Text 100 and PR in Second Life: A Long Way to Go

The thing that finally pushed me over the edge was the last line – “you'll find us on Text 100 Island.” 

That’s the last line of the recently released Text 100 “Machinima News Release” (Gary Goldhammer and I landed on the phrase over the weekend), about their presence in Second Life.

I respect this PR agency hugely for making the leap into Second Life.  They have taken the risk, put it out there for comment and discussion, and are the ones with the arrows in their backs (from people like me).

The “problem” I have with the Text 100 piece is point of view – narrow. Sadly, Text 100’s machinima simply encourages clients to do the same things differently instead of opening minds to the expanded expectations “our publics’ have in virtual spaces.   It echoes the hollow spaces of the web left by brands that (still) fail to connect with their publics in that “old” 2D virtual space.

So, our publics have gathered elsewhere and played with our brands without us – on their own websites, chat spaces, blogs, mashups, video cameras, social networks – and on into SL.

Second Life is an immersive environment – content is 360 degrees with height and width and depth and texture and emotions that are capable of reaching the very depths of our hearts and brains in ways no 2D “media” can. It is “simulation” not “duplication.”

Our brands cannot be an “island” where we create an “immersive environment.”  We need to BE the immersive environment.  To further the geologic analogy - the coral reef – where life teams in the nooks and crannies and the creatures that live there become the infrastructure.   From Wikipedia:  “where there is mild wave action, not so strong it tears the reef apart yet strong enough to stir the water and deliver sufficient food and oxygen.”

Web-3D challenges us to define PR – indeed our organizations - within this context.  Not within the context of doing the same things in a different way.

We must think of Second Life and other virtual spaces far more deeply.

Photo credit:  Phinn Boffin

Comments

[Aaron Uhrmacher (aka Smiddy Smails)]

Thanks for checking out our machinima and offering some of your thoughts.

The objective of the clip is to introduce the concept of Second Life and virtual worlds to our clients and others. This is often the first time many have seen what Second Life looks like.

We felt it was important to provide an overview of some of the business oportunities inherent in SL as well as the reasons for experimenting with this new platform.

Since Text 100's primary business focus is communications, we wanted the piece to examine how virtual worlds can improve and support existing communication channels for both internal and external audiences.

You’re right that our clip just scratches the surface of what’s possible in SL. Infinite possibilities, however, are difficult to grasp all at once and so bridging the gap between real life and SL is an important first step for our clients. After all, we want them to give this a fair shot.

So hopefully within this context, the scope and subject of Text 100's machinima clip makes more sense.