Viva la SL Revolution

Twelve months ago, a group of smart and switched on people combined two of Second Life’s most popular multi-authored blogs and formed The SL Revolution – a blog with the aim to not hold back from what needs to be said. A group of people who didn’t take themselves too seriously – guys and girls who simply enjoyed Second Life, and didn’t think of themselves as journalists or fashionistas. They were simply normal people who were too busy laughing at the dumb things going on within the SL community (in particular the SL blogging, or SLogging, community) with the same out blogs churning out the same old dramas.

So the Rev was created to give a wide angle lens – to inject some humour back into the SL blogging community, and remind everyone that actually your petty little dramas are meaningless and you should really try being constructive to the Second Life efforts, instead of just trying to bring each other down all the time.

We mocked Plurks with extreme sexual content and made fun of the PostSecrets. We laughed at the girl who liked to make lists of names, and we’ve reminded you all what an opinion is really worth.

But then we’ve also offered advice on how to create eye catching promotional images and thought about the Freebie issues and how it affects the SL economy. We’ve looked at the impact of blogging on ourselves and in world, and

And we’ve talked about Drama. Again, and again. And then again.

You see, the SL Rev makes fun of these things, but then we’ve also caused drama too. And on an opinion blog, that’s pretty easy to do. But there’s a smart way of calling people out – it involves not saying anything, but saying everything, and that’s an artform which most the writers here at the Rev employ in their writing. We’re fortunate that we’re not a trash blog which creates witch hunts. Or is fortunate the right word? After all, blogging is about who has the most page views, right?

Wrong.

Blogging is about intelligent discussion where people are happy to give thought out opinions on matters and discuss/debate in a civilised manner which doesn’t involve trashing someone without reason.

A year ago, I wrote that the growing popularity of blogs which are kicking off witch hunts will cause nothing but paranoia and ill-feeling within the SL community – I said the situation would hit a point where people would start basing their opinions simply on what a blog has published, rather than seeking out the truth themselves.

And why? Because by giving into this witch-hunt mentality, we create group-think. The type which involves someone who is quite happy to go after someone they don’t know (probably due to a lack of self-confidence or immense jealousies). They exploit a part of human nature in which people love drama (as long as it doesn’t involve them) and this creates an atmosphere where it becomes normal for ideas and opinions to be suppressed, rather than openly discussed in a sensible manner.

The number of bloggers who have risen up by trying to crush others is on the rise, and I can only see it creating an SL where people will be too afraid to say what they think. But blogs like the Rev continue pushing back the boundaries and will carry on fighting the good fight – because no matter what the fucktards say, we refuse to be silenced, and we refuse to be told what to write. We won’t put up with self-referential little spiteful groups who feed drama and insanity – we’ll carry on mocking those types, and we’ll carry on speaking our minds as individuals. Without fear or favour.

So Viva la SL Revolution – here’s to the past year, and may the diversity of writers here long continue to bring some of the best discussion to the SL community.