The INclusion Question: Communities in the Second Life Community Forum

Nothing creates activity quite like the question of inclusion vs. exclusion... and Attention, which is so vital to our virtual world it deserves capitalization (and probably doctrine and dogma).


Did you know the Second Life official product forum has subforums for two of its communities?  Adults (XXX) and Vampires.  Will Educators, Faeries (and their diminutive brethren), Furries, Gors, Texters and Voicers have subforums of their own soon?  Are subforums offered or applied for?  How does a group qualify?  Is it based on demographics or should we follow the money?  Are the Adult and Vampire communities the largest of the Second Life communities, and if so, by how much?  Do they spend more money or draw more money?  Do they have to maintain certain standards in order to keep their subforums?  If they lose them, where will they go?  Will they be archived?  Why does the Adult community have a separate subforum of its own while the Vampires have a subforum within the People section? Are Adults not people too?  Is there discrimination in the segregation?  What's the message?  Are the Adults finding it difficult to be Adult in a PG world?  Adults and Vampires come with controversy, so what are the current debates?  Who are the vocal minority?  Did the separate subforums soothe the savage drama beast or fire its loins?  Was it a clever maneuver, a thoughtless slip or a non-starter? Who's got the scoop on the rationale behind these decisions and the crystal ball that will tell us what happens next?  Confidentially inquiring minds want to know.



I put together a little list of the "tribes" I had observed in my virtual travels and posted it on RLetc.com and gotVirtual.net a while back.  I thought I'd give it a quick review to see if I noticed more opportunities for SLF subforums.  Who have I missed?  Check it out.  Here's a copy:


I gave it some thought and began building a list of what I perceived to be the "tribes" of virtual worlds:


The Tribes

✣ Bloodlines (vampires, werewolves, etc.) vs. non-bloodlines (live humans)
✣ Faeries and tiny people vs. standard or tall avatars
✣ Furries vs. humans
✣ BDSM & Gor vs. non.
✣ Texters vs. voicers.
✣ Child avis vs. adult avis.
✣ Fantasy-based players vs. reality-based players.
✣ Players vs. residents
✣ Extroverts vs. introverts
✣ Gesture users vs. gesture haters
✣ Rude and careless vs. considerate and thoughtful
✣ Beggars and spammers vs. everyone else
✣ Griefers vs. non-griefers

Under construction.


Links:
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Vampire-Events-Discussion/bd-p/Vampires
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Adult-Content-Forum/ct-p/forums_adultcontent
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Welcome/Community-Guidelines/td-p/1176323
http://gotvirtual.net/community/threads/thats-what-she-said.772/page-6#post-24480

Internet Death Threats

How do you know when they are the real thing and not just the hyperbole du jour?

Has Mulch been issuing them?  Veiled or otherwise?  Is he "ashamed of his history"?  What is his "history"?

Is Clancy ashamed of whatever it is he is "planning to do"?

Will there be a confrontation?  A confession?  Will this story blow up or will it stay "off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush"? Confidentially inquiring minds want to know.

Links:
http://gotvirtual.net/community/threads/so-i-couldnt-ignore-tarzan-anymore.2497/page-2#post-113263
http://gotvirtual.net/community/threads/so-i-couldnt-ignore-tarzan-anymore.2497/page-2#post-113269
http://gotvirtual.net/community/threads/so-i-couldnt-ignore-tarzan-anymore.2497/page-2#post-113520
http://mulched.blogspot.com/2007/08/internet-death-threats.html

Clancy "Tarzan" Sullivan, Morgan Genna, Interloper Yu, Oh my...

I'm so curious.  I must know more.  Who's got the inside scoop?  Kick down with it already.

(And yes, I've heard the story about alleged pervy PMs and pics.  I want the bigger picture.)

Bon mots:

Clancy Sullivan said...

"Suggestion: Make Second Life and this forum your hobby instead of the only reason you draw another breath, and it'll all work out well."

Clancy Sullivan said...

"We Mormons are discriminated against, though. Does LL think we're going to put up with this? Big Love on HBO isn't enough, we need multiple partner slots in SL"

Clancy Sullivan said...

"Mother Teresa was a tool for the advancement of Christianity which has historically done more to impoverish people than Wall Street and its direct agents have had a chance to. So, I'd have to choose Milken because he and his tribe have done less harm, at least so far."

Clancy Sullivan said...

"For those looking to get hardcore with their complaining please consider this: Hanes and Fruit of the Loom men's underwear typically sell for the same price yet the latter product is garbage compared to the former.

Wanna get all steamed up? This could be your issue."

Clancy Sullivan said...

"I got some junk mail today. One piece was an offer to enroll in medical school. The other was from a webhosting company telling me how I could become rich and famous as an internet forum administrator.

I'm having such a hard time deciding which career would be the most promising."

Clancy Sullivan said...

"Clancy is all me. He is a little more intelligent and he picks his battles more wisely but he still all me. "

Clancy Sullivan said...

"I don't call strangers sexual nicknames, though, unless I'm having sex with them."

Clancy Sullivan said...

"There is a little drama queen in all of us..."

Is it all "off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush"? Confidentially inquiring minds want to know.



Links:
Clancy Sullivan SLU Profile - http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/members/clancy+sullivan.html
Morgan Genna SC MKII Profile - http://www.secondcitizen.net/Forum/member.php?u=136
Morgan Genna SLU Profile - http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/members/morgan+genna.html
Tarzan / Clancy gV Profile - http://direct.gotvirtual.net/community/members/clancy.45/
Interloper Yu SLO Profile - http://z15.invisionfree.com/SL_Offworld_Forum/index.php?showuser=117
Interloper Yu RLetc Profile - http://www.rletc.com/member.php?832-Interloper-Yu
Star Fleet Command SL Quadrant Clancy Sullivan Profile - http://slquadrant.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=viewprofile&user=clancysullivan
SL Forum Archives, Clancy Sullivan - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1259&bih=668&q=+site:forums-archive.secondlife.com+%22clancy+sullivan%22+second+life
SL Forum Archives, Morgan Genna - http://www.google.com/search?q=morgan+genna+site%3Aforums-archive.secondlife.com
Tarzan Headline on Forum Confidential - http://slconfidential.blogspot.com/2011/07/tarzan-loses-his-grip.html
Lucifer's Conjecture on SC MKII - http://secondcitizen.net/Forum/showpost.php?p=336657&postcount=84
TarzanTheApeMan Twitter Page - http://twitter.com/#!/TarzanTheApeMan

Cottage Controversy

So it turns out cottages are controversial.

1. Pamela Galli posted a thread called "Devonshire Cottage" in SLU's New Product Listings section.

2. Darkley posted the dictionary definition of a cottage.

3. This particular new product listing thread then became a discussion thread and, later, an example for the "Some Thoughts on SLU's Tone" thread.

4.  Apparently Darkley (others too) was annoyed with Pamela because of her supportive comments regarding Ishtara during the recent rape discussion controversy, as well as some that were deemed passive-aggressive and snarky.

Darkley said:  "plus you must have missed my subtle snark, Pamela helpfully posted obnoxious dicitionary definitions at me earlier in the week so I was doing the passive aggressive thing"

Pamela said:  "As Darkley pointed out, she was not really concerned with misnaming issues (but rather that I replied to her "gofuckyourself" with a definition of "banal") but here are some cottages..."

5.  The thread included a discussion of the disparity between the American, British and Canadian views of the meaning of the word "cottage."  I myself lived in both Devon and the American Midwest (Kansas City) so I have seen both the small, traditional English cottage and the large lakefront golf community cottage of the upper middle class in middle America.  Pamela's cottage looked  very much like the latter to me.  It reminded me of my parents home in Kansas City, in fact, in a section of a golf community called "the cottages" coincidentally.  Pamela's SL build, btw, is charming.  I particularly liked the interior.  Pictures can be seen in the OP.

6.  Comments were made both in the "Devonshire Cottage" and the "Some Thoughts on SLU's Tone" thread that such discussions and drama were not appropriate in the New Product Listings section where comments ought to be limited to those either in the line of "bought it and loved it" or "this has been copybotted and there is some sort of scam involved so buyer beware."

7.  Darkley has since promised to refrain from making any comments in the New Product Listings section.

"thats the thing though, they didnt

more people told me off for being rude than told pamela off for her behaviour

I wont post in classifieds again"

"fair enough - i wont do it again

However it doesnt change the fact that someone can quite happily dismiss someones sexual abuse, be completely out of line, obnoxious and dismiisive, and thats just fine, but you dare criticise their profit centre and you are evil - at least i know where i stand"

"thats why ive already said, twice now, i dont do it again

but yes, read through the original nightmare thread and you will see the ZOMG reaction when I dared mention someones store, and on the classified ad being told that I am rude

but its fine, filthy lucre trumps principles"

8.  Pamela then seemed to reiterated her stance that she was not condoning posts that expressed ignorance or hostility regarding survivors of sexual abuse, but rather that she was supporting the notion that people sometimes feel "run out on a rail" at SLU.

"For those good ppl who think they must have missed where I said I supported sexual abuse: you didn't. I never said anything of the kind.

I am not going to get into some brawl about it now, either. I only feel compelled to post this because it is asserted so often by the "Little Gang" that some might assume it is true."

9.  All of which is now left for public debate, discussion, scrutiny and statements of opinion.

Lucifer Baphomet said:

"Oy vey.

Pamela, OK, you didn't say you supported sexual abuse...

What you did do was post your support for Ishtara on his blog and agree with how mean his treatment was on SLU.

Of course the fact being he received that treatment for asserting that men could not be raped, and for denigrating a forum member who was indeed raped as a youth."

Joshua Nightshade said:

"Yes, Pamela, you did.

You posted support for someone who you said was bullied off 'like so many others' without bothering to read the thread he flounced away from SLU from.

You still apparently have not read it, even now, which means that you can't be bothered to correct your stance even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the reason why he had a hard time was because he was dismissive — DIRECTLY, not even in a vague generalising capacity — of victims of sexual assault.

That you still continue to do this and you still continue to ignore that very pertinent detail says to me that victims of sexual assault rank lower in importance to you than someone feeling 'hounded' off of SLU because they posted something that pissed a lot of people off. Whatever that something was.

To which I say: get over it, you childish twit."

Joshua Nightshade said (to Darkley):

"I know how you feel, but to me the difference is that the classified sections of SLU are what Cris leverages to pay for the site. It's not about the person in question, but how griping with someone because they're rightly abhorrent individuals who should preferably piss the fuck off to a troll hole could make people who aren't bad think twice about posting classifieds or ads and thus hurt Cris.

I appreciate that you and most of the site are willing to stand up and not tolerate people who dismiss those sorts of attacks, but even I think there are certain sections of the site where such discussions should be avoided."

10.  And lasting epithets like "dogfucking rape apologists".


From Dictionary.com:

–noun
1.
a small house, usually of only one story.
2.
a small, modest house at a lake, mountain resort, etc., owned or rented as a vacation home.
3.
one of a group of small, separate houses, as for patients at a hospital, guests at a hotel, or students at a boarding school.
— n
1. a small simple house, esp in a rural area
2. ( US ), ( Canadian ) a small house in the country or at a resort, used for holiday purposes
3. ( US ) one of several housing units, as at a hospital, for accommodating people in groups
4. slang a public lavatory
Word Origin & History


cottage
late 13c., from O.Fr. cotage , from cote "hut, cottage" + Anglo-Norm. suffix -age (probably denoting "the entire property attached to a cote"). O.Fr. cot is probably from O.N. kot "hut," cognate of O.E. cot, cote "cottage, hut," from P.Gmc. *kut . Meaning "small country residence" (without suggestion of poverty or tenancy) is from 1765. First record of cottage cheese is from 1848. Cottage industry is attested from 1921.

Links:
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/new-product-listings/62255-devonshire-cottage.html
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/forum-feedback/62051-some-thoughts-slus-tone.html
http://leeherevw.blogspot.com/2011/06/random-blog-sightings-weeks-of-may-19.html
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/politics-religion-society/59122-floridas-new-bestiality-law-accidently.html
http://ishyscoherentrants.blogspot.com/2011/05/mob-rules-or-of-choice-and-men-or-die.html
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/politics-religion-society/61673-texas-executes-mexican-after-court-32.html#post1322321
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/politics-religion-society/61673-texas-executes-mexican-after-court-32.html#post1322303
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/58780-what-best-way-deal-trolls.html

Follow-up to "Eavesdropping (July 5, 2011)"

This is a follow-up to "Eavesdropping (July 5, 2011)."

RanmaTardis registered on SC MKII, passed through Ellis Island, and is now on SC MKII "asking to be forgiven" and to have that message passed on to Joshua in the SLUniverse too.  The following quotes are from Ranma's posts on SC MKII.

" Hello

---

Hi I am Ranma Tardis and have been with Second Life since Nov 2005 and Inworldz since May 2011.
Oh not sure what to say, please ask me some questions.

Oh pleased to meet you and hope to meet some friends "


" asking to be forgiven

---

I have been a griefer in the past and have flamed people who did not deserve the rude treatment. I humbly ask forgiveness of those that were wronged.
Yes i has said similar things before and am asking the community to keep me from falling astray.
It is my wish to be part of the community and learn from my interactions with others. Please accept my apologizes, especially to Siggy and Joshua. The sad part is I was not even drunk. 
So I am asking this community to guild me to a better future.

onigoshimasu

kind regards

Ranma"

"Could you pass along my message to Josh? I am perm banned in sluniverse. I am going to honor it by not posting as an alt.
Maybe with some guidance from this community can grow out of being a nerd."

Looks like nina made a guest appearance.

Anyway, keep us posted.  Confidentially inquiring minds want to know.

Oh, and there's plenty of room in the Cornfield, Ranma.  Come on down!  Out is the new in!

Editorial Discretion or Cover Up Job? XXXclusive Witness Account

A witness fearful of retribution confirmed that contributors to the controversial publication, Forum Confidential, have been pressured and even threatened.  His identity has been obscured to protect him and his associates.

"It's true.  If you say anything criticizing the tabloid or the publishers or anyone who has an investment in the publication, they come down on you real hard.  One friend...she publicly disagreed with the FC rape editorial and the publishers made it clear...she is not safe anywhere.  A secretary told me that if she refuses them sexual favors or serves them burned toast or room temperature orange juice that they will make sure she never gets hired again anywhere ever.  I was in arbitration and I found out they'd bribed the officials.  I think we have to fight them with their own fire.  We should use the power of the press against them.  If we all go public together we will have strength in numbers.  That's why I'm speaking to you today.  I'm hoping others will be inspired to join me."

Will others join this courageous soul or will FC continue its nefarious domination of the little posters? Will this story blow up or will it stay "off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush"? Confidentially inquiring minds want to know.

Editorial Discretion or Cover Up Job?

http://slconfidential.blogspot.com/

Secret post uncovering "sleeze" at an up-and-coming forum never makes it to press.  Were the reporters pressured to stifle the story?  Did money change hands?  Were cell phones tapped?  Will this be the subject of a congressional investigation and hearing? What happened "under the table"?  Is it "off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush"?  Confidentially inquiring minds want to know.