Frans

A thing what is still coming up is the first in SL claim. A while back I talked to a friend here in the Netherlands who had talked with some museum about doing something in SL. One of the first things they said, “Oooo, we can send a press release that we are the first, … ” *sigh*
It annoys me to no end.

Yesterday I was talking with Adam Broitman of A Media Circ.us and asked if ’something’(have to be vague here) would be a first. While the exact thing might be a first, there is a lot already that would force the first claim to be pretty narrow, IMHO, and be at risk to be ruffle some feathers.

Eric Rice posted today about first-ism in the blogosphere and made some good points. I pointed Adam towards who blogged a response to it.

Eric ended with:

“If you give me a choice between being first or being best, and I’’ll strive for being best.”

And Adam’s opinion:

“My bottom line; go ahead, be first. Be first at everything you do if that is what your gut tells you, but be calculated. Make sure it is the right move. Don’’t be first for the sake of being first.”

My own opinion is that,I don’t mind if something is first. But you have to be aware where you are the first, because if you enter SL first, it only means you are the first on the track. You can shout and waste energy about it, but the triathlon still has to be run.

It will just give the impression that you care more about being at the start and getting some publicity then actually performing well. You can better use that energy to tell why you are doing it and how it will help you and/or your clients. People will know the difference and greater credit for being a leader in your field will follow in due time. If you actually where the first on the track will not matter in the end if you didn’t use that extra time figuring out why you are here.