Does having others use your content = power?

What really gives you power is running a group. Oh, sure, at first it's all about the schmoozing and the fabulous parties. But soon you can mold people's minds... and send them forth.. and TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

*hyperventilates* *keels over*

*ahem* now, where was I?

Oh yes. Power. *giggles*

As long as I have enough to support my next video card, I'll be happy

Does it give you power, i would say no. Influence, perhaps. I cant' speak for others, but I know for me, becoming a popular maker has been a rather humbling experience. I can now appreciate all the hard work, stress, and frustrations that builders in SL have to go through, and that makes me appreciate their work more than I ever would have. And when people choose my items, It does give me a gratifying sense of accomplishment. Because it's just that, a choice. They aren't forced to buy what I make, but for various reasons they do. And in return for that choice I try to ensure they are able to enjoy what they have bought to the fullest. Anyone can tell you, I update my items quite a bit, adding features and smoothing out rough spots. I don't make any lindens for that, It's all done to make sure my customer's choice is validated. So do I feel powerful? No. I feel flattered.

I've seen your ships, you SHOULD take pride in them Chere.

Can the OP really define what he Means by "Power"? Power over whom? Power to do what exactly?
A content creator is in the Most Powerless of positions if you stop and think about it. They are constantly at the Mercy of the whims of their market. They can create new things, but Each time they do it's a gamble. What if the Public response isn't as good as it was in the past, or what if someone else has made a similar, but better quality item?
I have to agree fully that Content creation IS about the pleasure it brings the creator. I Create building, and i terraform. I don't have power, as such, beyond the buying power my fees grant me, but i DO get a huge rush of delight when someone views with favor something i have created.

If giving pleasure to other people IS a Power, it's something i've always had, and Creating only gives me the Ability to use it.

Angel.

You can define a person's experience by choosing what you do and do not create, and by affecting the quality bar and demand levels.

For example, suppose that you create a robot. You create it to do certain things. In doing this you have the power to determine something about what, in the world as a whole, the function of a robot will be percieved to be. Other robots may copy you. If somebody in their own imagination had a robot which did different things, then they will not see that created - and it becomes less likely that they ever will, because the remaining 99% of the robot-using population might be happy with the robot you made, leaving little market for the newcomer, or even for themselves if they decide to create robots.

As a real example from a well-known case: it has been more or less established in world that prim genitals (!) are things which you click on, which offer a dialog message, and then produce one of a number of text responses. But that's only because it was made up by one of the early creators - it's not intrinsic. That person therefore had the power to determine a lot about the structure of sex in SL. (And before anyone says anything, prim bits don't have to be a monopoly for this to happen. The President of the USA has a lot of power but someday someone else will have it; that doesn't mean he doesn't have power right now.)

*hugs Angel*

Thank you!! See.. Just a simple comment like that just made my day!

Perhaps the people that can't make a product which entices people away from a competitor's products should try their hand at something they are good enough at production and marketing to succeed at, instead of repeatedly trying and failing to break into a market where they just don't have what it takes to get the consume's to buy their products instead of the competition.

I think there is a goal to this thread , which is to either somehow alleviate a feeling of inadequacy stemming from an inability to successfully compete in the marketplace, or to lay the groundwork for justifying some kind of intervention in the economy to correct some imagined injustice.