LindenLabs is now promoting a new feature in SecondLife that allows another resident to use your name. Are you kidding me? For business owners, models and anyone who creates their name to be unique, this is just plain…well…I’ll say it nicely. Nuts! I’ve included a few paragraphs from the SL Wiki Blog on this for you.
“Q. Why is Linden Lab introducing the Display Name feature now?
A. Growing the SL Resident-base is a business objective that we’re deeply committed to and we hope that you’ll also benefit from that growth. We’re also exploring ways to attract new Residents by making their registration and first-hour experiences in Second Life more compelling. We have long known that selecting a Second Life name is one of the biggest hurdles in the new Resident registration process; it is a common reason why potential new Residents abandon registration and it has consistently received very low ratings in new Resident surveys. The freedom to choose an avatar name in Second Life is something that many Residents have been wanting for a long time and it took some time to develop a feature that gave you as much flexibility as possible. This feature is an important step on our social media strategy that will ultimately allow you to connect your inworld identity to other social networks, on an opt-in basis. Again, Display Names and eventually, the connection to social networks, is all about choice.
Q. As a current Resident, what will my username be?
A. Your username will automatically be formed from your existing avatar name in the form of your current Second Life firstname.lastname. For example, if your avatar name is John Smith, then your username will be lowercase and display as john.smith. However, you can still log in with “first name space last name” to both the Viewer and websites, e.g., John Smith. In addition, your name will display exactly as it has, e.g., John Smith until you set a Display Name.
Q. Will you limit the number of people who use a particular Display Name?
A. No, because you can use username to uniquely identify individual avatars. There can be many Residents using John Smith as their Display Name, but you can discover which is which by looking at their username — for example, in their profile.
Q. Can I prevent other Residents from using my Display Name?
A. Not generally. Display Names are not meant to be unique identifiers. Instead, if you notice that others are using a similar Display Name, feel free to change your own name.”
Click here to read the rest of the SecondLife Wiki News Posting on Display Names
To vote on this highly irregular decision by LindenLabs, Click Here
Please pass around to your friends. I have included a shortname version of this posting to make it easier to pass around for you. Thank you for helping to spread the word. You can make a difference. It just takes one person. Copy the link here ~ http://wp.me/pDL3r-1kc
Sincerely,
Jen
The Mind & Musings of RicoRacer Flux 