Techlearning blog

There was a moment this weekend where I ran into (no pun intended) a new Second Life (SL) resident that was just stuck. Literally, the avatar was stuck: they were trying to walk but they just kept running into the wall. When I noticed this, I went over to help but she were so embarrassed she shut down SL.

For a moment, I didn't understand why "she" left. I kept thinking, “we've all been there! Heck, I still am there at times.” The more I thought about it, the more it became clear. These are embarrassing moments for us in much the same way tripping over a desk in class (yes, I've done that), leaving your fly down in public (yep, done that, too), fighting with the carpet monster (I lose every time), or spinning in circles because your lost (umm, yeah...) in real life.

The really bad part is that I wasn't laughing at the person to poke fun at them but it was taken that way. I simply typed in a smiley face and typed, "let me help you" as a way of letting her know that I’ve been there before. However, I don't think "she" got a chance to see "let me help you". She saw the smiley face and left. Unknowingly, I added to the embarrassment even those this can and does happen to the best of us.

I'm sure this person will return. I hope this person will return. However, the experience is something that will forever change the way I approach people in Second Life.

Unfortunately, I have watched people knowingly and unknowingly joke or play at the expense of someone new to Second Life. People falling from the sky, getting stuck in a wall, wearing items/clothes that don’t fit (or none at all), or trying to walk through a window are funny to watch because we've all done them when starting out in Second Life and some of us still have our moments.

However, this “fun” is at the expense of newbies trying to enter a world that is already a lot to handle. Just like real life embarrassing moments, these SL moments can scar people in ways only they can understand.

Have a heart and try to help make the transition into SL a bit easier not harder for those just joining us. I know I learned my lesson. Have you?

New Avatar Help
Here is my way of trying to help my fellow new avatars get started in Second Life by offering the following tips in hopes others will join me in helping.

Orientation Island
I was so anxious to get into Second Life that I spent all of 5 minutes on Orientation Island. Bad move on my part! Spend as much time as possible there getting familiar with Second Life and you can also set Busy so no one bothers you (highly recommended)

Know Your Platform
Know how your specific platform works with Second Life. There are a lot of people willing to help when you are exploring but many only know it from their platform so don’t get frustrated when they offer it from their platform perspective. Here is a great list of shortcuts to get you started. Oh, remember that Apple + Click is equivalent to right clicking

Terminology
Beyond a lot of Instant Message language, there are also some terms and abbreviations used in SL that will be helpful to know:

Avatar: Your digital representation
In World: This refers to happenings within Second Life
Second Life (SL)
Real Life (RL)
Teen Grid (TG): The teen portion of Second Life
Second Life Time (SLT): This is equivalent to Pacific Standard Time
Main Grid (MG): The adult portion of Second Life
Animation Override (AO): A way to make your avatar act and move in different ways such as walk in a unique way
Prims: The building blocks of Second Life. Everything you see in SL is constructed with prims.
Teleport (TP): A way of quickly transporting to a different location
Linden Dollars (L$): The currency in Second Life; roughly speaking, 1000 Linden dollars equals 4.00 US dollars
SLurl: This is a Second Life URL and offers a direct link to an SL location.

Training Help
After Orientation Island, there are some other spots worth visiting to help you grow and some tutorials to watch and try:
• Education Island (a nice place to go right after Orientation Island)
• Monday nights at 5pm SLT: Excellence in Instruction Series at the Literature Alive! Headquarters
• Thursday nights at 6pm SLT: ISTE socials on ISTE island to begin networking, get some tips, and setup tours
• Tutorials to watch and try