(cc image courtesy: flickr.com/photos/kaibara)
Linden Lab acquired Avatars United (AU) last month, and a few hours or so after the announcement, my email started lighting up with friendship requests and people shouting at me and my initial reaction was ripe with "W's": Whoa. WTF. What is this thing? Who the heck are you. Why are you shouting at me? Why is *anyone* shouting?
I wasn't alone.
A bunch of us blogged about AU (including me) with mixed emotions and perspectives - some seemed outraged, others unimpressed, and still more befuddled. There were also a lot of people anxious about the friendship flood gates opening so widely; some decided to boycott entirely, and some set up their account but quickly shut out the lights until the chaos subsides.
I was leaning in the direction of selectivity and skepticism initially but I decided instead to accept friendship and group requests from people I didn't know and to sort of see how things went, and I discovered something. Well actually, not just *something* but many wonderful things - interesting people and places, fabulous groups and affiliations that despite just having passed my fourth rez day I was complete unaware.
What sort of things? Aero Pines & Recreation Area, The Art Door and Pirates to name but a few. These new finds showed up because I was open to them, and as far I as can tell there's really no other way in world to just stumble upon something interesting this easily.
So when people ask me now what is AU, and why should they join I just have one answer: Serendipity.
It's a wonderful thing.
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