No discussion about social media is possible these days without some consideration of Second Life.
Like an intellectual black hole, it seems to draw in all thinking and ideas around it like a strange attractor, sucking rational thinking behind the event horizon and disappearing from sight altogether.
Early on, I had to get my intellectual anchors firmly set on this topic as well, lest I too be sucked into the maelstrom, never to emerge.
It's A Compelling Environment
In creating a virtual experience, there's a tipping point where there are enough familiar points of reference that the brain becomes convinced it's real, and begins acting appropriately.
SL seems to do that well enough for enough people that it's beyond that tipping point. And for the people who love it, it's entertainment, pure and simple.
But, remember my mandate (and interest) is in social media as a business tool, not as entertainment.
Now, for some companies, there's clear overlap between the two. E.g. Nike is good at marketing their brand and offers in entertainment-like experiences (e.g. sports events), why not SL?
EMC, on the other hand, sells sophisticated IT products and services. There's less of an affinity, one would think, between the SL experience and how we sell and market our stuff.
Or is there?
We're Really Cool, We're In Second Life!
It seems that SL participation is the latest badge of coolness. Now, I could reject it just on those grounds, but there's more going on here.
I went to an IBM product announcement in SL a while back. It was a virtual replica of a very boring experience that frequently occurs in the physical world: go to a room, someone gets up and starts flipping slides, etc.
Slick packaging and optics, no value, IMHO. No community, no interaction, etc.
So, at a minimum, I think there's two elements required to consider SL seriously: (1) does your target market hang out there, and (2) can you create a community or social experience there, rather than just a replay of a physical world experience?
EMC Does SL --- For Recruiting
I have to say, I'm impressed with our HR guys. They decided to do a recruiting fair in SL, and decided to do it right.
BTW, this meets my two criteria above. There are plenty of potential EMC recruits who are comfortable with SL, and it inherently lends itself to a social interaction, as any job fair would.
They also did some other really smart things.
First, they joined in with other tech companies looking to recruit. Smart behavior in the physical world, smart behavior in the virtual world as well -- and for all the same reasons.
Second, they engaged TMP to help them do this for the first time. We were new to this, as was everyone else, so having some sort of central, experienced authority -- at least at the outset -- had value.
Third, they really embraced it. Go take a look at Storagezilla's take on the whole thing from his perspective, it's quite an interesting read. And check out how we did the virtual building.
Tres cool. Maybe too much so. Which brings up the whole messy topic of a branded experience in SL, and how does it related to a branded experience in the real world?
The Bottom Line
SL is a tool, like Ning, and FaceBook, and LinkedIn. Nothing more, nothing less.
To the extent that we, and others, can learn to think of it that way (and not the second coming of the metaverse), we'll be more proficient than most, I think.
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