Mentor Group IM Guidelines

In the battle to end the never ending bickering about IM's (spam) in the Mentor Group, I have devised the following. If anyone would like to add their two cents, please send me a notecard.
I put a lot of thought into this and feel it is quite fair.

Mentor Group IM Guidelines

To cut down on the number of IM’s presented, that others may perceive to be spam the following guidelines should be used.

NOTE: Comments about spamming is spam in itself. If you’re not interested in what’s being asked, close the window. It is not necessary to comment. Don't be rude to your peers just because you're part of a group.

Severity:

How severe is the situation? Use your judgement to assess and follow the guidelines below to send alerts through IM.

Verbal Griefing:

Issues on griefing should first be dealt with calmly. It is the aim of the verbal griefer to get under your skin. You should first ask anyone involved to mute the person and immediately fill out an Abuse Report. Include chat logs and photo of the situation.

Although the situation might seem dire, the consequences of their actions will be dealt with. Don’t add fuel to the fire by talking or acting out to them in the same manner.

Script Griefing:

Issues on griefing where scripts are being used, should be directed to Live Help, but only if it is a situation where dozens of citizens are being affected. If you’re hit with an abuse report pop-up, fill that out and submit it.

Global Attacks:

If you suspect a global attack on the grid, it is important to remain calm. Self-replicating prims has been the norm lately and the attack of choice. First, you will need to notify Live Help. Let them know the situation. Much of the time there are Lindens on that group who will be able to respond faster than to the mentor group.

Go into edit mode on one of the prims that are multiplying and file an AR – quickly. You can be brief – the important thing is the snapshot with the prim owner and maker displaying on the HUD.

Inform citizens in your immediate vicinity what the situation is. Don’t panic and don’t relay that it’s an attack on the grid; we don’t know that for certain. Just let them know that the SIM will be going down and they should TP to another location as soon as possible; then do so yourself.

Misplaced New Citizen:

This one is a difficult decision to make. It is important to note that new citizens skip HI more often then not and when faced with the mainland, panic and want to return to the serenity of HI/OI.

The notecards to the mainland have been and are being updated to inform the new citizen that if they teleport out, they cannot return.

If you come in contact with a new citizen who is requesting a return to HI, the best way to deal with this issue is to explain that although their intentions were not to come to the mainland yet, there are many more resources on the mainland that will help them to adapt to their Second Life. Provide them with notecards on “How To” (I suggest that everyone visit HI and collect the notecards that are there.) and landmarks to the various Libraries and Organizations. Don't make it your responsiblity to contact the group or a Linden, unless you absolutely feel it was our mistake and not the new citizen.

A Lindens job isn't just to play the game. They have other responsibilities as well. Keep that in mind.

General Information:

Requests for general information should be kept to a minimum. Instead of IM’ing the group, consider IM’ing another mentor nearby or a mentor friend.

Help Island/Welcome Area Assistance:

IM should be used to call for assistance at either Help Island or any of the Welcome Areas, but not for emergency situations. If you can’t do anything about the situation, neither can another mentor.

When requesting assistance, be sure to note the reason and where you are located. I.e., “Can someone assist me at Ahern? I’m the only one here and there is a huge influx of new citizens, I’m a bit overwhelmed.”

In order to better serve the community and be a part of the ever growing and ever changing Second Life staff of volunteers, it is important to note that your tag is your promise to be a part of an amazing group of people willing to make a difference to a new citizens Second Life experience. It means you're there to help.

First and foremost, we represent Linden Lab. Even though this is a volunteer position, we are part of Linden Lab and should honor and respect the title. If anyone feels differently, maybe you should consider relinquishing your position to allow another the opportunity to be a part of this amazing community. It is after all a volunteer position.

In the event of most "griefers" it is best to completly ignore them, not even mentioning muting , ARing them or even addressing them at all, almost any response isnt a good one.

Mmmm yeah ignoring does work.. although sometimes an AR is better.
I'm not too fond of muting myself, because i don't know what is what then... all in all though: I agree! good list

I'm not saying don't AR them if they are clearly breaking the TOS/CS, but saying "I'm reporting you" is usually a bad thing.

I will clarify: When I said to tell others to AR or mute them, it doesn't have to be in chat. It can be in IM.
I don't think that the Mentor should inform the person of the AR. Let it be a surprise to them. Warn of the infraction, then AR if they don't comply to TOS/CS.

I totally agree on this one. Just don't agree with them at all. Ignore them! and move on.

Very well said and worded, thank you & take care.

Well Said Sky!

Thank you Usagi. They have actually taken this and made a notecard of it at the new Volunteers station. It is my wish that all volunteers take a minute out of their second life to visit this wonderful new home. Lethe and Tateru put a lot of work into it and it's well worth the time to visit.

Well Let`s hope those that create this take their own advice........
Besides this though should always be inthe back of people minds when they signup to this group.......I live by this concept from day one as a mentor........But others i can`t say the same about