The Story of My “Second Life”

Ever since I saw Philip Rosedale wearing that “Missing Image” t-shirt at SLCC, I’ve been thinking about his comments in the keynote and his personal commitment to the Second Life community to get things right. He talked at length about the quality and uptime metrics posted throughout HQ that inform staffers how things are going at any given time. It was clear to me that he has his customers’ needs first in mind at all times and is building a culture of accountability at Linden Lab that other organizations could learn a lot from.

The Official Linden Blog is a great example of openness and commitment to organizational accountability. Take this post, for example, this past Friday. It’s fairly typical. It provides a simple explanation of a problem that affected the grid, a timeline for its resolution, and an apology. How many other organizations work this hard to keep their customers informed?

Clearly, growing pains are straining the system, and the future is by no means certain. Will Linden Lab’s efforts to scale succeed? Stan Travena of Modesto City School’s PacRimX project opines about this very subject on the SLED listserv here, here and here. Could the entire thing collapse under its own weight within a year? What would that mean to all the organizations and institutions, schools, etc., that have painstakingly built presences in Second Life? Perhaps Ryan will be proven right, and Second Life is indeed headed for a cliff…

What about the competition? They are already out there. Will Linden Lab get all the service issues addressed in time to save the metaverse and continue growing?

Like Stan Travena, I can’t imagine this turning out any way, shape or form close to a meltdown. Too much is at stake.

Meanwhile, we are going to press on with our planned work in the Teen Grid, and continue to invest intellectual, emotional and financial capital in Second Life. Sure, there are issues. But like the saying goes, if you’re not part of the solution…

-kj-