On Friday night I got a message from Gogo (Gorgeous Aurelia) on Discord saying “You’re tagged!” followed by a link to her entry for a Blogger Challenge. She challenged me and several others to complete this challenge, so here I go:
“I am participating in the Got Blog! Bloggers Challenge, you can find more information on this at https://sasyscarborough.com/2024/08/09/got-blog-bloggers-challenge/.”
Like Gogo, I now challenge Daniel Voyager, Isabelle Cheren, Melyna Foxclaw and Inara Pey to complete this thought provoking exercise. Four fellow Bloggers I have great respect for, I know some are very busy, but it would be interesting to read the answers.
When did you start your Second Life Blog?
2019
Why did you start Blogging in Second Life?
I wanted to tell the story of my Second Life. It grew to include explorations, roleplay stories and occasional musings on virtual worlds.
Do you feel the Blogging community in Second Life has changed since you started Blogging, and if so, in what ways?
I found people were using Flickr as a blogging platform, which is for digital photography or digital art and no-one liked that being pointed out to them. Granted the work some people do to their SL photos with image editors does elevate some of them to art. Sticking a credits list on a photo though doesn’t make you a blogger, it makes you a diligent photographer in the same way writers should state sources. Blog is after all a shortening of “web-log” :
“Informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts).” Wikipedia
Do you think that Bloggers have a positive impact on Second Life culture and community, and if so, do you have any stories about that?
Definitely. Anything that promotes our virtual playground of Second Life is positive.
Are you approachable as a Blogger by content creators that may have interest in you as a Blogger for their Brand/Store?
I feel I am approachable, but it never happens (so maybe I’m not?) and I stopped applying to stores a long time ago. Sadly your worthiness as a blogger is often judged on the number of Followers you have on Flickr, Instagram or other social media. My blog isn’t about shopping, so it doesn’t bother me a great deal. Invitations or recommendations of places to explore are certainly welcome though.
Do you have any tips or tricks that help you with the Blogging process that you would like to share?
If you’re at a large shopping event and see something you like, don’t buy it right away. Screenshot the item/booth with gyazo, then open the World Map,copy the location SLURL and paste it into the Notes section of the screenshot and move on. When you’re done you’ll have a galley you can browse through to choose which items you might go back for, with the exact location of where they were in the notes. This also helps with preventing impulsive purchases that you regret later!
Have you yourself ever benefited from another Blogger’s post, such as learning a new skill for Blogging, or Second Life functions that you may not have known about?
Isabelle Cheren was an influence on me early on in my blogging journey. We did a collaboration once that is still a fond memory.
What kind of Blogs appeal to you as a reader, and what would you like to see more of in the Second Life Blogging world?
Stories. I like good stories or at least creative descriptions. A storyline that spans a series of posts and images shows imagination and creativity.
Do you Blog content that you yourself would wear/use always, or do you blog content that is expected of you to blog due to commitments to stores/events?
Usually I feature items that I do use. Since my blog is mostly about places, items featured may not be new anyway. The exception to this is Fantasy Faire, (a Relay for Life charity event) when I will feature as much of the Creators content as I possibly can in the 3-week long event.
I have no commitments to stores, so I don’t have any blogging obligations.
Do you feel that imposed time limits, and a set amount of content featured changes the way you blog content, and does it feel less authentically you?
Definitely. One of the things I love about blogging for Fantasy Faire is that they have no requirements other than Quality.
Once you start throwing in “x items in each post,x posts over the event ” it’s not fun, it’s a task. Even other RFL events have started doing this, so I don’t apply even though I may have blogged that event previously.
Do you use Social Media, and/or other platforms outside of your Blog/Website to promote the content you have shared?
I went through a stage of having an account on every social platform, but that didn’t last long, they didn’t interest me.
I use Flickr for creating albums of blog snapshots. I have Twitter, but prefer Bluesky and Primfeed, but I’m not very active unless I’m sharing blog posts.
Do you pay for any aspect of your blogging other than the clothing or items in your images, such as Website Hosting, Photoshop etc?
Domain names & Web Hosting
WordPress Jetpack services (providing backup and security for my site)
Flickr Pro (but cancelling)
Gyazo Pro
Do you think that Stores/Content Creators should have a Website/Blog for their Brand?
I think this depends on the scale of the store. Creating items to sell in Second Life is no longer as simple as it used to be, the amount of time creators spend making stuff is considerable today. Maintaining a website is also time consuming, so it depends if they have time for both. I would say that if they don’t have a site, a Flickr account (or now possibly Primfeed) for promoting their content is a minimum.
Do you have any suggestions for Content Creators/Stores to consider, when it comes to their Bloggers, and Bloggers that they may want to have Blog for them?
Remember that bloggers aren’t employees, they’re giving up their free time to promote your products because they like them.
Do you have any advice that you can give other Bloggers that may be new to the experience, or even advice/wisdom that you want to share with the Blogging community as a whole, new or old
Event & Store blogging is basically providing them with free advertising. The “free” items they’ve given you to blog haven’t actually cost them anything except the L$ of a single sale, which when converted to currency won’t even buy you a cup of tea or coffee. For which you must spend some hours intigrating them into an attractive post. So remember blogging is meant to be fun, choose carefully who you want to work with. Don’t put yourself in a position where you’re blogging stuff you don’t like to meet a stipulated quota. That’s not fun.
Do you have suggestions for which Blogging Platform to use, and why you chose it over others?
I would definitely recommend WordPress over other platforms, preferably self-hosted on a Domain if you can afford it. You may find if you set up your site on wordpress.com then start paying for features, you’re just as well paying a dedicated hosting provider. Fortunately WordPress sites are easily moved. However you choose to use it, the WordPres networking features of liking, following and commenting is one of the platforms greatest strengths, because it’s so widely used.
I would discourage using WIX. If you buy a domain through them, that’s all you get. You don’t get domain email accounts without paying extra which are then outsourced to Google Workspace anyway. Domain email comes as standard with any other host. You also can’t move a WIX website to another hosting provider if you wanted to. You could transfer the domain address, but you’d have to build a new website from scratch. Also the ToS got updated to allow them to scrape your content to train an AI.
What do you enjoy and are most passionate about when it comes to Blogging
Exploring and photographing locations new to me, perhaps making up a story to go with it. Along with the fun of putting together an outfit that suits the location.
Well that’s my attempt at this challenge and it certainly was that! I’m sure some of my comments may not go down well, or seem opinionated, but that’s what they are, my opinions.
This was a great read, thank you for being part of the challenge ♥
This was very informative. Nice Job Ava.