I've been trying to sell the possibilities of Second Life.
I've been trying to share with you the wonders of virtual exploration, the pioneering spirit of being in on a new means of communication, the trials of learning a new persona in a digital world.
And, naturally, I'd assumed that you'd continue your real-world progressive activism by attending Netroots Nation in Second Life and other virtual organizational opportunities in the World. After all, being in a discussion and realizing that no one there is actually in the same time zone, much less the same city - but I digress.
I've been doing it all wrong. And I'll tell you how I've been doing it all wrong under the flip.
See, the reason I've been going about this all wrong - and don't take this personally - is because you don't care.
Why should you? After all, you understand going to conventions, you have Daily Kos for liveblogging, and if you can't afford to go you can always stream the damn panels, right? Why the hell should you spend three months exploring the innards of some video game, encountering awful dolphin-with-breasts avs and trying to solve badly-laid-out murders by people who don't understand the difference between virtual reality and television?
And you have a point. You may not be interested in another World when God knows there's enough to do in this one. Look, I think that Second Life involves much more than the media stereotypes, but Goddamn, I play Dungeons and Dragons. I'm used to awful media stereotypes.
But, you know, you don't have to be.
Okay, say you can't afford to go to Netroots Nation. Sucks, but a lot of us can't. Sure, you can stream the panels, but what if I told you that you could stream them and talk to fellow progressives at the same time? What if I told you that there are panels in virtual reality that you can attend as well? How about being able to attend a panel that has both Real World and virtual panelists. All from the comfort of your own home, in the comfort of your own jammies. And all for the cost you're currently paying to read this.
Yeah, we're talking about Second Life again. But we're talking easy-button Second Life.
How easy? It took my brother half an hour to get comfortable - walking, talking, dancing, and sitting. Fifteen minutes of that was him getting used to my avatar. And the kicker - he's legally blind.
And I have just the event for you to practice on - tomorrow in Second Life nyceve will be speaking live in-World at Virtually Speaking.
Yes, that nyceve. "Murder by spreadsheet" coining, healthcare-industry-lobbyist frightening, the very model of citizen activist changing the world nyceve. She'll be there. And my brother managed to set up an av, so come on you probably can.
Yeah, you have a First Life. I'm not asking for another one. Just half an hour to set up and one live interview with a righteous activist. Come on, they give you ten days to learn World of Warcraft.
So, what do I mean by easy-button Second Life?
Well, first follow that link and set up your free account. You can agonize over your avatar or not - I hear that they have some good free ones, but we have some nice free ones for you too.
Then, instead of doing all that crap at the Help Island I told you about in my Kossack Fullstop series, alt-tab out to your desktop, open a browser, and click this link:
Netroots Nation Headquarters
Yup, just like a web link. Alt-tab back to Second Life, click the teleport button, and follow the big black arrows on the ground.
To your left (hee), there will be signs telling you how to do things in Second Life. Complete each tutorial - could take you half an hour if you have a pretty brunette of your gender preference distracting you. Yes, there are a few problems with the tutorial, we'll be building it better and easier soon, but it should be enough to get you started.
When you're done, alt-tab back here and click this link:
InWorld Amphitheater Virtually Speaking
Then log out. Log in tomorrow about 5:45 PM PDT and sit down. Press the little play button at the bottom to hear the discussion, and join in the conversation with your keyboard.
If you like it, we can take it from there and get you to Netroots Nation in August. In fact, if you can master those steps, that's all you need to join in.
I mean, we're going to have events year-round, outreach with other progressive groups, and social events that you don't have to dress up for and drive to, but hey, if you just want "less-than-setting-up-a-DVD-player" involvement, we can do that too. We're easy that way.
Maybe enough of you will come and log in to crash the server. That's fine - we'll just build it bigger and better. The more of you that come, the less chance that Second Life will be a corporate IBM/Sony/network news advertisement, and better chance that we can get together and do something real.