How many .nings/forums are you a member of?

[Dana Vanmoer]

Personally I have started to lose count of the forums/nings i have been invited to, do you think they are getting out of hand?
Is the reason for so many because they are easy to use and make people feel like they have their very own forum or is it because SLs group chat never works?
Isn't the whole point of SL that its like a 3D forum for everyone? If so then why join these out of world forums?
Just a few ideas up for discussion - let us know what you think..........
Dana

[Tsunami Rickenbacker]

I think the whole "social networking" thing is getting / can get out of hand. For a long time I have avoided getting involved in such things as the term used to make my blood run cold. The reason for that was back when Linked In came about, everyone (including me) jumped on it as being a great business tool. However, it soon became evident (to me at least) that people were more interested in building their contacts in regard to the number of, rather than actually caring about the relationships. Over a short period of time, I began not to bother logging in as it appeared most other people didn't once the novelty wore off. In my opinion, all it ended up being was an exercise in "ego massaging" and a time wasting activity avoiding doing any real business.

After being away from the scene for probably 3 years now, I have decided to dip my toe back in the water to see if things have changed, to get back in the saddle as it were. This time not so much to build real life contacts in respect of doing traditional, face to face business but to create links with online communities that have a similar (or just interesting to me) web presence. It's less tangible but a characteristic of a virtual, global network. By implication, this gives you access (or should) to a larger audience, be it for social interaction, as a platform to showcase media or to promote an e-business.

This brings me back around to your question about people wanting their own forum. Some may feel it gives them more creative control over the content they publish, or that they can't find a channel where their views would fit / be accepted but I don’t think it is because of SL chat issues. For me, if there are any in-world communications problems it isn't a real botheration as those people I really wish to speak to I can reach via Yahoo or Skype IM / voice. Jumping on a forum isn't something that would come to mind for this type of interaction.

On top of that, an "out of world" forum allows, potentially, interaction with people that aren't residents of Second Life. Many people appear to use platforms, like Ning, as a blog or as another facet of an existing (one or other) social networking interface. Not everyone writes exclusively about their in-world existence and they may wish to attract real world traffic too.

There does seem to be a tendency to join as many communities, add as many contacts (either initiated or reciprocated) as possible within the world of social networking. This is the stage I am at (& losing count already) but I am quickly becoming aware that a lot of time can be spent chasing around signing up here, accepting a contact request there, only to find there is no real interaction. That isn’t symptomatic of all networks but does mean that, perhaps, consideration needs to be given before jumping in.

Like most things in life (real or virtual), for me it's about discernment - quality over quantity. And if, at the end of the day, "Web 2.0" gives me a sense of déjà vu then I will step away and try again in another 36 months.