When I looked through the stats from the visits of my blog I noticed a few things. Apart from the usual visitors that looked for Ann’s forum I noticed something really surprising. I had a visitor from Linden Lab (*waves to the Linden*). How could it be that one of the Lindens was visiting my blog? My first thought was if I had done something wrong. The second thought was, perhaps I already know this Linden in his/hers alt incarnation and this was the first time he/she visited the blog from work. Hmm, who could it be?
Tag: forum
Another ‘What people search for’
“lila mill”, second life prim cleavage, thatotherlife ann otoole, “second life”
Of course, in SL, the sex related topics are always popular. Naked, nude etc would make the top ten, but when the search terms are Naked Ruth, you start to wonder. Especially since it is a sexual context. How anyone could find the child like basic avatar of SL sexy is beyond me, but to each their own of course.
Now back to the latest search terms. ‘Prim cleavage’ What is that anyway? Can you put an extra cleavage on top of the one you have. Seems strange. What if it’s a laggy place? The sculpty boobs suddenly turning into huge balloons until the sculpty prim adjust itself ot the intended shape and size. Probably not the sexy look the wearer intended for it. Isn’t the size of the built in boobs enough for any taste anymore? *shrugs*
Moving on. It happens a lot that people have arrived to my SL blog when searching for my SL name. I always wonder if they have been here before and forgot to bookmark it or they know me from somewhere else and want to learn more about me. Another explanation might be that they don’t like me and want to keep track of me. Knowing some of my readers, that might be a reason. Why don’t you guys send me a message. Give me a comment just to say hi and tell me you’ve been here.
thatotherlife ann otoole Both Ann’s name and the otherlife forum would probably have made trending topics if this had been twitter. A lot of SL people these days are heading there since they closed down the xstreet community. Maybe the new blog/forum at the official site will prove a acceptable replacement, but so far I don’t think so. Not for me anyway. I like where I am now, at that Other Life
I think Second Life made an error closing down the forums at xstreet, but it won’t be irreparable. People forget and soon there will be just as flowering community at the new blog/forum as it was at xstreet. It might not be the same mixture of people, but probably just as many. Only time will tell.
It was nice while it lasted!
The forums will be gone soon. Only time will tell if it was a good decision from Linden Lab. I am torn between feeling relieved it’s gone and feeling sad. I had fun there, I met a lot of nice people, but there was also the opposite. Mostly my feeling towards the closing of the forums are coloured by my current mood.
The death of a community
Lila had been wandering around in the woods for so long that she had lost all sense of direction. She was beginning to think she would never again find somewhere to call home. Then one day, after she had almost given up hope noticed a big house in a clearing in the woods. She went closer and peaked into the windows. Inside she recognized some of them she knew a long time ago. She hesitated, but she went around the house to find a door anyway. This could be it, she thought to herself.
Lila knocked faintly on the door and soon she was let into the warmth of the big house. The place was filled with people, some she remembered, but most of them were new to her. Slowly she started to engage in some of the conversations and games that they played in the big house. And slowly Lila was beginning to feel safe, to actually feel at home. Of course there were people there that didn’t like here and the feeling was mutual. Most of them didn’t even notice her, but a handful of them seemed to like her and that was enough. I think I’ll make this my home, Lila thought. She knew that the others loved their home as much as she did.
For a while, everything seemed perfect. There were of course the occasional fight, but afterwards, it calmed down. And the same people that were fighting last night could be best of friends the next. Then one day they heard that the house was sold. New owners were coming, but not much would change. They would just change the name of the house. People weren’t happy about this, but they adjusted and went on living their lives in the house. The next news they heard was that the house were going to be rebuilt and adjusted so it could be connected to the big trailer park behind the big house. Again the residents of the house objected, but the new owners just declared that everything would be much better. They would even give the old house a new coat of paint in a nice shiny green shade. Don’t say we don’t listen to you, they said.
The residents were getting more ill at ease about the changes. Let’s move away, someone suggested. At least we can go for a vacation. To get away from it all. Maybe the changes won’t be as bad after some rest. A few people left to build small houses in the other end of the clearing of the forest. The houses weren’t that big and not everyone dared to even have a look at them. The new owners might listen they said. Let’s try to talk to them again. We’ll tell them that we don’t like it to be rebuilt. The owners came, sat down with the residents and say, we’ll have a discussion about the changes.
We’ll always listen to you, you know that. Feeling somewhat relieved, but still pretty upset about the changes, the residents threw themselves into the discussions and most of them was totally against the idea of the house being connected to the trailer park. When they had discussed for a while, they looked around and the owners where no where to be found. They must have slipped out the house when no one was looking.
One morning when the residents woke up, the walls in the house had got a new coat of paint. And some of the doors were closed down, and others had been opened instead. Everything in the cupboards were moved. How will we be able to find anything now, the residents complained. I can’t even find the way to my own room anymore. It was clear that no one liked the changes and especially not the new colour on the walls.
Suddenly the owners turned up with a big smile on their faces. Residents, they said, we have information to you about the changes that we’re going to make around here in a few days. First we’re going to take photos of this old house. From every angle, don’t worry about it. And then we’ll have a nice little art show with the photos over at the trailer park. This part will be torn down as it’s quite old anyway, and it’s a bit far off from the rest of our property. Oh and remember, we’ll always listen to you, so if you want to keep something from this place, a cup or a curtain or something, don’t hesitate to ask. We’ll take a lot of photos of it then. Oh and we hope you like the new colour. It looks very nice with the shade of green we have over at the trailer park.
Everything that happened made Lila very upset. For the first time in ages, she had found somewhere to call home and even a handful of people that she liked. It was more than she could have hoped for and now, everything would be torn to pieces. What would she do? Would she end up all alone and homeless again? She looked around in the house that soon would be gone. It seemed pretty worn down and some of the windows were broken after some of the more heated discussions. Maybe the house itself wasn’t so important. It was the people that was. So she picked up her few belongings and went out through the door.
Out there in the woods, it had started to rain. After just a short while, Lila was all wet and started to look around for a shelter or another house. The small newly built houses in the clearing looked very welcoming, but she knew it was very hard to get accepted. Who would take her in and would she be able to find a place where she would feel safe. Three of the houses seemed big enough to be able to take more than just a few friends. First house was luxurious mansion. From inside she could hear laughter and chattering so she moved closer and tried to listen in on the conversations. She recognized some of them and could hear them talked about some of the other residents. Lila withdraw quietly, hoping that they hadn’t noticed her. Their ironic words still played again and again in her mind, reminding her of her school days and how she felt back then.
Next house was a modern villa in steel and glass. It seemed a bit sterile, but hopefully, the residents would be warmer. In there, she could see a group of men talking to each other. It seemed a lot better than the other place, but somehow it didn’t seem like somewhere she could feel at home. The last house were a wooden villa with lots of small rooms and bays and didn’t seem to have many straight angles. It seemed cozy but not over decorated. Lila could hear nice chatter inside. She moved closer. Inside she could recognize a few from the the old house and most of them she liked. This could be my new home Lila thought so she knocked on the door and was let in. Everyone welcomed her and seemed genuinely pleased to see her, as she was to see them.
Had Lila finally found a new home? Only time will tell, but what was clear was that her old home would cease to exist. Maybe a change will be good, Lila thought to herself.
What do you think?
Please comment!
My opionion about the move/merger/closing is divided in two parts. One has to do with the impact it might have or not on business in Second Life. I think that a lot of people’s shopping habits will change when the forum closes down. And the change won’t be for the better. Of course it might just have to opposite effect.
The other part has to do with the effect it will have on me personally. Those of you that has followed my blog knows that I haven’t been very lucky when it comes to SL related communities. At xstreet I was at least tolerated. Some people even seemed to like me. I’m not sure I’m up to trying to do this againg. Being the “new girl” all over again. Trying to learn all those unwritten rules. Working to being able to fit in and being accepted is tough, at least it is for me.
I’ll think this through and of course await what’s come out of it all. RL is demanding a lot from me at the moment and I’m in an emotional rollercoster that has nothing to do with Second Life or any online community. It doesn’t help though that one of my ways to forget about all the RL trouble I’m in is disappearing and that I probably lost a friend because of it. Hopefully I’ll find a way back to it all, but I can’t see how at the moment.