Reading Radar

Yay for toilet bowls! I mean, PODCASTS!

Ep 35 of SL Under the Radar is up, finally.

This is part one of a two-parter. I just had too many good interviews to cram into one, and that’s even with the fact that there were a lot of people who I wound up not contacting.

It’s about a topic that hearkens way back to Crap Mariner’s comments in Ep 1, and indeed that underlies every episode of this podcast and probably almost every other podcast about Second Life.

No, not toilets. Well. Not SPECIFICALLY about them.

Arminasx Saiman and I were talking about SL related blogs and podcasts the other day, not particular ones, but just the fact that audiences for both are by default, limited in number.

I’ll grant you that there are a number of popular SL related blogs (this not really being one of them) but the fact still holds true that only a limited group of people is going to have interest in subscribing to an SL blog compared to the number of people that might want to subscribe to something like Lifehacker or The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Bearing in mind that with a blog, web searches bring traffic in that might not otherwise find the blog, and that once there, the material is at least right in front of their faces and there is at least a small chance they might stay and read, and I have to think that blogs are much more likely to attract new random followers than podcasts are. People may randomly stumble across a podcast but then they have a barrier of deciding to listen, and that entails downloading it or subscribing unless they use the blog’s player control. But I doubt people will typically fire up an hour long audio file that they found by accident.

Given all this, I’m wondering, how do I grow my SL Under the Radar podcast? I don’t mean I want to have 40,000 downloads a week (that would be more than my hosting can handle) or that I want to rule the universe, but I’ve noticed the podcast has plateaued in terms of listeners. It just feels like things could be more active, and even so with my current listeners. Am I doing a good enough job of getting you involved and a part of the podcast? I don’t know. I’m not sure where people stand on that question. I think SLPN has some work to do in this area too, and it’s something I think we should start considering more heavily.

I don’t have time or inclination to just promote my podcast all over the web. Truth be told, I hate self-promotion. But among the SL podcasts, I think mine’s one of the good ones. I know that’s rare coming from me, the eternally self-effacing man with the mic, but I don’t say that vainly. I think I’ve had good guests who are genuinely interesting people and it makes me even enjoy listening to my own podcasts again after uploading them just to hear them, and get a sense of their thoughts and personalities.

I think I can say without being egotistical or having a overly inflated view of my work that this podcast should be at least one that gets thought of when thinking of SL related podcasts to subscribe to. So this leads me down the path of doing some thinking about how to be taken seriously without having to become overly serious about my material. And while recognizing I only have so much time to work on it. I think that’s the hard part of podcasting for me, being able to take advantage of limited opportunities for recording time.

For the moment, all I can ask is that if you enjoy any of the SL related podcasts, let your friends know. All of the podcasters I know in SL take their podcasts seriously and work hard on them. Feel free to drop them a line and let them know what’s working, and what’s not. You, the listeners, are the reason we do this in the first place. If you’re not enjoying it, we podcasters won’t be either.

Life’s just getting weirder all the time. Somehow Podcast Island got designated as a community service hub. What’s that all about?

I’ll give these guys one month and if they don’t shape up, I’m orbiting them AND their trailer. No exceptions, no apologies. Hey, got any raccoon tamales left?

Arri made a great video for 7th Son Obsidian, and I had it on my computer and never finished it all the way through. Somehow.. I lost it. iTunes store doesn’t seem to have anything before episode 6.

Anyone have a copy? Arri?

Yeah, it’s the Live Show direct and live from the old SLPN headquarters on Nowhereville!!!!!!!! Umm. Three weeks after it happened. Oops.

Hey, sue me. Or wait, don’t. I spent all my money on a new boat, but it handles nice. I guess you could sue me for that, but it’s non-transferable. Sorry.

Johnny Ming (John Swords in RL) sent a reply to one of the posts about the Orange media event today, and that plus a little reflection made me want to post my response to him. I emailed him a copy so he’d get it personally as well. Thanks, John, for your input, and here are my thoughts in response.

Yes, you’re absolutely right that Secondcast was notable in that it was all people who were in it were all very active residents in second life. That showed in the passion you guys had in the topics you talked about. I remember hearing banter back and forth between your group over things and you could tell it was genuine and that you were residents of the place, not people who were podcasters who happened to be in SL as well. One thing I’d also point out is the humor many of you had and enjoyed bringing out in the podcast, lest anyone think I was taking your comments as arrogant. I don’t believe you are an arrogant person in the least. The very few times I’ve had occasion to come into contact with you, you’ve always been accessible, humble, and seemingly very easygoing. I like that in a high profile podcaster. I wish it were more common.

I was actually thinking about this tonight as I woke up (can I blame a cold for making me grumpy today?) and had to admit, in that context, some of us owe secondcast a nod as an inspiration for doing an SL related podcast done as SL residents. You were definitely the first real SL podcast I listened to, although IIRC, Goddess and Banana claimed to be the first, but since I wasn’t around when they started, I couldn’t tell you who came first. I never listened to them. But I did learn about SL from you guys as I started off my journey through this particular metaversion known as second life in 2006.

One thing I would like to stress in all my comments here is that I’m not mistaking myself as some important high-profile representation of the new crop of SL podcasters. While I am a current SL podcaster, let’s be honest here, I’m very small time in terms of listeners and certainly impact in SL. I’m not confused about my place in the world, and I hope I didn’t come across that way. I’ve never achieved anything on the level of anyone on the panel, to the best of my knowledge, and I’d like to acknowledge that fully.

So what bothered me particularly about the Orange media panel was not the credentials of anyone on the panel. It seemed on first blush that Orange was not grokking the current state of podcasting in SL, and that’s what bothered me. I interact regularly with a number of various podcasters who have current, apparently popular podcasts in SL that I think should have been included. I know we keep bring up the example of CC, and while he’s certainly a big name in podcasting I don’t really think he’s been a big name in SL podcasting. I know that whether you agree or not, you can understand the distinction, since your group WAS individuals who were residents first, from very early on.

Having said that, I enjoyed the panel a lot once you steered it to the future. I think you’re a person who will be involved in exploring the evolving forms of podcasting as things continue to change, and I’m looking forward to subscribing to your upcoming podcast, The Shack.

Most of all, I’d like to say thank you for being a good sport about all this and for doing a good job listening to the chat at the event today and being fully engaged with the audience. That’s greatly appreciated.

Ok, aside from going over the past too much, and at times being kind of monopolized by two people, I actually enjoyed the Orange thing. Not because I think it was the best panel for talking about podcasting in SL. But once John steered the conversation towards the future of podcast media, it got a lot more enjoyable.

I picked on the event and the panel a little, and that’s probably not 100% fair. Let’s be honest - I’m a podcaster of little note, and small following, and each of the people up there has achieved more than I probably ever will in media. So fair enough. But all that aside, John did do a pretty good job. I think Stuart could have been given more questions but then again he knows more about the other panelists, and it’s not easy to not go to what you know.

What I am looking forward to from him is is upcoming podcast, “The Shack,” which will apparently be about various virtual worlds and some of the key players. It’s good for SL types to get outside their SL-centricity sometimes because, just like fiber trumps dsl, something better will surely come along at some point. LL and SL will have to work hard not to get moved aside before long. The advantage is the content creation and the wide range of communities, but anyone in SL should pay attention to other worlds, and things like OpenSim.

I’m looking forward to hearing this one.

Johnny Ming just said that he thinks that they covered all the pioneering stuff and while there’s still stuff to talk about, they covered the momentous stuff.

EVERY generation thinks that after they step aside and let others come in. EVERY generation thinks they covered the important stuff.

Secondcast did cover some interesting stuff. And I have respect for Johnny. But this statement just seems absurd. Technology will ALWAYS be changing in SL and there’s always going to be things that the people of the time feel are momentous, whether they really are or not.

Henry Ford probably thought he covered all the important aspects of automobiles too.

On Orange Island they are doing a show about old timers. And stuart!! he’s no old timer! Yay.

Anyway, a podcast panel with only one active SL podcaster.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orange%20Island/204/208/22

Listening to two of them talk about how they are marketers. Yawn. Torrid says she’s got no credentials compared to them, but don’t worry Torrid. Anything’s better and more interesting than a marketer.

Between Sougent and I, we made a decent (partially used) 6-pack. He made the plastic “ring” thingy and I made the cans. Yay, beer.

Actually these will be props for an upcoming project, believe it or not. If you’re gonna get involved in a project, make sure that project involves beer. That’s all I’m gonna say.