'I had a little fun poking at someone else’s mistake about Second Life, so it’s only fair that I make this crystal clear, just in case it wasn’t obvious already: Linden Lab has made more mistakes about Second Life than anyone else ever has.'Has the bad feeling and press finally got through to LL? It seems so this is one of the most refreshing posts I have seen on the blog in all my SL days - LL finally admitting they make mistakes! But its not all honest and straight forward and some would say 'who are they kidding?' I see it as a step in the right direction for once, a step forward for public relations, which are at an all time low.
Read the full post here and some of the responses to it.
My opinion
The post claims 'a constant stream of information about our service status, straightforward talk about our grid problems' and 'even open discussion about our future grid architecture'
I'm afraid we are all aware of the consistency of information about 'the service status' usually hours behind sometimes even days before we know what has happened and 'straightforward talk' maybe, eventually, if they manage to work out the problem AND as long as its not a weekend? Open discussion??? How many said they did not want voice? Most regular residents would prefer a stable grid but LL still rolls out new features to an ever more unusable grid, (When was the last time you managed to have an uninterrupted session?)
'The tricky part is finding the level of transparency that achieves the right balance between beneficial correction and burdensome maintenance.'
My own opinion, and I believe that of many others, is not so much the companies transparency but its communication skills - when people don't feel listened to, or feel their opinion does not matter then you are in some real PR trouble - which by the way is where I believe you are right now and I think, the reason behind this post is to try to repair some of the huge gaps you have recently created between yourselves and your residents. Secondlife has changed from a partnership between its residents and Linden Labs to a dictatorship where the residents feel they have to just 'put up' with whatever you decide to do. Yes we can shout, we can blog, we can send notices and letters and even petitions, but when they don't work or are completely ignored, all that's left is a very unhappy community.
A step forward with this post but I think you have a long way to go to even begin to repair the public relations between yourselves and the residents.Do you agree with me? Or are the Lindens doing their best for All residents? Leave your comments I would love to hear your feedback on this.
Dana XxX