Following on the heels of Steve in his recent post, I want to talk briefly about PR firm Edelman's entry into the online world of Second Life. (Executive summary: I like it.)


Fig, 1 - Edelman's strangely foreboding SL headquarters

In my mind, I have a rough (and continually evolving) taxonomy* of Second Life users.

There are the Enthusiasts, who are delighted that they can add antenna stalks to their heads and ride flying carpets that also dispense brightly colored gumballs. This is a broad category that can include Gamers, Artisans, and Socializers.

Platform Users see in SL a solution that meets a "First Life" need such as employee training or remote collaboration.

There are the Tourists, as always, stumbling about and searching through help files as they try and figure out how to change their shirts and OMG WHY DO I HAVE A BOX ON MY HAND**?

And of course there are the Perverts, whose desire for virtual sex with anthropomorphic foxes was left unsatisfied until the technology finally caught up with them.

Finally, there's a group that I call the Carpetbaggers after the Northern entrepreneurs who sought their fortunes in the chaotic economic and political terrain of the post-Civil War South. I think that a lot of businesses that move into Second Life will be Carpetbaggers. They'll set up shop in-world because it's the new cool thing, and their competitors might be/are doing it, and there's gold*** to be made!

There's nothing wrong with this, as long as you do it right. By "right", I mean to expend the time and effort needed to understand this realm that you're moving into, and extend a sincere hand to the community that's been there since the beginning (or pretty near).

That's what I like about Steve Rubel's post announcing that Edelman is pitching its tent in SL. The attitude that I perceive is, What can we offer that will help to make this a better experience for people?

And, you know, make some gold****.

(Via AdRants)


* You'll note that this taxonomy could easily apply to the Internet in the 90s.
** This is a purely hypothetical situation, and has certainly not happened to me.
*** Actually, Linden Dollars. You use gold in World of WarCraft.
**** Yeah, yeah, I know. Dollars, not gold.


Tags: Edelman, Second Life, box hand