars an invasion of privacy? do we as players recognize that LL's decision was governed by their desire to increase ones affinity with one's player account and thus increase immersion/addiction, or are we affectively convinced that the avatar is not merely a prosthetic extension, but continuous with our being?

In another thread I was let known a lot of information, and I'm pretty confident now that if I was to get banned from an area, I probably don't want to hang out there anyway. I've found so many cool places, and met a lot of cool people. People in the other thread pretty much assured me of things that alleviated 95% of my worries.