10 January, 2011

it ain't about all the friends you've made, but the graffiti they write on your grave

Tateru Nino wonders why the Labs have set up a secret JIRA category with over four hundred issues marked "Social". I wonder this, too--security exploits being secret I get. But social? Cultural/community/social networking issues have no need to be kept secret from residents...do they?

Meanwhile, there's more shady things happening in world. The CreARTivity blog asks us to work for them. And if we do, they'll pay us pennies on the pennies on the Linden (maximum L$120 per day) for telling our friends and our followers what they do.

...So, what is it they do for this minimal largesse? I really couldn't tell you. I've read through the blog for the past ten entries and I still have no clue what they do.

Cummere Mayo wants the new my.secondilfe.com profiles to be abolished; and while I get that the layout sucks, I don't understand all the screaming about RL info being on the web. People, your SL profile has been on the web and accessible on the Second Life website for at least five years that I know of; more to the point, it's your own lookout if you put down real, valid, RL information on your RL blog.

By that, I don't mean everything in your RL bio should, or even needs to be, false; but it's not at all false to say you're a 24-year-old female German biology student living in New York, over saying you're Gretchen Sinplot living on 224 14th Avenue in New York, with your phone number and your zip code and your email address. Because the first is accurate, and really, all that people in (or out) of SL need to know; the second is just flat out stupid, and shouldn't be done, ever. It's called internet safety for a reason, and if you're foolish enough to put all that information out in your bio, anyway, don't scream that the Lindens have made it easier to access your mistake in the first place.

(Insert from the Editrix: This is a direct quote from Yoz Linden on the JIRA page in question:
No private account info is available through the web profiles as designed, and much care has been taken to ensure that. Any bugs that demonstrate otherwise should be reported in the SEC project, where they'll only be visible to staff and will (if verified) be treated as critical.
So no, full RL details are not released on the web, just whatever people put in their RL bios, already.)

Here's the big thing I'm wondering, though. There's a 'tweet this' button; okay, fine. Not really necessary, but whatever. There's also a 'share on Facebook' button, and, even pushing aside my intense and vitriolic loathing for Facebook, is that similar to the 'Digg this' buttons that pop up, or does it mean something else?

I mean, look, I'm not interested in testing it out, but when that button's clicked, does it take you directly to Facebook with a request to log in or register? Or does it take you to that person's page on Facebook? Because I no longer have a page on Facebook...unless this means the Labs have kindly given me one.

Now, that possibility? Really would be frightening.

2 comments:

Edward Pearse said...

I had a look at mine. Looks like the only thing it put up about your RL is what you have (if anything) on the RL tab of your profile.

Do people put their phone numbers on that?

Emilly Orr said...

Some do, yes. Others have been known to put their full email contact information, along with any social networking info they want to pass along--Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Yahoo Groups, IRC, you name it.

Some very few have put full names, but I know I try to gently guide them away from doing so, when I've met the few (all of three) who've done that.

hide away, they say, 'cos we don't want your broken parts

Yeah, so...remember that thing I was recovering from? You know, last year ? Yeah. I did it again. So this is Em Faw Down Go Boom part ...