Of Culture, Costs and Communication in SL

It is unquestionable that culture in general and art specifically are an important part of Second Life (SL). Whether it is sustainable or not, despite the extremely rich variety of forms art can take in SL, is extremely debatable. The group also discussed the artist status in SL and the fact that some become true celebrities; this can be a rather controversial statement though due to the fact that there is no centralized source of information and a well-known name to some may be a complete stranger to others. Another issue debated was the fact that some performers/artists are leaving SL and moving to other grids where lower prices are very appealing. Should there be special prices for education and culture related sims in SL? Could art have a relevant impact on fund raising? How important are interest groups in SL and what kind of weight do they carry? Are initiatives like the Linden Endowment for the Arts enough? Or should residents take matters into their own hands and fund their own culture events without LL’s support? All these topics and questions funneled into the inevitable, the fact that what could be an important reason for many to join SL, the promotion of culture, is in many ways being wasted due to the inefficacy of LL to communicate with SL’s residents creating instability, lack of trust and an unwillingness to further invest in SL. Join us next week in LnL's Discussion Lounge for a new topic amongst a group of friendly people! :)