A Second Life on Facebook

Recently Google announced that there are no more restrictions on what name you can use on Google+ therein allowing Second Life residents and others that use pseudonyms online to use the service under any name they please. I was extremely pleased to hear of this decision, but a little disheartened that Facebook doesn’t adapt a similar rule.

Even with the no pseudonyms policy that Facebook has, there is still a huge and active Second Life community on facebook. The official Second Life facebook page itself has more than 300,000 likes.

Within this community, I have noticed a few facebook pages pop up that are providing a wonderful service and I wanted to find out who was running them and why. A few people have also approached me with requests to be featured on these pages because they assumed that I was one of the people that were in charge. I am not, but I was happy to find out who is and what their goals are. The pages I’m referring to are the following:

• Second Life Inventory – A very up to date, up to the minute shopping feed, perfect for shopaholics that want to know what the latest and greatest new releases are.
• Second Life Photos – I think of this one as the Second Life artistic feed. Here they share images from different photographers. Majority of the images shared are heavily processed, but to me, they are still true to Second Life and are not morphed with real life images, etc.. so it’s a very pleasurable feed to go through.
• Second Life Style – This feed makes me feel even more inadequate with my styling, lol. These are images from bloggers, stylists, etc.. a lot of fantastically stylish people out there!
• Second Life Events – If you have trouble keeping up with all the events like I do, look no further. An excellent feed detailing all of the events going on in Second Life, with landmarks, dates and any other pertinent info. Don’t forget to check out their upcoming events tab as well.

The genius behind all of these pages is Mr. Zulu Hassan himself. I spoke to him briefly and he told me that the reason he created the pages was that he wanted a clean source of high quality SL content. He also did it for fun and as a contribution to the Second Life community. There isn’t any business behind the pages and he has a strict rule of not accepting paid ads. It is supposed to be a neutral feed, free of spam and ads of any sort. Today there are over 20 people managing these pages. One of the people that he states helps him out a lot is Annie Inspired.

So I poked Annie and asked her a few questions, why she decided to volunteer to help him out with this since there is no business behind it and also where they find all of the images being shared, etc… she gave such an eloquent and detailed response, I have decided to quote her directly:

“Personally I decided to join the team because I was noticing that the Second Life Inventory page was fast becoming my personal shopping site. I knew that if I wanted to find the latest and greatest SL products, they would be shared on the page. The page was quickly taking off and Zulu needed help so I jumped at the chance to be a part of his team. His pages are unique because items are hand selected by him and I and shared simply because they are amazing and worth sharing. No one has to pay us to share items, blogs, events, or their SL photos. They are shared because of their quality, creative appeal, and frankly just too darn awesome not to share. Our main source for finding photos is through flickr. We follow anyone who asks us to follow them. Throughout the day we scour through all the photos from people we follow and hand select the WOW items. We pay special attention to upcoming events and try to make sure that we add all the pertinent details to our Second Life Events page along with a landmark for an easy shopping experience. As a blogger and shopper myself there is nothing more frustrating than seeing a new item on facebook and then wondering “Ok, now how do I get it?”. We try to pay extra special attention to the details on how, where, how much, for how long, can I get this? So each item we share has to have as much detail as possible so that the customer on the other end will have everything they need. “

She also stated that in the future they plan to partner with more designers and event owners to offer gifts and prizes to their followers. I really think it’s a wonderful service they are providing to the Second Life facebook community and I know it’s asking for a lot, but hoping as the community grows on Google+, they will be willing to do similar things there as well. Since the announcement from Google+ I have seen more and more Second Life residents joining and adding me in their circles. Linden Lab even shared their Google+ page on their other social networks recently to get people to follow them there. There is also a Second Life community page on Google+ with over 2000 members. Communities on Google+ work like groups on Facebook. Google+ also has pages, just like Facebook pages where you can share content and have different admins running the page.

So I do hope this wonderful movement ends up there as well and the community continues to grow on Google+ since they have finally opened their eyes and changed their policies.

A big thank you to Zulu and Annie for taking time out to talk with me about all of this and for also providing this wonderful service. I know I have used it many times myself to locate items.

If you are looking to get featured on any of the pages, I am not sure what the process is but you can try contacting them and also following them on Facebook and Flickr:

Zulu Hassan on Facebook
Zulu Hassan on Flickr
Annie Inspired on Facebook
Annie Inspired on Flickr
Second Life Photos Flickr Group

You can also follow Linden Lab and yours truly on both networks if you haven’t already done so, here are the links:

Second Life Facebook Page
Second Life Google+ Page
Strawberry Singh Facebook Page
Strawberry Singh Google+ Page
Strawberry Singh Facebook Profile
Strawberry Singh Google+ Profile

Today I am wearing the wilde top from coldlogic’s gorgeous new summer release. I also paired it with the LeLutka bandana because tomorrow is the last day of Hair Fair as well as Bandana Day. I always look forward to LeLutka’s bandanas every year and they never disappoint. This bandana is exclusive to Hair Fair and all proceeds go to Wigs for Kids so make sure to stop by Hair Fair tomorrow, it’s your last chance to get it!

Credits:
*Skin: -Glam Affair – Rose – Africa 12 H by Aida Ewing
Turban: [LeLutka]-ZAHARA wrap by Thora Charron for Hair Fair Bandana Day
*Top: coldLogic dress – wilde.wine (S) golden by coldLogic (blog)
*Pants: erratic / zoey – leather pants / blue (XS) by Erratic Rain
*Shoes: Zaara : Janya jeweled sandals by Zaara Kohime (blog)
Tattoo: Letis Tattoo :: Inermis :: 50% :: MM13017 by Leti Hax
*Earrings: (Kunglers Extra) Luna earring – Sunset by Avagardner Kungler (flickr)
*Necklace: Cae :: Hamsa :: Necklace (Long) by Caelan Hancroft (@ Fameshed)
*Mesh Hands: Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands – Casual – Small by Siddean Munro
*Mesh Feet: Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) S – Flat by Siddean Munro
*Pose+Prop: Exposeur – Stone Arch by RubyStarlight Writer (@ TLC)