Forum ???

Hi, having only recently become a mentor I am now getting loads of email, very interesting but also very difficult to follow! Can anyone tell me why this forum doesn't seem to get used a lot ??

Only residents with Payment Info on file can use it. Not many users choose to submit their info, thus limiting the amount of people who can get to this forum.

Hope I answered your question!

Hi Roland. I came on today because of a concern that I have with these forums. Initially my first response is that SL Mentors is NOT a catchy title to many residents. Secondly - and this is my major concern - Resident Answers seems to be taking a number of questions that should be directed here. Frankly, I am about to give up using the chat lines provided by SecondLife since Answers has degenerated into a bitch-session and a social club where people with genuine questions about this fascinating interactive world are either sniped at, sneered at, or ostracized.

I have an intensively people-oriented job in my real life, where I must project an "image" to large gatherings so I am not afraid of criticism and I am used to strong reactions BUT many of the people who use the resident answers simply approach every question with a subjective response (ie. immediately offended) and rarely use an objective response which is more often expected by the person raising a question.

So - I think YOU and others like you must project to residents what this site is all about. What are its parameters? What objectives are indicated? What type of questions can we ask? Can we ask questions that have social implications? Will we receive a tongue-lashing or a rude response if we stray from the topic? Do you see what I am getting at here? My own interests lie in the social relationships we develop here and in the Arts.

Honestly, I think someone in Linden Labs MUST assess and reestablish these chat lines - they are being mis-used or users should be directed to the SecondLife world itself where they can bitch to each other at their heart's content. Then genuinely interested/concerned/informed parties can use these lines for the educational purposes they were first designed for.

I look forward to your response and I wont patronize you with a smiley face!

Back again. I just took a look at the Resident Chat threads and I suggest you do the same, Roland, to see what I mean - with threads titled "Strife is a Mean Bad Doggie" as one of them. Strife being a mediator on the threads, I believe. Now I will probably be slammed for saying this BUT this isnt really giving SL residents an Answers Forum where people who may have questions requiring a response or people with a more intellectual interest in the world we create can interact.

I think this brief response may also answer the question posed. Check the time this has been written and compare it to my last response - no one has even opened the thread to see what it is about. So this should suggest that certain Forums need more advertising and more willingness to expand into areas that may interest readers.

Hi there Jig. I agree that these forums don't get used as they should. I had thought this forum was actually for volunteer mentors who wanted/needed to communicate/ask questions. I think that is why they entitled it "SL Mentors" and in the volunteer area. Not very catchy, but appropriate for its use. General residents don't tend to post in an area they are not involved in.

Resident answers is a place, obviously, where your supposed to ask questions and have them answered by residents and/or mentors. Since there is no "general" forum, a lot of threads are placed there simply for the lack of a general area. I've seen very little threads of discussion that have stayed on topic, and there has been a lot of flaming. Once it starts, it seems that there are those that just have to say their piece, and then - they don't stop ... Its my "opinion" that everyone has their own "opinions" and they are entitled to them. Maybe I don't like others ideas, or opinions, but if I'm not specifically asked something - I find it best if I withhold my opinion. Even if someone says things that may be "offensive" to me. However, if we set "rules" ... then people start screaming freedom of speech.

So what to do? eh? I choose to ignore it - walk away - not input my own personal opinion. If they are going to scream at each other in forums and be miserable, that is a choice that they make - I don't have to take that route. In the general scheme of things - does it really make a difference in my life? The answer is NO. But I will occasionally troll ... just to see what's going on ... and see if anything interesting crops up - because it does ... on occasion, that is.

Thanks for info - In my extensive time in SL I have been a Helper (for a private and well-established group) and I understand the need for a Mentor site although it does seem a bit of a waste to have a site devoted to a relatively small group of people who are labelled as Mentors, when really people could post a question here and wait for serious answers.

I think that the sense of outrage and sheer insolence that is evident in the Resident Answers forum, however, is getting close to shutting many other people out. I (and others like me) have noticed that threads degenerate into spaz one-liners that leave those who are not in the "clique" out in the cold. I cant understand why some people dont just enter the SL world and chat there to their heart's content.

As an aside, I lost my urge to be a mentor long ago when I was disillusioned when I was a helper. I think I am too non-conformist for that role. Now I am just an art collector/outspoken resident. BUT I shall visit these sites on occasion and, if the need arises, post my threads/questions in Resident Answers but only rarely.

"Over and Out"
Jig C.