Back when we thought Second Life could be the next Facebook, I entered the virtual world to see if there were any opportunities for marketers. I remember having fun designing my avatar and came up with the name of Goffman Ochs by combining the last names of my favorite social theorist and a ‘60s folk artist.
Eventually boredom set in and to be honest, the whole scene was a little too sexual for me. I left Goffman, the sociable singer songwriter, sitting on a park bench in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
Time went by, Twitter became the new Facebook, and the other day my cousin told me our mutual friend Brian chaired a recent SL Convention. I hadn’t thought of SL in so long and suddenly a wave of guilt came over me…
- How could I do that to Goffman?
- How could I leave him slumped over on a park bench like that?
I met up with Brian Perry at his home in Newton, MA to see if we could find my avatar. I was relieved when I logged-in. There was Goffman, right where I left him. Sunlight danced off the Pacific and clouds floated through the sky as he walked around for the first time in three years. The improved graphics were immediately apparent and navigation was easy due to a redesigned search capability.
Back in the real world, Brian and I had a conversation about the current state of SL. Here’s what he told me…
- Second Life is changing—it used to be that the SL population was one-third gamer, one-third artist, and one-third social misfit. Not anymore.
- Second Life for collaboration—more and more people are using SL for actual purposes.
- Second Life for a healthy life—Brian chaired the healthcare track of this year’s SL summit. Topics included the use of SL for clinical trials, cancer outreach, and stress relief.
- Second Life for learning—one of the biggest groups in SL is SLED, which is dedicated to educational opportunities in SL.
In 2006 I went into SL with the wrong attitude. I observed a subculture that had its own brands and I didn’t think there were a lot of marketing opportunities. I left, but Goffman lived on, and so did his surroundings. While it may not have the mass appeal of Facebook, SL is a great place for groups to come together and collaborate, and unlike Facebook, the company actually makes money.
Hey Mike,
I’m glad to hear that SL is picking up some steam again. It helps that I’ve recently been asked to consult on an SL specific project; something I haven’t done for over a year. Without having intimate knowledge of their technology improvements the biggest reason I soured on SL, after a few years, were the limitations. I’m willing to bet a fair amount still exist. The one thing I love about Twitter and Facebook is the ability to simultaneously communicate with thousands of people simultaneously and quickly gather information. SL, with it’s 100 person on an island at one time limitation (which you could never achieve if you actually built something on the sim) was a HUGE problem. It killed so many great ideas and was probably the single biggest reason many brands shied away. For the longest time I couldn’t get HTML or Flash inside of SL so the integration non-SL, but online, related initiatives was impossible. Limitations in design; i.e. not being able to use readily available 3D design software to import inside were a huge strain on costs. You had to find specialists or retrain those folks who were experts in existing software. That led to there being a lack of 3rd party integration. If collaboration is what SL is best at then we should have a plethora of tools at our disposal to utilize for those purposes. Marketing and sales don’t have the time to wait for the improvements and now Twitter and Facebook exploded due to its accessibility. They aren’t the best tools, but they are certainly easy to use.
Fortunately I have met and worked with many folks from Linden Lab. I wish them nothing but the best. They are great people and have a powerful product in their possession. I just don’t think it’s the software platform I always hoped it would be. I hope they can prove me wrong.
Hi MSGiro,
I agree that Second Life is probably not the be all and end all of collaboration tools. One new feature that interests me is the new voice capability because I have never been a fan of IM. Thanks for sharing your Second Life experience. Anyone else want to tell us about their Second Life?
Mike
Hi Mike,
I really enjoyed reading this post! Please keep us posted on Goffman’s state. I wonder if he looks like you. :)
Claire-Voe
Thanks, Claire-Voe. I’m glad you liked my post. Goffman is a little taller than me!
Mike,
I think the BBC got word of your post http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8367957.stm :) Looks like you’re not the only one who left their avatar hanging on a park bench.
Cheers!