When I set out to see exactly what all the fuss was about I figured I would quickly pop into Second Life and take about a half hour looking around, get the lay of the land so to speak. I was mildly surprised when 3 hours later I reluctantly emerged. It was fascinating but a bit overwhelming.
If you are looking for a primer on the key features of SL Gwyneth Llewelyn of http://gwynethllewelyn.net/ has a nice little overview covering the basics. Today we’ll take a brief look at some of the basics including your avatar, things to do “In World”, Second Life economy and land.
Your Avatar
When you join Second Life you immediately get an Avatar which is yours to customize. Your avatar is an expression of some facet of personality and the vehicle you will use to explore and interact with the World and it’s residents. Second Life’s tag line is “Your world your imagination”. No where is this more apparent than the avatars.
Don’t always trust your eyes. At first it is a bit disconcerting when a 6 foot tall, blue, bobcat-type creature crosses your path but you quickly acclimatize to all of the weird and wonderful people that you meet “in World”.
This raises an interesting question. How does a marketing message change when it is targeting a user’s avatar? Advertising has always appealed to consumers’ alter egos so my feeling is that the avatar represents some important facet of the personality of the consumer behind the avatar.
Things to Do “In World”
Residents can explore, meet and socialize with others, participate in individual and group activities such as contests, discussion groups, concerts, casinos, games, pageants, shopping malls, movies, charity events… the list is nearly endless.
It is the live events I find particularly intriguing. Twenty four hours a day, there are events running in Second Life, held by residents. These are anything from coffee shop style discussions to virtual motor cross, job fairs, live music, Second Life educational events residents are taught a wide variety of Second Life skills and real life University classes.
Wednesday night I attended a Q&A help by the popular Showtime TV show the L-Word. The venue was packed with die-hard L-Word fans. In chatting with some of the residents I learned that many of them had actually signed up for Second Life specifically for the opportunity to attend these cyber events. It is a chance for them to interact with their favourite stars that they would not have in the real world. Any medium that has the power to draw fans together in one spot like Second Life does is worth exploring.
The Economy
Second Life’s marketplace supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. Transactions are actually micropayments handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar (L$), which can be converted to US dollars at a number of online Linden Dollar exchanges including the Second Life stock market called the LindeX. The amazing thing about these transactions is that over 85% (just under 4.5 million) of them are conducted for amounts under a dollar.
Land
Anyone can own land in second life. Individuals tend to actually rent smaller plots of land that they can customize to some extent. A good example of how people are using rented land is the Canadian band Uncle Seth. The band has set up the “Uncle Seth Store” on SoHo Island, a hip and happening SL destination similar to New York’s own SoHo Village. The band plays “live shows” here via streaming audio and Residents can pick up a free (virtual) rock posters or concert T-shirts. The ban is also selling real world merchandise like CDs or music downloads by sending users to traditional ecommerce sites.
If you wanted to buy an island for your self it will run you a USD$1675.00 setup fee, then a maintenance fee of USD$295.00 per month thereafter. There is no shortage of land to be had in the Metaverse. New land is created to keep up with demand. In 2033 Second Life was around 64 acres. Now there is over 65,000 acres and it’s growing. everyday.
Corporations have started purchasing islands in Second Life and are building some amazing spaces. Coldwell Bankers have even set their own island and it seems they are one of the first big name virtual real estate broker. There are varying degrees of success in how they are using those space to market their brands.
Tomorrow we will discuss a few things that Second Life marketers those who are getting it right seem to have in common.
Part of a three article series discussing Second Life:
Part One: Second Life – The Wild West of Internet Marketing
Part Two: Second Life - A Closer Look “In World”
Part Three: Second Life - Who’s Marketing “In World”