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John Edwards' Campaign Enters Second Life
politics 2.0 writes "It may not be an official effort — yet — but thanks to a grass-roots effort, John Edwards has become the first presidential candidate to set-up-shop in Second Life. Jerimee Richir, whose avatar is called Jose Rote, paid-for and developed Edwards' virtual headquarters, and, on a voluntary basis, is managing the in-world campaign. Considering that Second Life's user numbers are much smaller than other social networks, such as MySpace and Facebook — aside from generating press coverage — will campaigning in Second Life actually win many votes? Rote says yes, and that 'Second Life users are a unique audience, in that, they are first adopters. It is a smaller community, but I would argue it is a more influential community.'"
From TFS:
You know, I really liked John Edwards; granted, he pulled the daddy worked 36 years in NC textile thing one too many times, but his daughter is hot.
As far as Second Life goes: you guys are just the next VRML; deal with it.
Rote says yes, and that 'Second Life users are a unique audience, in that, they are first adopters. It is a smaller community, but I would argue it is a more influential community.'
:-)
Yeeesh! Smug SL user & lame* presidential candidate stories rolled into one! Thanks slashdot
Second life is great to show your "internet savvy", coz the mainstream press (newsites, tv, legacy print, etc) can report on your 'internet presence' with impressive pics of a 3d world.
Second life is not great for the direct influence it has on the American public.
*the story, not the candidate, dunno about him.
PS. A comment on the linked article said Obama also had a SL presence. But with no backing evidence. Anyone on SL want to confirm/deny this for us?
PPS. Did anyone else think the photo of the author of the linked article looked 'shopped?
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Second Life campaign team says Second Life is important to campaign. Who could have predicted such an outcome?
This sounds remarkably like a Second Lifer who's gotten an inflated idea of how important their alternate reality is, asked the campaign team for permission, and then made something. The fact that the campaign itself doesn't seem to be investing money in this is telling as to how much _they_ think this is going to help. That's not to say an Internet presence isn't important, of course - but this is just a little too niche to matter.
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
They influenced me to stay the hell away from second life.
(Google "second life safari" somethingawful if you want to see what I mean)
This is not the "Biggest Douche in the Universe" John Edwards, but rather the relatively-unknown outside the USA political candidate for President John Edwards.
This guy may be the first AMERICAN presidential candidate on second life, but we already have a few french presidential candidates there for a couple of mounthes now.
"It is a smaller community, but I would argue it is a more influential community"
Second Life is a ponzi scheme.
http://randolfe.typepad.com/randolfe/2007/01/secon dlife_revo.html
/ 1319236
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/24
Considering that Second Life's user numbers are much smaller than other social networks, such as MySpace and Facebook -- aside from generating press coverage -- will campaigning in Second Life actually win many votes?
It's not just about the raw numbers... Myspacers are spotty teenagers who can't vote, and Facebookers are hippie students who won't vote!
Influential? Maybe to clueless reporters in desperate need to fill airtime or page space. Second Life has maybe 650,000 real people logging in and tuning out of First Life. I can't think of one concept, product, idea or candidate the Second Life community has successfully promoted to myself, friends or coworkers (a fairly "wired" bunch). If internet savvy Edwards supporters want to assist his campaign, maybe they suggest that John paint a giant campaign sign on his 28,200 sq foot new home on 102 acres in North Carolina so it can be photographed for Google Earth. I am sure one of the two Americas will appreciate that...
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
John Edward's Second Life Campaign Headquarters Griefed
MPGs at 11.
-- 3 events that reshaped the world in the 20th century: WW1, WW2, and WWW
By being active on Second Life, mr. Edwards takes a clear and unmistakable stand in favor of pornography and promiscuous sex. He's got my vote!
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
I'll probably get troll rated by Edwards partisans, but he just doesn't ring true to me. When I examine candidates, I examine their history and look at what they've said in the past and what they say now, to see if there's a thread of consistency and integrity.
0 46:@@@P:
He's against the Iraq war now that it's safe and popular to be, but he not only voted for it, he was actually the Co-Sponsor of Lieberman's bill.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:SJ00
Even Kerry, who caught a lot of flack for voting for the war before voting against it or whatever the mangled soundbite was, had the intelligence to not Co-Sponsor the war. But Edwards joined Zell Miller, Jesse Helms, and Sturm Thurmond to Co-Sponsor Lieberman's bill. He defended his vote for the war and even said he "wasn't duped" by the president, and said that he would invade Iraq if he were president even after no WMDs were found. He didn't back down until after 2004 was over, because he was afraid of looking "weak" on national security. Of course, now his tune has turned 180 degrees.
He also said he's a champion of the poor, citing his work suing doctors for medical malpractice on behalf of "the little guy." And yet, when you examine his legal history, he has never done a single Pro Bono case.
Now that he's wooing Labor Unions for primary support, he's done a lot of good work campaigning for raising the minimum wage, even though it doesn't take political courage for a Democrat to say he's in favor of it, since it plays well to the base. But if you look at his Senate record, he's responsible for a lot of stuff that went against Labor Union interests. He voted to give China most favored nation status and the attendant trade conditions of that status, even though we have a huge trade deficit with China and their taking of our manufacturing base. Edwards also voted for expansion of the H1B visa program that allows companies to import foreign high tech workers (such as programmers and computer engineers) to fill American jobs but deny them immigration status. This work visa is a non-immigration visa, so they end up taking American jobs but not being able to contribute to America's future by becoming citizens. H1-Bs have been blamed for helping to keep American software wages depressed.
He tries to cater to the environmentalists and the poor, but then he engages in a major act of conspicuous consumption by tearing down wilderness to construct a new mansion. I think he has the right to live however he wishes, and his house is a silly issue to focus on, but it does underscore a lack of congruity.
Now, people do change over time, and the positions of career politicians certainly do. Surely he has seen the error of Iraq by now, and perhaps he started to grow a focus on poverty and labor long after he left the Senate, thus accounting for why he didn't sponsor any anti-poverty legislation in congress. But when you see that he changes significantly on several major issues, a pattern begins to emerge.
When I look for candidates, I try to see if their past actions match their current rhetoric and pandering. I try to see if their private faces out of the spotlight match their current public faces on the campaign trail.
Unfortunately for Edwards, he falls short in my eyes. It rings false.
He voted for....nay, CO-SPONSOREd...the Iraq War and now apologizes. Two ways of looking at it...Honest mistake, in which case he lacks the judgment on matters of war and peace to be president...or disingenious jockeying to follow public opinion, in which case he lacks the political courage to follow his conscience instead of the polls.
I put a lot of thought into examining candidates who want to be my president...and I just cannot in good conscience vote for Edwards.
Okay, pro-Edwards partisans may now troll-rate me.
Well, with all the lag on Second Life, people voting for Edwards now may see their votes effect the outcome of the 2012 elections.
Et In Arcadia Ego
I think he has the right to live however he wishes, and his house is a silly issue to focus on, but it does underscore a lack of congruity.
Silly? His political wing wants us to all live in crowded cities and use public transportation all the time. He's against "urban sprawl" in the sense that he doesn't want you and me to have any space because it might "sprawl" towards his splendid wilderness vistas in his huge, private country living space.
His house is not so silly of an issue, if you ask me.
People play it for different reasons, but you could put it this way:
"Who actually *reads* slashdot?" Well, the people who find that sort of thing interesting of course. SL at its base is graphical IRC with scripts. Many people use SL for the same reason people come here: because they found a place they like and where they can talk to interesting people.
Where all the hype is coming from I'm not sure, but it's certainly not a bad place. If you're a geek, then there's a lot to tinker with, if you're a social kind of person then there are all kinds of people to meet and talk to.
I'll try to answer that question, as best I can anyway.
SL is more popular in the US than in other parts of the world, but the demographics are changing. (Mor French and Italians showing up, for example)
SL appeals not to hardcore geeks, or to the WoW crowd but to several groups:
artistic folks, like those who use photoshop for work/study in RL, RL jewelry designers, clothing designers, art students, etc.
social geeks: these folks might have hung out in certain communities in IRC and do pretty much the same in SL, The furries might be considered part of this group
those who see something interesting in the scripting and object creation tools and try to make cool stuff.
but overall, everyone who is in SL is in there just to have whatever fun and enjoyment they can find that they like. It could be pr0n and boobehs, it could be just hanging out with friends, it could even be shopping, or playing Tringo.
I guess SL is what the individual makes of it.