I've seen comment threads devolve into "blahblahblah wordwars" where one party accuses another of "Not getting it", or "You don't understand". Geeks have a word that goes beyond mere understanding, and that is "grok".

Media that uses Second Life poorly makes me cringe. I don't want to see my favorite virtual world used as cheap set dressing or a stand-in throwaway where any virtual world would've done. I've had more than my fair share of that rubbish (*curmudgeon brow furrow*), and while I do certainly think Second Life on a show like The Office is funny, well, it's still very surface and doesn't doesn't grok the societal beauty which must be experienced. It's kinda like how The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed in Thailand due to its pretty settings, but James Bond's no cultural ambassador.

Publicity's good and inevitable but we can do better!

I think we can win. I know we can do both — highlight our new WindLight-enhanced atmospheres wrapped around avatars in love and tell an awesome story. That's an example.

I look forward to what's to come, but for now, hats off to each and all who are responsible for Molotov Alva and His Search for the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey. Including Orhalla "Hobo King" Zander. I've only seen previews and not the full documentary, but what I've watched so far tells me they do grok it, and don't misappropriate Second Life in an analogous way to callously wronging First Nations people on film. Are some artistic liberties taken? Sure, like not showing Ruth in all her hideosity. I can live, and live again, with that.

I guess I feel this way in part because in being a spirit of Second Life, it resonates close to my heart: just like a tribal shaman-chief would be horrified to see his people portrayed as lollygagging idiots on the "silver" screen, many Residents might as well puke in their popcorn when they're shown as losers. No! Second Life is for winners, and I know many of them.

(Copy-and-paste blurb: I have a deliciously wicked and wacky sense of humor. I am a trickster, a larrikin, and a rogue. But I detest useless redundancy, and jokes at the mean-spirited expense of others often fall into this category.)

There may be a stretch in comparing a nascent cyberculture with one that has lived and adapted over 100s of years, which makes you keep this in mind: tradition is basically something that's been done over and over until it's really old. And by then, most people close to it take it to be the truth. They're not really in a position to question it, since "Since we've been doing it for years, it must be correct". Not necessarily so. Even Seth Godin has an insightful tangent relating to the crapification of Mother's day.

Right now, Second Life is considered a disruptive technology, but it'll need to be shaken up (sometimes gently) in the years ahead to stay fresh and vital. I think paying attention to external creations which make excellent use of Second Life and celebrating them loudly is a fantastic way to keep that in focus.