Second Life users inSLTed by new brand center
No, that's not a typo. It's Sciamachy Moran's rather clever play on words to describe how he feels about Linden Lab's new brand center and the new inSL trademark program. We've spent the last couple days catching up with Second Life users in-world, and checking out what they have to say on their blogs and assorted forums.
There are people saying positive things about the change. We counted only eleven positive comments among the mass of material.
The majority of Second Life users we spoke to understood Linden Lab's right to police the use of their trademarks, though everyone we spoke to were unhappy about the way it was being done. The new inSL mark itself has received a rather tepid reception, though many we spoke to said that they signed up with the new brand program even though they didn't care for it.
For much of the last five years, Second Life users have used the eye-and-hand logo associated with the virtual world to indicate 'pure' Second Life content -- that is content that is unique to and specifically generated for Linden Lab's virtual world.
In their wake, Linden Lab has continually attempted to assert that the logo solely represents Linden Lab, its authority, creations, property and agents. Needless to say, Linden Lab's efforts have had relatively little impact on the perceptions of the user population thus far.
The Second Life Bloggers have a spirited discussion on the matter, with links to their own takes on the matter, including Rheta Shan's open letter to Catherine Linden, director of Marketing at Linden Lab. Overall the tone ranges from concerned to dismissive.
The new inSL logo has also already spawned at least two parodies, including the one pictured above from Veejay Burns.
While Pakka's Law suggests an approximate 20% loathing rate for any Virtual World changes, it is hard to get a good feel for just what actual percentage of the user base feels put out by the new changes.
In the meantime, Second Life lacks any distinct, and widely recognized iconography that can be freely used to refer to the virtual world without impacting on Linden Lab's trademark rights. The eye-and-hand logo is widely recognized as representing the virtual world, but are presently encumbered under Linden Lab's terms and conditions. The new inSL brand does not refer to the world, but only to components of it.
That seems to leave the world without a public image any stronger or more attractive than the default avatar, Ruth -- generally not recognizable beyond the confines of the already-familiar.
