Achieving One Million Hits on My Second Life Blog!

 Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.

Albert Einstein

         

          Be forewarned – This story is a brag!

          Yes, it’s about me!

          Why shouldn’t it be?  After all, it’s my blog!  (Significant Other’s eyes rolls while asking why should this be any different from any of my other brags, er, stories.)  

          What’s the big deal?

          Well, I’ll tell you!  (Significant Other threatens to leave the room if I don’t get to the point.)

          My blog went over the one million hits mark at about midnight SLT on Sunday, April 24, 2016!  (Significant Other wouldn’t let me stay up to see it happen and insisted that I go to bed.  No, Significant Other isn’t my mother.) 

          In just over five years of blogging about Second Life (SL), I’ve managed to hit this goal.  Yes, some have done it quicker, but most don’t get anywhere near this mark at all!  

          How’d I do this?

          You mean besides writing over three hundred blog posts?  

          First, my blog of choice here is Google’s Blogger.  While I’ve since moved onto WordPress in Real Life (RL), Blogger is a very safe way to start blogging, is free, and is plugged into the Google family of products.  

          I did have some false starts along the way.

          CNN iReports unceremoniously dumped their SL community onto the street not long after I’d started there and I had to scramble to find a replacement.  That’s where Blogger came in.  (I’ll bet CNN iReports wishes they had this traffic going to their site!)

          I initially posted inworld distributing links to my weekly stories via notecards until I discovered social media.  

I started using Facebook to reach out to other SL residents until I got dumped by them in one of their purges. (No hard feelings, my offer to interview Mark Zuckerberg still stands!  And, even in the world of Facebook, a million hits is a big number which I bet they’d rather have than their competitors.)    

          Eventually, I started using Twitter and that’s when my traffic started to really pick up.  Adding Google+ helped.  Using Hootsuite, a social media account manager, allowed me to automate.  Twitter’s recent change in their timeline algorithm has set me back some but I’m working on some new ideas.  Keep an eye out for new social media channels and content!

          It hasn’t been easy!  (Not to complain!)

          I’ve posted weekly with only one exception over the last five years.  (Significant Other has been great about letting me build this posting routine into our lives.)  Thinking up new story ideas and researching them is harder than writing the stories.  

          But, I feel good about my progress!  (Significant Other says, “Enough already!”)

          There have been many other SL bogs that posted a few stories and then went dark.  (Sadly, some of these had excellent content.) Some post only once a year.  Others post regularly but get no traffic because they don’t do any promotion.  

          I’ve survived!

          A few observations about SL blogging after one million hits.

          First, this is only anecdotal, but SL social media activity seems to have been declining as if late.  I’m unsure if this has to do with less posting by writers or social media’s move away from organic growth to paid ads.  

          Next, many SL bloggers seem to be either posting less or stopping altogether.  I’m not sure why.  Could interest in SL be fading?  

          Finally, the next big thing in SL is sorely needed to revive interest in blogging and social media about this very important virtual world.  

          Now, I’d like to thank all who of you who made my achievement possible!

          I’m sure it was more than my three loyal readers doing this!  (You know who you are and not to worry!  I won’t out you!)  

          And, no, I didn’t hit this goal by reading my own posts!  (Sheesh, not even Significant Other accused me of that!)  

          I’d like to thank L’il Sis and her posse at First UCC for being the first to congratulate me in public for hitting this goal!  

          Then, to all those inworld who let me tell their stories to you, my readers! 

          I’m in your debt and will always cherish our time together!   

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives!  

          My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here. 

          Open roads and kind fires!          

Art Imitates Art in Second Life

 

Not all those who wander are lost.

J.R.R. Tolkien

                                                                

 

          Recently, I was having a conversation via Skype with a good friend of mine from Second Life (SL), Augusta von Nassau. 

Speaking with Augusta von Nassau in 1920's Berlin.

          We were Skyping because I’m no longer welcome on Facebook. 

          I gave vent to my frustration, and that of other Facebook refugees, with Augusta (Significant Other is happy that someone else gets to listen to me for a change.) about having to use multiple social media applications and not being able to have the experience that I had had with Facebook.

Augusta, in her infinite wisdom and patient manner, suggested that I write about my experience.  (I suspect that this also got me off her hands.) 

          She was right!

          I had my epiphany and am now blogging about my feelings.  (Please don’t blame Augusta for this story.  This is all me.  Significant Other bolts for the next room.)

          Here’s where I’m coming from.

          Inworld, I’m normally who I am.  An explorer and writer who wanders across the Grid blogging about his various misadventures.

          I don’t have a role playing backstory for my avi with one exception.

       

Working Class District in 1920's Berlin.

   When I visit 1920’s Berlin, I have a backstory.  And, of course, being me, it can’t be simple.  (What fun would that be?)

          In 1920’s Berlin, I play a political exile from the Bolshevik Revolution.  I’m a Menshevik who’s on the run from the CHEKA.  Once, I was on friendly terms with Ilyich but political disagreements and a few too many chess games won by me sent me to the West.

          I have no home and wander about living on the streets testing the good nature of my friends with my continually quoting Marx.  A certain young librarian allows me to hang out in her library as long as I quit whistling The Internationale.  (She’s also promised to add a section for the collected works of Marx for services rendered on my part.  I think I’ll wait until the spring before I start reminding her.  1920’s Berlin is a hard city to be homeless in when Frau Jo turns on the snow.) 

Why this character and not some comfortable bourgeois character?

That wouldn’t be me.

The wandering writer is more my style.  (Significant Other’s, who has now returned, eyes roll.)

It was a part.  A role.  I didn’t give it any thought.  (Significant Other asks, “What’s new there?”)

Then I left Facebook.  (Or, not to put too fine a point on it, Facebook left me.)

Here’s where I began to complain to Augusta.

Whereas with Facebook, I had one tool which connected to a large group of friends, let me know who was on, and permitted me to chat with them easily. 

Now, I have multiple applications each with its own subset of my friends. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve met some great new people and a few old friends have followed me into exile.  But, everyone is scattered.

On the Avatar Social Network, I’ve made new friends but still only part of what I once

had access to.  Google+ has great functionality but I still don’t know who’s on.

I Skype with Augusta and go somewhere else to chat with others.

I’ve begun to experiment with Ello. 

Facebook friends reach out to me and ask me where I’ve gone to.  They commiserate but can’t leave Facebook because of their own social investment there.  They’re also reluctant to load up on additional social media applications.

I feel like my role playing avatar. 

I wander aimlessly looking for friends.  Never knowing where I’ll be or whom I’ll end up with.

Is this what it’s like for the homeless in Real Life (RL)?

Has the vagaries of a tool like Facebook shown me what some people experience in RL at least on a social level?

Please don’t get me wrong and don’t feel sorry for me.

That’s not what I’m writing this piece.    

          I have family and friends in RL.  (Significant Other gives a warm hug right now.)

I have a roof over my head.

Yet, somehow, this virtual world has made me think about others who don’t have it as fortunate as me. 

My inworld wanderings have also made me suspicious for some time that there are some in SL who may be comfortable in RL but are among us because they are looking for something on a social level.

I just wanted to get these thoughts off my chest and share them with my readers.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Eventually, I’ll sort this out.

Thanks to the efforts of the LGBT community, maybe someday folks like me could return to Facebook.

Let’s see what happens!

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.         

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

More about Social Media in Second Life

 

Google+ is the gym of social networking: We all join, but nobody actually uses it.

Anonymous

 

         

          I start this week’s story with an announcement.

          (Significant Other looks apprehensive.)

          Going forward I’ll no longer use Facebook for my blog posts.

          (Significant Other rolls eyes, shrugs, and leaves me to my ramblings.)

          Why?  You may ask.  (Even if you don’t ask I’m going to tell you.)

          I grew tired of wondering if I was within the rules for being there.  When web initially joined Facebook, after a review of the guidelines, I felt that it was appropriate for him to be there.  After all, how many people with pen names were already enrolled?  (Answer, a lot!)

web exists solely as a virtual avatar in the Metaverse.  That’s it.  He does not have a driver’s license, a passport, or a Social Security number.  He wanders the highways and byways of Second Life (SL) and has aspirations someday to visit Inworldz and go chase orcs in World of Warcraft.  When he retires, he may run a little gold farming operation there.

          My point in telling you this is that you’ll never meet him standing next to you in Starbucks or being interviewed on cable TV. 

          So when Facebook asked for a “real” name, I pulled the plug on web in Facebook.  Yes, I know.  It sounds heartless.  But, remember this.  If I do this right web will be running around long after I’m gone. (Significant Other returns venting displeasure about talk of my demise.)  There is no other “real” identity for web.

          The brand is web not me.  Changing a name would only confuse everyone and violate the one condition that Significant Other gave me when I began this little adventure of mine three years ago.

          That was I keep SL and Real Life (RL) separate.  Significant Other didn’t want SL showing up at the front door one evening.  (Nothing against anyone inworld but Significant Other has enough issues dealing with my RL friends and I’d rather not push my luck.)

          So, Facebook and I (web) part company.

          It’s their loss. 

          Like many I’m not sure why Facebook has this policy.  Pseudonyms and anonymous writers have a long and storied history in literature and journalism.  There are simple and safe ways to associate a “real” person with an avatar and still protect the privacy of the former.  Still, Facebook makes the rules and it’s their bat and ball.

          I won’t rail against this or start petitions or anything like that.  I have better things to do with my precious time.  I wish Facebook well and would be happy to return if they ever change their policies.

          web moves on!

          (BTW just to show there’s no hard feelings, Mark Zuckerberg is welcome as a guest blogger here anytime!  What?  He did Saturday Night Live!  Why not here?)

          Remember SL is web’s home.  Social media is only how his travels get out to the readers who follow him.  (Which BTW have been increasing steadily as of late.  Either my two loyal readers have been really busy lately or a lot more of you are reading.  Whichever it is, many thanks!)

          So, where do we go from here?

          A while back, I began exploring social media as a fallback for the eventual demise of SL. 

          That work is standing me in good stead now as I use it to find other ways to connect with the virtual world communities out there.

          Presently, there are four applications which I’m either using or reviewing to keep web engaged with his following and to expand it.

          First, I’ve ramped up quickly on Google+.

          Google+ recently dropped its prohibition against avatars.  While I’d like to credit Google for its openmindedness.  I suspect it had more to do with the fact that so many people had avatar email accounts that when Google tried to leverage their email base to grow Google+ they couldn’t escape the avatar issue.  In the end, I think the idea was if you can’t beat ‘em then join ‘em.

          Folks in Google+ are not as intimidated by avatars friending or following them as they are in Facebook.  (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking to yourself, some of my best friends are avatars!  But, would you let your sister date one?)

           The Google+ interface has a good feel to it and many prefer it to Facebook’s.  I also like the circle concept in Google+ as well.  It offers more potential for organizing friends and activities.

          Another social network which I’ve begun to use is the Avatar Social Network (ASN) which oddly enough I learned about in Facebook.  ASN is dedicated to being a social network similar to Facebook for residents of all virtual worlds.

          I’ve met the founder of ASN and hope to be able to report back with an interview from him shortly.  ASN makes a point of accepting all and being as helpful as possible.  I can personally speak to the great service of their Help Center.

          My third social tool is Twitter which has been a great way for me to reach out to more virtual residents and stay on top of what’s happening in the Metaverse. One limitation right now is that I can’t automatically post my tweets to Google+, but I’m looking for a workaround.

          Finally, I recently came across a tool called HipChat.  This tool permits seeing one’s friends on line and chatting with them.  Google+’s Hangout feature doesn’t let you know who’s on unless you already have a chat open.  (Or, at least that’s the way it seems to me right now!)

          This is just a quick summary of some of the social media apps I plan on using to maintain and grow my SL network.  I’d to point that all these tools are either free or offer robust free options.

          If you’re wondering how you can help, there are a few things you can do.

          First, I’d be grateful if you’re already members of the communities I’ve just mentioned if you’d connect with me and encourage your friends to do so.  (Hey, ain’t my stories good enough?)  If you’re not a member of these groups consider joining.

          Next, I could use some help in testing and setting up some of these tools.  It’s kinda hard to test a chat function by yourself!  Truthfully, a half dozen or so volunteers would be appreciated.  (We’ll form our own circle!)

          And, when you do either connect or join then comment, contribute, and participate!  There’s a reason it’s called “social” media.  I have to say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of old friends who either out there before me or came along shortly afterwards.

          That’s it for now! 

          But, there’ll be more to come!

          I do want thank all those who reached out to me after I dropped off of Facebook and expressed concern for my welfare.  I’m deeply touched by all your messages.  I’m fine!  (Significant Other sees to that!)

          And, not to worry, I’ll still be blogging!

          Also, this unexpected and unplanned migration has disrupted my editorial calendar a bit.  I apologize to those whom I was going to follow up with this week.  I’ll be back shortly.

          Anyone who is wondering what to do or needs help with their own personal migration can feel free to reach out to me for help.  If I can’t help then I’ll find someone who can!

          Open roads and safe fires!

          As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.   

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.