Social Platforms for Virtual World Residents

Google recently announced that they are going to be shutting down Google+ in the next 10 months, by August 2019 it will be gone. Google+ is one of the social networks that allowed pseudonyms. When they initially opened they preferred real names, like Facebook’s policy, but after a bit of a protest from virtual world residents they allowed us back on.

There are huge virtual world communities on Google+, such as the Second Life community that has over 5000 members. This will be a big loss to certain residents, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to do another post about social media, but this time covering more social platforms than just networks.

Virtual worlds themselves are a form of social platforms. Many join them to socialize with people so in this post I not only want to talk about the major social networks, but also forums, and streaming and other gaming platforms.

Before I get into that though, here are a few links to my previous posts about Social Media:

• Social Media – A list of Social Networks I’m on.
• Live Social Media Discussion – A presentation I did for BVN about social media, video of presentation is also embedded.
• Secrets to Social Networks for Second Lifers – Tricks and tips to get yourself noticed on certain networks.

Social Platforms:

• my.secondlife.com – This is a web-based version of your profile created by Linden Lab for Second Life residents. It has a feed section where you can share updates. My web-based profile can be found at this link.
• community.secondlife.com – This is not a social network, but more a forum, created by Linden Lab for the Second Life community. You can read the latest Second Life news and announcements here, and follow/participate in conversations in the forums. You can find my conversations at this link.
• YouTube – I consider YouTube more of a streaming/video site rather than a social network, but of course it’s an incredibly engaging social platform. My YouTube channel can be found at this link.
• Twitch – Same as YouTube, more a streaming site but also an engaging social platform. My Twitch channel can be found at this link.
• Flickr – Photo sharing site with lots of social networking type features such as following, liking and commenting. My Flickr stream can be found at this link.
• Facebook – Probably the most popular social network; it is also the one that requires real names and discourages pseudonyms for personal profiles. However, facebook pages are allowed for fictional characters and businesses. My Facebook page can be found at this link. I’ve also created a tutorial showing you how you can create your own Facebook page for your Second Life avatar or business.
• Twitter – One of my most favorite social networks. My Twitter profile can be found at this link.
• Instagram – Photosharing site that works more like a social network. My Instagram profile can be found at this link.
• Pinterest – Works more like a social pinboard rather than a social network. It is like a catalogue of your ideas. My Pinterest profile can be found at this link.
• Plurk – A smaller social network with majority of its users from Asia and Second Life. Plurk welcomes pseudonyms and Second Life avatars. There is a huge community of a few thousand Second Life residents on plurk. My Plurk profile can be found at this link.
• Reddit – Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Registered members submit content to the site such as links, text posts, and images, which are then voted up or down by other members. There is a Second Life subreddit where you can interact with other residents. My Reddit profile can be found a this link.
• Steam – Steam is a digital distribution platform for video games. You can add people as friends and play games with them. This is my Steam profile.
• Discord – Discord is a voice-over-Internet Protocol application designed for video gaming communities, that specializes in text, image, video and audio communication between users in a chat channel. People often use it instead of Skype and TeamSpeak. I’ve done a tutorial on how to use Discord, which can you view at this link.
• Tumblr – Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking website.
• VirtualVerse One Forums (Previously known as SLUniverse) – This is a Virtual world discussion forum and photo sharing community site. It was previously known as SLUniverse and has now expanded to include all virtual worlds. This is my profile.

Credits:
Shape: StrawberrySingh.com Catya 2 Shape by Strawberry Singh
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*Hair: TRUTH HAIR Bewkie by Truth Hawks (Group Gift)
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