Well, Massively has a post on a (hopefully) random remark by our beloved leader concerning "Real" names.
"So, what’s ahead in 2010?.........
1. Experience improvements that attract more new Residents, get them acclimated and part of the social fabric of Second Life:............
The ability to choose either real names or fantasy names in Second Life."
This, a quote from the New Year address by Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon.
Now, it never surprises me that people come up with stupid ideas, what always surprises me is the way so many think it would be such a great idea..... the comments are shocking (at Massively).
I had a very nice person I met say to me, just a few weeks after joining SL, "Hey, I can actually see your front door on Google Earth....". Now, I had been quite open, obviously, about my RL, but it sent shivers through my soul. I do not want anyone, really, fan or fanatic watching my front door. Are people really so stupid that they think a total honesty policy is better than a little privacy?
Is it so difficult to step out of one's everyday personna? Is my name, address, date of birth and the general boring "facts" of my life what makes me who I am?
I am always interested in following a thought to its logical conclusion as the "thin end of the wedge" principle often applies.... in this case, will I be required to submit DNA samples to the Lab in 10 years time??
...and... in 10 years time, will I be having conversations with John Smith2063, Lois Rabinowitz5783 and Jo Han4517294...?..... pleeease....
Who can believe that 'reality' is more interesting than fantasy?
Who thinks that a duplicate RL is gonna enthral thousands of new users?
Who pays money at the cinema to see a documentary when a fantasy film is showing next door?
Well, the same idiots who think life will be 'safer' in SL if everyone knows my 'real' name (a pure mental abstraction my mother came upon) rather than the name hundreds of people current use for me.
It is such a frustratingly stupid concept, that "what people want" is a photocopy of their "real" lives. Duhhhh!!
.....and equally frustrating that so many agree.....
So, there are people who say...."well, SL is big enough for all sorts of users"..... that is naive. When you are ruled by a dictatorship/junta/whatever..... then the leaders have only to decide 'ooo, that sounds like a good idea' for the mass to control the minority.
Democracy is simply a dictatorship by the mass.
"Power talks, idealism walks."
Data mining is THE business of the 21st Century, and Facebook has fallen, the Lab next?
Transworlders may be my ticket out....
.......... there will hopefully be an Open Sim where us sane people can hide from the "real" idiots.
:((
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I was fairly surprised they mentioned it really, although SL has had reasonably closed names for a while, other grids/worlds have had the option to sign up under any name you want since they started.
ReplyDeleteI can see SL going this way in the year towards a more Utilitarian regime, with the other comments on finding friends etc easier they may be planning to open up the website more towards a facebookesque experience, or even... considering the facebook and SL api's are publicly available, perhaps cross them over. Facebook pages with SL status/maps etc on, message sent as updates... who knows.
But by stripping back the layers of imagination and pushing the RL into SL even more it will be interesting to see the social effects over the next year.