Linden Lab’s call for bloggers has received short shrift from quite a few bloggers, although I’m sure there will be some who will play ball. There have been negative posts from Inara Pey, Hamlet Au, Chestnut Rau, Crap Mariner (very humourosuly too) and another humourous take from Botgirl Questi.
On the official blog post there are also negative reactions, even Marianne McCann pours scorn on the deal, when Mari thinks something is a bad idea you really need to stop and think. Whomever came up with this idea must feel a bit like Andrew Lansley trying to get his wretched NHS bill through the house of commons, however to be fair, Linden Lab’s plan is nowhere near as evil as Andrew Lansley’s NHS bill!
I still think the idea has some merit, it’s not something I would personally participate in but there’s merit to the suggestion. Highlighting other bloggers and their views can help with reach, introduce people to new aspects of Second Life and demonstrate that there’s more to Second Life than a 3D chatroom, of course us Second Life regulars know there’s more to it than that but for someone investigating Second Life, the main website is a good starting point and should be full of the diversity of Second Life.
However, as with a lot of things Linden Lab have done over the years, it ain’t what they do, it’s the way that they do it.
Part of the problem with Linden Lab has always been communication, this isn’t always Linden Lab’s fault, they hold user group meetings, which used to be office hours, they converse in the forums, they converse in the Jira and on mailing lists, but the blog is a very sorry sight these days, so Linden Lab want to beef it up. Inara Pey has an excellent post about LL’s communication issues. I always rhyme Inara Pey with Enola Gay and start singing the OMD song of that name …. but I digress.
The problem with the latest initiative is that to many, it reads like a job advert, indeed it reads like a job advert for a position that in my mind they should be advertising for anyway, a community blogger paid a salary would be a good idea. However if they want submissions from bloggers on a no fee basis, they should heed the feedback.
Bloggers have commented that they aren’t happy about exclusivity, losing editorial control and basically being made to feel like they are writing for Linden Lab rather than themself, some find the whole idea insulting. There is a value exchange in terms of reach, to a degree, but a lot of that is negated by losing editorial control and the content being made exclusive.
LL should waive the exclusivity clause, agree that nothing will be published without agreement of both parties and then get on with it. Plenty of people won’t be interested, for a variety of reasons but getting the wheels rolling could change people’s minds. There are also going to be other issues regarding self promotion, if someone is wrting for you, of course they are going to want to self promote, that’s part of the value exchange, it’s why celebrities appear on chat shows, there must be plenty of self promotion allowed, it should also be made clear in the bio of the author who they are so people know there may be self promotion involved.
This isn’t the worst idea Linden Lab have came up with, but it needs tweaking, unlike Andrew Lansley’s NHS bill, which should be consigned to the dustbin of history, Linden Lab have the seeds of a good idea, if it’s going to blossom they need to listen to the feedback.
Definitely not the “worst” idea and most certainly not an original one; Silicon Valley companies do that all the time, asking their own customers to submit “free” articles on behalf of the corporation, for absolutely nothing but fame, glory, and a bit of Google PageRank exposure.
While I see nothing wrong with LL’s approach, I now understand that’s my own biased, irrational, emotional view of the issue. If I had to write for a living I most certainly wouldn’t be eager to write for free for LL. As an amateur, however, I have no such qualms; I write on my own blog to promote SL (and indirectly LL) for free, too, so why shouldn’t I do the same for LL? After all, I used to be a Mentor/Helper for free too — benefitting mostly LL, who could save on technical support costs that way.
The “exclusivity” clause is actually very typical, and I’ve seen it pretty much everywhere where this model was used — yes, even when the content was supposed to be unpaid for. So I don’t see it in such a horrible light, either.
The amateur/professional issues comes up in all sorts of debates inside and outside Second Life, in Second Life in particular we see arguments about amateurs releasing free content that undermines more skilled creators, this is an opinion matter largely, we see landlords who find people charge cheap rates and low services compared to their more professional operations, yadda yadda yadda.
On the value of free, not everyone agrees with Cory Doctorow on giving away free e-books, this debate will rage and rage.
Second Life itself not only thrives on user generated content, many of us actually pay for the privilege, both in terms of time creating and subscription fees, so the lines in the argument are definitely blurred.
Personally I’m not interested in this initiative, I do wish it every success, but it’s not for me, that has nothing to do with the paid renumeration issue, it’s more to do with the lack of responses from LL when they’ve invited input before, my time is short these days.
However I do think LL should be asking for permission before publishing an article, they are right to insist on editorial control, most people who submit will be happy with an edited version.
The exclusive contnent clause is another issue, there are some great articles out there, especially when it comes to tips and tricks, that are well worth the extra reach that LL’s blog could give them, but they are excluded by default.
This initiative has the nucleus of a good idea, it could do with some tweaking though but the best advertisement for this will be when others see the blogs, that will inspire some to take part.