5 Business Myths About Second Life

As a huge advocate for virtual worlds as a business tool, I’ve discussed the merits of adding a Second Life component to the communications plan with many marketing and public relations executives. While several are enthusiastic about the inherent opportunities, there’s still some reluctance by others to get involved. Here are the top five excuses I hear from those that are hesitant to invest in SL:

1. Second Life is empty: The land mass of Second Life is equal to that of Greater Boston with more than 1.7 million residents as of this writing, but there may be less than 20,000 users logged in at any given time. Nights and weekends usually see more traffic than weekdays, as most users log in during their free time. Wednesday night, more than 1,000 avatars gathered across 18 sims to witness the virtual tree lighting in Rockefeller Center.  Well-publicized events draw crowds for many reasons: sometimes it’s the content, but often it’s because people want to connect with other people in world around a fun activity. If you can create a dynamic environment, people will stick around. But let’s remember: it’s not just about the quantity of visitors, but the quality as well. The residents of Second Life are early adopters with an interest in new technologies. They are enthusiastic about the immersive nature of SL and the experiences they’ve had. If you provide something for these users to do, they will share their opinions with friends as well as discuss it in the blogosphere. If you continue to give people a reason to visit your SL location, they will do so.


2. Residents don’t want RL businesses entering SL: While there are some residents who fear RL companies will transform the SL environment, the majority of residents understand that there is room for everyone. I think it makes more sense to say that residents don’t want RL companies to simply buy land, put up a building, and declare that they are the “first” in their industry to do so, only to walk away touting that accomplishment. If your business objective is to generate traffic for your virtual office, you can do so by hosting participatory activities or creating opportunities for people to meet, which is the whole point of SL to many. Make sure that your activities resonate with the community. However, if that’s not your business objective, then you’re not obligated to host events for the public. You can use your location strictly for internal purposes and still reap value for your company with SL. Another excellent way to use this space is for a promotion or event that spans both RL and SL. The key is to avoid making promises that you can’t deliver on.


3. It’s too hard to join SL: Users often cite the laborious sign-up process as the biggest obstacle for more widespread adoption of the platform. Once you fill out the web form and choose an avatar name, you have to wait for the confirmation email, download and install the client, then go through the orientation process after you’ve logged in for the first time. Also, many companies have firewalls that prevent employees from downloading the software to their desktop. Yes there are glitches, as there are with any emerging technology. However, passionate users simply don’t care. Look at all the amazing architecture, clothing, vehicles and other content that has already been created in Second Life and you’ll see that it is enthusiasm that is driving the platform forward. The experience of participating in  virtual world environment makes the effort of learning the controls well worth it.


4. SL is really just a primitive video game: SL residents take offense to this comparison, and for good reason. The only similarity between Second Life and a video game is the graphical interface. In reality, the two are nothing alike. Second Life is not about winning or losing. It’s not about saving the princess, defeating the enemy or completing the level. If anything, SL more closely resembles a social network like (gulp!) MySpace or Facebook in that the focus is on building communities of interest. Many people believe that Second Life represents the next major shift in the way users will access the Internet. The platform offers the opportunity for individuals all over the world to interact in a more immersive way than any other medium we know. Each release of a client update brings another level of sophistication to the software. It will continue to evolve and improve thanks to the dedicated team at Linden Lab as well as the enthusiastic user base intent on enriching the SL user experience.


5. There are no statistics to gauge ROI: In fact, there are several resources available for tracking statistics and other user information in Second Life. This includes stats updated in real time on the Second Life homepage and the economic statistics page provided by Linden Lab. There are also many user created scripts that allow you to learn more about the traffic to your sim. And with the abundance of talent in Second Life, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a scripter who can help you track whatever information you’re looking for.

Second Life isn’t a sure bet, and I wouldn’t counsel otherwise. However, there is this cool window of opportunity to engage both the new publics of SL and the existing brand loyalists in ways that were never before possible. Drop by Text 100 Island to learn more.

- Aaron Uhrmacher

 

Comments

[Taran Rampersad (SL: Nobody Fugazi)]

(1) There are about 1.7 million accounts, and the maximum amount of users is about 17,000 at the time that I write this. The number of accounts is not a good measure of how many human beings are involved, some people have an indeterminate number of alternate accounts.

(2) Yes. Some people are fighting FUD with FUD, and the FUD pies are flying. The truth is if you don't like something, you can teleport faster than you can click your heels.

(3) The process of getting adjusted to SecondLife takes about 4 hours for a basic understanding. The value of that understanding easily outweighs the 4 hour investment, but we live in a world of instant gratification - so some people will always be put off.

(4) Yes.

(5) Yes, and No. Those are only a part of the statistics... and there are some gaping holes. The real measure of success is, as with a website, dependent on the objective. Juking the stats is easy, making real measurements is more difficult.

[Taran Rampersad (SL: Nobody Fugazi)]

"maximum amount of users is about 17,000" should be "maximum amount of users online at the same time". oops

[Prokofy Neva]

1. SL isn't empty, but it is atomized. There is no mass media; there is only mass media outside of SL covering it. Inside, there are various scattered efforts reaching tiny audiences and some third-party sites like the Herald or the Metaverse Messenger, but only Linden Lab, the software makers with the god powers to drop down blue screens across the world truly control the mass media -- and never forget it!

Thus, to reach this very niched and diffuse population, you'll need to join lots of groups, perhaps even making several accounts to get more than the limit of 25 to keep track of their news, chat, events.

2. No, people don't object to big business per se, they object to some big business *practices* just like they would in the real world -- sucking up the best labour and creating a starkly hierarchical tier of wages between select, metaversal consultant companies commanding $10-$30,000 US dollars a gig, and those getting Lindens of that quantity, which is of course a fraction of the value; accelerating change in their interests faster than people can reasonably adapt, totally upsetting markets and overthrowing the model of a virtual commodities and real estate market built on indigenous small businesses.

That's not about "FUD," it's about accountability, and about wishing to have as much democracy and participation as we have in RL.

The issue Anshe Chung raised was a valid one -- too many RL big companies coming in and claiming they were the "first" in this or that field, when scores of early settlers had already claimed the "firsts".

Businesses are definitely NOT required to hold public events or "give back to the community". In fact, if they are going to do that in fake and self-interested ways, who needs it?

3. SL becomes less hard when you know what you want out of it first, and find something you want to do, for the sake of which you wish to learn the controls.

4. SL *is* play. It is *not* a game.

5. I think you're concept of traffic is insufficient to make a reasonable judgement about ROI. Traffic makes sense for those trying to live from micropayments. For outworlders, they'll have to develop other criteria.

[Alexa Lioncourt]

How long has Text 100 representatives been actively a part of SL? Were these people players before coming in SL as Text 100?

I'd be interested to know as I am a former Text employee and have been in SL for over 2 years now.

[Aaron Uhrmacher]

We have around 100 avatars today.

They all have different histories with Second Life. It is fair to say that most of them only joined following our company initiative, but some have been residents of Second Life longer.

We don’t track what they did before, since it was and still is THEIR Second Life, after all.