Talking Technology: Don’t ignore Second Life
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Cross-posted from my main blog
Sheryle Moon has commented on the Aussie trend for early adoption (although not usually by corporates) of new technology, including communication technology.
In her post she points to the intriguing fact that
“Second Life is a global micro-economy – and that there has never been one before. It may take time, but this is going to change the way companies relate to their customers, and change the way people relate to brands.”
I’m no expert on global economies so will believe her until Edward Castronova, Manuel Castells or similar point out otherwise. Yet it is Sheryle’s next para that particularly caught my attention:
“Second Life provides companies with an opportunity to be at the leading edge of technology and marketing. It’s no longer good enough to be a follower - the emergence of the Internet has demonstrated that you can be left behind. To make it in the 21st century global economy, you need to be a leader, and that means embracing new technologies like Second Life.”
Whilst this is certainly a great viewpoint, the dotcom world has been and will always be full of ‘first movers’ who never made it to second base.
Which is why I and a large part of the jury are not convinced that Second Life itself will be the ‘big thing’ to push the world into a 3D virtuality. The server loads, the bandwidth issues, the requirement for a high-powered, graphically-savvy computer, the ‘clunkiness’ of the avatar controls… all add to reasons why that particular virtual world might face challenges being the Microsoft of the 3D corporate world.
There is much wisdom in not being the first into a new space, but instead capitalise on taking the new understandings arising from the early adopters’ explorations and leverage them into the eventual ‘killer’ world (if, indeed, there will be just ‘one world to rule them all’).
Jasmin Tragas, herself a devotee of virtual worlds, comments on Sherlye’s post that:
“Organisations need to understand these emerging technologies as they apply to their business strategies. Virtual Worlds have the potential to bring a completely new dimension of communication - IF businesses take the time to seriously explore and adapt the unique benefits in a strategic manner”
Wise words indeed and the ‘take away’ in her comment is the last part and the hugely important qualifier ‘if’; if any value is to be ‘mined’ from these new communication fields then serious strategic thinking (SWOT at the very least) needs to take place.
My advice to clients thinking about the possible opportunities in moving into Second Life is this:
Think seriously about what value YOU can add to the community already there before you think about what you can extract from mining them.
Currently listening to: ACDC - Back In Black - Givin’ The Dog A Bone
