What is the function of a mentor?

Just curious - have the greeter functions essentially replaced the functions of mentor? I'm a mentor, but as a mentor, I did pretty much the same thing that greeters seem to be doing. I never had a formal idea of what a mentor should do and if another longer standing mentor wants to post what they know I'd really appreciate it.

Rose

Yah, I am still asking myself... I feel like I am doing what a mentor should be doing. I am a greeter...

I haven't posted for months..but will come out of the shadows again for this non-confrontational question and my view - fwiw.

Note: I am neither a greeter, a mentor. a live helper nor an instructor. But, were I a new player, this is what I believe I would intuitively feel the roles to be when I first set foot in the Welcome Area (if I have had no contact with a Greeter - on Orientation Island, if I have).

First, a new player would have no clue of the "structure" and relationships of the game/SL, so, no immediate distinction would be made between Greeter, Mentor, and Liason despite the different titles. All "look and sound" official. Instructor, as a title, conveys an essence of expertise on the other hand.

Greeter - Person who will assist me to get oriented for no more than 1 day. Might spend as much as an hour helping me, or as little as 1 minute depending on our reactions/chat with each other and my questions. As a new player, I would expect a fair level of communications ability and a level of knowledge of basic SL-player interface and functionality to know when to refer me to someone else - but should be able to answer basic User Interface questions, how to put on/take off clothes, use teleporter-map system and the FIND system. This person is not someone with whom I would expect to develop a long term relationship with - just not the nature of the title. This person's role is essentially that of a "Quick Start Manual" for those of us who don't read instruction manuals cover to cover before trying to use something. Notice the absence of any connotation of "help" in the very word "greeter".

Mentor - This person is one who is an "enabler"/cheerleader. Attitude must be upbeat and positive about SL without being a toady. Must have the same level of knowledge of SL basics as a Greeter as he/she will funciton as such when new players do not "recognize" the differences and roles of Greeter, Mentor, Live Helper, and Liason. This is someone who can and will readily admit his/her own limitations in terms of knowledge areas, be able to explain that such limitations do exist between ad among Mentors (as in the real world), but will also be able to walk a player through at leas "area x Class 102" where "area x" might be User Interface, Building, etc. This person would be expected by me as a new player to be willing to SPEND TIME WITH ME within reason as I learn whatever I have contacted the Mentor about. Obviously, special relationships with Mentors and newbies can and might be expected to develop and to last if common interests are revealed. Mentors, by the nature of the word, have elements of "loving to instruct/teach", "liking to help others succeed (however the other person defines success)" and finally, "liking people" in the essence of the word Mentor.

Instructor - essentially a knowledge expert with an ability to communciate that knowledge to others on more than one level. While various instructors would be more or less capable in specific areas, as a new player, I would expect to be able to ask about the "education system" in SL, class schedules, and even materials and subjects covered. It would seem intuitive to expect that instructors would not have their title active unless they were willing and ready to answer direct or even leading questions about their areas of expertise and perhaps to hold an impromptu class - if they are not actively holding class at the time. Tha is, if the Instructor title is "lit", then either teach or be ready to act as a subject mater expert.

Liason - As a newbie I'd expect this to be someone who interacts between groups - but would have no clue what those groups were.

Live Helper - Absolutely, I would expect to find Mentor-like attitudes - not real-world customer service complaint desk people. Like Instructors, I would EXPECT subject matter expertise. Unrealistic? Probably. But, as a newbie, it would not likely occur to me that someone functioning in what is essentially a "customer service/technical expert/helpline" function would not be an employee with reams of knowledge, a reference book, or even a prepared Q&A manual to help them answer requests for assistance. It would not occur to me that these were not paid employees. Finding out that LH's are not paid employees woul dprobably no change my expectations, but rather increase my frustrations if my questions were not answered in whatever manner I felt appropriate at the time. With no clue or indication of the LHer's knowledge, qualifications or abilities, I place the burden of "credibility proof" on LL and the LH system. Remember, as a newbie, I am paying to play - however I define that.

I have written this solely from the perspective of a newbie - not from the perspective of the people fulfilling the roles. Remeber that as you define your roles... in this case, you guys need to understand that new players have expectations based on your titles. While you can and will define your own roles along with LL's guidance, policis and restrictions, new players will relate to you BASED ON YOUR TITLE FIRST, your attitude second, and your communication (skills, knowledge and ability to convey both/either).

Back in the shadows for me.

Thanks Korg! Excellent description and on the mentor portion it actually gave me some ideas. One would be to offer the greeters an opportunity to send new people to me so that I can work with them on the level that you describe.

Oddly enough, I have been filling the mentor role intuitively - there was really no definition of it when I became a mentor.

One should take note that Korg's views on what these different titles mean are not anything more than his version of a hypothetical new customer's views. They aren't necessarily accurate reflections of what any actual new customer feels.

The people that have greeters should have had a chance to read something about the greeter program and to select a greeter based on some sample's of the greeter's writing including a descripton of the "greeter experience" they provided in the selection process. At least I assume so - I haven't seen the greeter's page yet - are they only available for viewing by new members? I want to see them!

To me an instructor would not be on call for spontaneous question answering and really shouldn't have their instructor tag on unless they are having a class. They certainly could do individual tutoring but I have seen no Instructor activity other than scheduled classes. Instructors would not be expected to be knowlegeable in anything other that what they are offering classes in.

To me a both a mentor and a live helper should to the best of their ability and willingness know everything there is to know about SL in all aspects in detail. One would expect that mentors and live helpers will not meet this goal but no live helper or mentor should ever have the feeling they don't have anything to do in SL - there's bound to be some skill they could improve or some forum post with good information not yet read and of course there's always both the LSL wiki, the Support Wiki, and the other help information on secondlife.com to read. Plus the sluniverse.com site.

A major difference between the live help and the mentor group is that any customer can easily send a message to the live help group from anywhere. This should mean the live helpers would be much more likely to stay busy with questions. I also have the notion that live helpers are expected to travel to where help is needed while mentors can stay put to a greater degree and just answer questions from people who see their mentor title.

One should keep in mind that the stuff above is just my thoughts on the question; I am not even trying to look at it from an imagined new customer's point of view.


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This section added following a reply below by Korg Stygian:

Korg's response below is based on an extremely innacurate interpretation of what I wrote above. I thought Korg did a such a good job in his post that what he wrote might be taken as the definitive view of what these groups are, but its not; its just Korg's views, based, as he states in his response below, on one person's experiences for less than one week.

My .02 on this is that the lines are very blurry between Mentors, Instructors, Live Help and Greeters. Those of us who participate in these programs end up being all 4 things to some degree. Each new resident shows up in SL with a different set of prior experiences, different expectations, different capabilities to grasp the concept of SL and a different attitude about assistance. Some want hand holding for days on end and some just want a few questions answered so they can figure it out on their own. Sometimes you say hello to a new resident and end up taking them shopping and club hopping for the rest of the night, sometimes you are taking them to a sandbox to launch right into building 101, sometimes you are referring them to an expert in an area that you aren't.

I think the experience and our role is going to be different for each new resident that we meet up with and we just have to roll with their needs rather than spend too much time writing job descriptions.

At the end of the day, I think our only job description is: "I'm here to help you as best I can".

My responsability as a mentor is to help people with in game and out of game problems and to answer questions. Just to be a good influence and to help people get used to the game. And host events everyonce in a while

I think I was exceedintly clear in expressing my perspective, wasnt I?

I have the current experience of speaking daily with a newbie (who is a relative) just now less than a week old in SL, so I am VERY familiar with the questions he/she asks as I have not volunteered anything (wanting him/her to experience SL as I did, as a puzzle of sorts with an infinite number of solutions). So, though I wrote this from MY perspective, it also reflects my relative's experience to some extent.

So, Suezanne, next time you want to express your own opinion, there is no need to mention my name. Stand on your own two feet like you have a pair. Mentioning my name as a foil or intro to your own comments did not add anything to the discussion. I'd say please, but it would be wasted electrons.

Agreed Ben - I'd add also to point people to others that can assist them when I'm unable to.

You can also learn more about what it is to be a Mentor by checking out the new Mentor page in the SL Support Wiki (https://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Mentors).

i been playing sl since dec and i would love to help new ppl that just start the game i know what its like to be new i been there and i have learn so much since i been in sl i would like to help others like others helped me please let me know what i need to do to become one ty

Hi Lusty - You can apply to become a mentor or any of the other volunteer opportunities by going to secondlife.com and logging into "Your Account". On the right hand side you will see "Volunteering". Click there

Off topic, I know, but to all of you Mentors/Instructors/Live Helpers/Greeters/Whatever-you-want-to-call-yourselves, Thank You soooo much for the time and effort you give so selflessly to people you don't even know to make SL a great experience! If I hadn't had several people who took me under their wing when I first arrived in SL, I never would have stayed.

/wild applause

I have to say for me, a mentor is someone who is willing to show you what the game is all about, answer questions, be friendly and make you feel welcome. *waves to my mentor! Hiya Isa!* If it wasn't for Isablan, I would be no where near as far as i am in a month (wow, lol) and even though I am not a mentor, i find myself helping noobs all the time, because I remember what it felt like when i first stepped off OI.

You have no clothes(those are NOT clothes), no money to speak of and your homeless. Imagine what that would feel like in real life, feels very similar here. A warm friendly face goes a long way!

Having just joined the Mentors group before talk of the upcoming Greeters Program, I felt a little like... "What's the point in my anymore?" Basicly I have found though... Mentor and Greeters can go to the welcome area, and I note like anyone else can, to help newbies as they arrive. Now, for the Greeter, this -is- what they are and what they do. A Mentor to me, continues to help members of SL, long after their arrival. I believe it is the job of the Mentors to help confused/overwhelmed new members from feeling the need to quite because it's all too much. It takes about, I'd say, three good days of mucking about to learn to walk and talk with easy and lose the newbie shuffle. Then, about a week more at least before you really start fooling with creating things or in depth explorations of SL as a whole. I believe it is the Mentors to aide in this transitional process.

well if they tend to bleed into each other then they should make it one group. too much is similar and if greeters are doing the same thing then why not. i am a new mentor. maybe we should have a notecard given to newbies about mentors and greeters. heck maybe we should have one too.

when your a newbie, notecards are a great thing to have in pocket.