Linden Lab Official:Who are Lindens?

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An avatar with a username that ends with "Linden" is an employee of Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life. You may see them inworld at User Groups meetings, Linden Lab sponsored events, or on other occasions.

How to identify Lindens inworld

All Lindens have a username like firstname.linden, for example, philip.linden. You will see a person's user name below their display name, shown in their "name tag" that floats over them (unless you have set your preferences otherwise; see Me > Preferences > General).

Be careful to distinguish between username and display name. For this purpose, display name is irrelevant; only the username indicates whether someone is actually a Linden.

You can also see a person's username by right-clicking on their avatar and choosing View Profile

Impersonating a Linden

Any Resident who tries to intimidate you by claiming to be a Linden is violating Second Life's Terms of Service, and you should file an abuse report immediately.

An unscrupulous person may try to intimidate you by claiming that they are friends with a particular Linden, or that they are a Linden themselves. They may imply that they can ban your account or take your land from you if you don't submit to their demands. Real Lindens adhere to a strict code of conduct inworld, and will only ban Resident accounts and reclaim land under specific circumstances such as violations of the Terms of Service.

For example, Linden Lab may:

  • Ban a Resident's account for a violation of Second Life's Terms of Service
  • Place an administrative hold on an account that is delinquent, meaning that its owner has not paid all his fees on time.
  • Reclaim land if the owner's account is delinquent for a long period of time, or if the owner's account has been administratively reviewed and permanently banned.

Remember: If anyone threatens to ban you or take your land by force, file an abuse report against them immediately!

"Tester" accounts

Accounts with the last name "Tester" or "Unit Tester" are generally used by Linden Lab to perform timing and reliability tests inworld for actions like teleporting and wearing attachments. The statistics collected are used to monitor and improve system performance. "Tester" accounts are almost exclusively part of an automated system, and should not interact with you in any way. They will likewise not respond to chat or IM. If you encounter objects inworld on your land that are owned by an account with the last name Tester, feel free to return them.

Whenever possible, Linden Lab tries to direct Tester avatars to sparsely-populated or infrequently-used areas in order to minimize impact on other Residents.