Re: Group Notice From: Lexie Linden

Does this mean I can't suggest people might want to join NCI?

If so it seems far from the most intelligent announcement I've ever seen.

Well I suppose if you recruit for NCI then it would only be fair that you recruit for the BDSM School down the road. Perhaps there needs to be some policy discussion about which community groups are approved by the LL Marketing team to be promoted on a Help island.


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Suezanne, quite a while back now I had such a discussion with a Linden and was told it was quite ok for me to mention a particular sandbox as being a place the new resident I was dealing with at any time might wish to go.

If you want to suggest they visit NCI I'd doubt that would be an issue. The post specifically dealt with group recruitment. Which I'd have to agree with. Suggesting they visit a place and allowing them the decision of joining a group if one is available is entirely different than suggesting they join a group straight up. They don't have to join the group to enjoy NCI after all.

It's not about promoting any groups Lias, it's about using common sense. Something I'd hope the majority of mentors have at least some of. Why do we as Mentors need the Lindens to tell us if it's ok to suggest someone visit NCI as opposed to a BDSM club?

~B

Not a BDSM club. A BDSM School. Something many new residents may seek. I do not see where common sense comes into play when residents who are in functioning in some official capacity are promoting one resident's project over another.

As a regular and a paid instructor, I'm someone who really likes to promote NCI a lot when I get the chance. But, there are many other help groups on the grid. HPI and Dreams, for example. New residents on Help Island are unaware of their options at first, so, if a Mentor starts centering their conversation on "You should join this group to learn everything", not only is that Mentor 'passing the buck' but is also carving into the mind of the upstart that there isn't much more help than that one group. They become biased and lose the sense of scope and scale to see SL for how large it really is. (^_^)

Add to that, this is surely bad of me to say, the majority of help groups are pretty clique-ish. Like this here forum, there is a group of regulars at each one. They are welcoming and tolerant. But, sometimes, someone will come around that violates the clique. That someone, while not immediately a bad person, will be ousted by the clique and denied the opportunity to use the site, instruction, help, and guidance that fundamentally should be made available to them. Nobody is safe from this. We're all human. For those of you that say "Not me!", it's you.... Tenfold. (^_^)

Add to that, some groups have been planting recruiters in other groups' lands. It's hard to believe that someone who has been deemed a helper would be naive enough to wander into "some strange new area" with their specific group tag on, a float title on, and guiding people to their own particular help group. I'm sure it's shaky ground to talk about this, but, it's happening. I don't know what we have to gain by funneling people through our own help portals, but, there are people that see gain in that and it drives them to send out recruiters and parrots. What can I say? I personally stick to my own group's land, and rarely put up help group tags anyway. I help without the "badge". Even my Mentor tag is something that I put on in VERY rare occasion. (^_^)

I'm half reminded of the time I was admonished in IMs in the Hanja welcome area by a "Paid Helper" who felt the need to tell me I was interfering with her official helping duties and not taking her position "seriously". All the while, she wasn't actually helping anyone with much more than a blanket, "If you want to know more about that, please take this LM to [insert shady help group here] and all your questions will be answered." I have to check... Does that group exist anymore? (O.o) Regardless, I won't name names. =^-^=

If/When I'm going to mentor on HI or a welcome area, I will give all my help as much as I can on an individual basis. Depending on the interests the person expresses, I guide them to a roster of locations I consider appropriate. If I can't imagine anything, I require they do, and guide them through the search process. Typically, if I ever do bring up NCI in particular, will be after I've had at least a half hour's worth of conversation with the person and they appear to be most interested in learning content creation and figuring out the productive possibilities of SL. I'm sure that's within the scope of the intent Lexie has expressed. (^_^)

Perhaps that might start with LL's already-approved Resident Help Network:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Resident_Help_Network_Portal
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Introduction_to_Endorsed_Resident_Help_Groups

Sadly the groups there (NCI among them) lack quality BDSM education.

It can be hard to find, the experts are usually all tied up.

Ha!!!

While NCI doesn't formally and officially offer any deviant instructional content. I'm willing to personally offe...... Never mind. (^_^)y

IMO, Lexie's notice was a response to a popular helper group who issues its members a "greeter HUD". This device automatically gives a welcome notecard with a landmark to the group's in world location to any avatar who is 1) within range and 2) is less than 30 days old, and 3) hasn't received a notice previously.

This is a useful automated tool to contact a lot of newbies in a short time...I'm not putting it down. But it is a form of "recruitment", and a type of spam (however useful and well meant).

I can understand why LL objected to it. The group in question has notified their members that the HUD is not to be worn while helping newcomers on the Help Islands.

I do not think that Lexie meant that we can't direct people, individually, to places they will find helpful or interesting.

Makes sense. I guess that shows the line between convenient and aggressive offerings. (>_<

That group was NOT NCI, incidentally.