Alternative Mentoring

I've been in SL about 2.5 years and I've been a mentor for 6 months, after sitting on the waitlist for about that long. I don't want to make a big negative post, but let's just say that I am really happy LL appears to be working hard to clean up the program these days, because it needs it. I think their efforts have been really positive so far and that with a little hard work from everyone involved, we could really eliminate a lot of the troubles we seem to have.

Anyway, in the meantime, I know a ton of seriously brilliant and wonderful mentors that seem to be pulling back from the program out of frustration and just plain old fashioned drama-fatigue. I feel the same way a lot of the time and it was just recently that I kind of found my zen place with it and thought I'd tell you guys, in case it helps anyone else stick it out for a while longer.


I realized one day that I had this mindset that to be a good mentor, I needed to do some time on HIP and OIP and stay in the mentor chats, and that that's totally false. A mentor teaches. Period. Anywhere. Everywhere. All the time. So, I stopped visiting the places that frustrated me. When I log in, I open the mentor and Q&A groups and then promptly close them again, so I don't have to look at them unless I re-open them.

Then, I just work on making SL a better place. I'm in several big update groups for stores, and they ALWAYS have people begging for help or confused over lost transactions. When that happens, other residents start complaining at them, but I pop open a window and offer some help. It gives me someone to assist, helps solve their issue and saves all those other eyes from spam.

I'm in some really chatty groups, too, and someone is always looking for help there. I've helped people resize their hair, look for land, build a spaceship and string together a ZHAO. I especially have a lot of fun in the NCI group, which is full of all kinds of people and AMAZINGLY there is rarely any kind of flaming or yelling in there. I think that ONCE I have seen someone tell someone else to shut up, and it really caught me off guard as the group usually has such a great balance for helping people without going overboard on chat.

I would love to find out why they are capable of this and the mentors are not.

But I do other things, too. I manage a lot of Flickr groups that are dedicated to SL, and I spend SO MUCH TIME every day taking care of them. There are 6000 people in the big one and I answer many, many questions about SL snapshots, tourist locations and video capture. I watch other groups, too, on LJ and twitter and around the internet, and I do whatever I can to be nice to people there and give them a helpful link or tip when they get stuck. I write a lot of notecards, too, about various things. I just finished a whole series of appearance editing notecards. My stepdad is a newbie and tells me they were really easy to follow, and he loved the one I did about where to find men's clothing. W00t.


I'm not trying to be all RAH RAH LOOK AT ME, but once I realized that I was doing a TON of mentoring work without tying myself to help island and an often acidic group, I really loved helping people again. It doesn't feel like work to me at all anymore, and I am meeting a ton of people who are totally appreciative for the help.

If you feel like you've hit the wall, maybe the answer is to try another approach. If the people getting you all riled up are other mentors, try taking a break from them and focus on the people you originally signed up to help: the wandering confused resident who has a box on his head. They are out there! Be nice and friendly and keep your eyes open and you will find them.

Cheers,
Thau

Actually, I can't agree more with your suggestions.

As a former (thanks to forgetting about the Mentor group 1 strike rule on non-request text) Mentor, I took it upon myself to help anyone I found, and anyone in the groups I was in that needed some help... be it someone walking into Club Rainbow Tiger with a box on their head, or someone looking for clothing, avatars, or accessories...

The true test of being a mentor is not the time on HIP/OIP/HI#/OI#, but the time you spend helping others learn to better themselves...

To murder an old proverb, we are teaching men to fish, so they can feed themselves for a lifetime.

Mentors are needed everywhere, Thau.

Congratulations on finding your niche, and keep it up!

must admit...i felt sort of guilty for not *doing time* on the OI's...i popped there every now and again...responding to a call for help or whatever...only to find once there, no one else was or it was dealt with. So..as with you, I do my *bit* in my own way, through people i meet via my rental homes, through my own personal groups and as you do- making notecards to assist and personally spending time with people. I have been known to take people on a tour or shopping trip to places I like or know they will be able to get the things they aspire to for little or no money.

Ive got a vast collection of *stuff* that i hand out also..clothes and such, and give short demos on the wearing of items and editing them. I LOVE doing thisa lot and no longer feel guilty about HOW i do my mentoring or when or with who...ive met so many new people whilst out and about (usually naked or with a box on their head) i dont see a vast need to hang out in any particular place.

takes all sorts & methods

I'll actually talk to and give free stuff and landmarks to newbies.

I never felt compelled to join any of the various help agencies in SL, I prefer to just talk to people and putting a group label on it just makes it feel like something I'm "supposed" to do, rather than something I just do on whim when wandering around.