Business Communicators of Second Life®

CNN Joins Second Life by Looking for Citizen Reporters

MediaWeek, a Nielsen Business Media publication, seems to have broken the story this morning that CNN is joining other major news outlets in reporting on happenings in Second Life.

The buzz is humming among those who care about such things, but any hard news behind the announcement is very hard to come by at the moment.

CNN is reportedly slated to open an “outpost” next week, that will serve to expand its i-Report initiative into SL.  The MediaWeek story indicates CNN will provide resident reporters with a toolkit and plans weekly “news meetings” that will train SL citizens on reportage.

Although CNN has done some toe-dipping toward harnessing “citizen media,” such as their YouTube Debates,  we’ll have to reserve judgment on how committed they are to SL media until we see the outcome.  I doubt we will see a concerted effort to actually train citizen reporters, based on CNN’s existing web i-Report toolkit. It is limited to tips on broadcast-friendly recording techniques and instructions for submitting audio and video files to the CNN newsroom.

A few of CNN sibling companies have jumped into SL in some form or another, including AOL, HBO and the most recently, Warner Bros with their I Am Legend game and film promotion.

October 29, 2007

Second Life Entertainment Study Released: SL Accounts for More Time Than All Other Forms of Entertainment Combined

According to the newly released Market Truths research study, Second Life Entertainment Market, 80% of avatar time in Second Life is spent on entertainment activities, totaling just over 16 hours per week – more than all other forms of their real life entertainment combined.  According to the study, the median time spent on other forms of computer-related entertainment is just 4 hours per week, and 10 hours per week for non computer-related entertainment.

Among other things, the study examines the linkages between RL entertainment behaviors and preferences and those same behaviors and preferences in SL.  It includes notes on both SL and RL age and gender differences, as well as commentary on RL geographic preferences for entertainment activities in SL and RL.

The study concludes by pin-pointing some underserved entertainment categories in SL. 

Market Truths has priced their 41-page research report to appeal to in-world businesses, and at $50 (US) or L$5000, it is an enormously valuable service to the business community there.  However, for real life businesses looking at SL for marketing, this is the type of market research you would pay RL thousands for.  Grab it and read it carefully for the behavioral insights it contains.

The timing and findings in the study are particularly salient given the recent “disillusionment” reports (registration required) in the mainstream media.  This research directly contradicts last weekend’s LA Times article that stated avatars don’t shop.

In fact, shopping is the number one reported SL entertainment activity, going head to head with traveling.  Dancing, and conversation with known and new people round out the top five.  Team sports garner the least amount of SL entertainment time.

The top preferred SL entertainment activities do differ from RL, but shopping is at the top of the RL list as well, with discussion and conversation showing up in the RL top five.  Surprising to me was that driving for entertainment was the #2 RL entertainment activity (by frequency in the last year).

The study reports on preferences between RL and SL participation, and extensively discusses reasons why certain activities are more preferred in SL than in RL.  Some reasons are expected (cost), but several others offer some important insights for marketers.

Market Truths has also segmented the sample research population into Abstainers, Solitary RL, Discoverers, Entertainers, Creators, and RL Actions, examining the types of entertainment activities each particpate in.

Here is the Market Truth’s study breakdown of Second Life Entertainment (frequency in the last year).  There are several other graphs and charts in the full report.

The full report along with the research methodologies used is available for purchase here.

Note:  Although my company has partnered with Market Truths to offer the research service, Virtual Brand Answers, I have no connection or involvement with this or any other existing Market Truths research or reports.

July 16, 2007

The MacArthur Series On Digital Media and Learning

The MacArthur Foundation, as part of a five-year, $50 million initiative exploring how digital media is changing the way young people live, play, learn, socialize and participate in civic life, will soon be releasing a six-volume series, The MacArthur Series On Digital Media and Learning.

Each volume in the series will explore a specific topic related to issues facing young people in the digital world: Civic Engagement, Credibility, Ecology of Games, Innovative Uses and Unexpected Outcomes, Race & Ethnicity, Identity. The series is being published online and in print under the auspices of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education and the New Media Consortium.  It involves the commissioning of more than 60 essays by prominent scholars, and is a result of a 12-day symposium in Second Life (last October) and a 2-day online web conference and open online forum (now closed).

Larry Johnson, the dynamic CEO of the New Media Consortium has a truly fascinating article, Who’s Listening to the Avatars?, with insights on the process of the symposium conducted with 27 leading authors and researchers in the area of digital media.  Johnson concludes that there is a gaping void in the knowledge/acceptance within this expert group in an important area – the implications of massively multiplayer worlds.   He writes:

“Questions related to gender-morphing, role-playing, and identity extension in virtual worlds and game spaces are much on the minds of the residents of such spaces, as one might imagine.  Such themes were present only in the abstract in the “flat-web” online conference, and surprisingly rejected outright within two of the expert dialogs, and not considered at all in the third.

"The experts in one group raised a question about the relevance of group action in virtual worlds, and deemed it not relevant to the topic.  Similarly, questions related to formation of virtual identities and the expression of self through one’s avatar were also set aside by the identity experts. The implications of assessing the credibility of information conveyed in virtual worlds, where everything is a construct, was outside the scope of that volume.”

"At the same time, the dialog around these issues in Second Life was extremely rich and detailed.  Due to the way invitations to the event were distributed, a great many of the participants in the Second Life Symposium were themselves scholars and academics, so the educational background of the participants in all three forums was similar.  One can only conclude, even for those we regard as experts, that it is hard to conceptualize the impact of virtual worlds until one spends some time in them.”

According to the article the Second Life participants far outnumbered the other web-based approaches:  more than 1300 people from 21 countries participated in Second Life while the web conference drew 225.

Johnson muses that perhaps we need to reflect on the need to expand the definition of scholarship. 

It seems Wikinomics is striking even our most venerable of institutions and raises questions about who and where the experts are.

I encourage you to read the full article.

Find out more about the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning initiative here.

Photo credit: New Media Consortium

January 13, 2007

Virtual NBC Launches in Second Life. Communicators, Rethink Media

Reuters reports today on Virtual NBC which launches [a movie promotion] today in Second Life.  It appears I wasn't too far off in my earlier post about iVillage's Girls Night Out in Second Life signalling NBC Universal's intention to explore 3D environments for new programming categories.

With CBS' Star Trek project also in development it is simply time to Rethink Media.

If you've doubted virtual worlds are a force to be reckoned with in communications, this should make you sit up and take notice. 

Televison is a natural fit for virtual worlds.  We can fairly easily see how stories in moving pictures translate well into 3D environments.  Afterall, in a production environment there are 3D sets which replicate a "real world" environment where actors take on roles and words to tell a story.  With film and tape, the experience for the audience is 2D.  No more - and we won't have to wear those silly glasses.

Our brain's pre-frontal lobe has a natural capacity to simulate experiences in our minds.  Add the sensory, interactive and spatial properties a 3D environment offers and you have the ultimate "theater of the mind."    

TV (and film) is about telling stories.  So is business communications.  The term "telling stories" is part of our professional lexicon - telling the company story, advocacy story, the product story.

As communicators, we often rely on massive media to tell our stories.  They will always be part of the media mix.  But, if the channels for our stories are beginning to think 3D, we will need to provide them with appropriate content.  We need to think 3D.  Our audiences will think 3D (game babies already do).  We need to think new content categories.

Framing virutal worlds as theater of the mind opens new possibilities for all types of business, media and learning applications.  The ability to create and set any virtual stage, build the props and animate the environment is bringing performance art to a new level - the desktop.

January 12, 2007

SL Business Communicators Wiki Launches

The wiki for SL Business Communicators is up here - or at least its beginnings are.  A permanent link has also been placed in the sidebar on the right.

The wiki is intended to be a resource for members of the in-world group as well as interested business communicators and marketers.  It is in its infancy, makes no claims of comprehensiveness and is very much a work in progress, as time allows.  If you would like to become a contributor to move it along, please email me!

If you should be listed and aren't, email me.

So far the categories on the wiki are:

• About Second Life
• Brands with a Second Life Presence
• Media Brands in Second Life
• Public Agencies with a Second Life Presence
• Non-Profts with A Second Life Presence
• Marketing and Public Relations Agencies with a Second Life Presence
• Media of Second Life
• SL Business Communicators Meeting Transcripts
• Second Life-Related Weblogs
• Virtual World Developers and Consultants
• Other Relevant Wikis
• Resources In Progress

I hope to begin a directory of resident businesses on the wiki as well, as the in-world search feature is limited in its usefulness for browsing categories of businesses.  If you know of an existing one (besides the list at secondlife.com), please share it.  If you are interested in helping build one, let me know.  Resident businesses have a wealth of products, services and talent that could benefit companies coming into or learning about Second Life.  Ideas?

On another topic, to help the SLBC group members to network with real world contacts as well as in-world, I have requested a group account at Linkedin, however I’m still waiting on approval for it from Linkedin.  Stay tuned.

January 1, 2007

More Second Life Media The Avastar Tabloid Launches

German publisher, Axel Springer AG has launched the promised Second Life tabloid, The AvaStar, adding a property to its Bild.T-Online.de news and entertainment web site.  The AvaStar claims to have twenty imbedded reporters and contributors from Second Life along with two real world editors.  BILD is Europe's largest tabloid newspaper.

According to Tao's Thoughts on Second Life German media agency Pixelpark brought Bild/The Avastar to Second Life

The paper is available at various locations in world and at the web site (PDF).  The cost for the newspaper is 150 $L per issue.

The English language press release is here.  The German language press release is here.

The URL has been added to the Media List I posted here earlier before AvaStar was live.  For a complete Second Life media list, see the [new] SL Business Communicators wiki.

January 1, 2007

Reviewing Second Life in 2006

Giff Constable over at Out to Pasture has a great post summarizing all the happenings in Second Life during 2006. 

Recommended reading - and an easy way to catch up on the many SL highlights!

December 28, 2006

Second Life: The Official Guide

Second Life: The Official Guide, a book by several Second Life experts, is now shipping. I have not yet read the book, but it promises to provide some of the practical aspects of operating in Second Life.  It includes the written and unwritten rules, the geography of Second Life, and information about the economy.

If you pre-ordered and have had a read, tell us what you think of it!

David Meerman Scott has posted an early review here.

The book is written by gaming author, Michael Rymaszewki; Wagner James Au at New World Notes;  Mark Wallace at 3pointD, Catherine Winters; Cory Ondrejka, Linden Lab CTO; and Benjamin Batstone-Cunningham.

Available at Amazon.com here.

 

Second Life Media List

While there are at least a dozen “mainstream” media stories every day about Second Life, to really get close to the community, follow some of the dedicated Second Life media as well. Remember them for your Second Life media relations efforts.

Here’s a list of the dedicated Second Life media outlets.  If I’ve missed your publication, please add a comment and I’ll add it to the list.

Publications
SL Business Magazine:   Business and marketing in Second Life (monthly magazine)
Metaverse Messenger:   Second Life news (weekly newspaper)
Metaverse Messenger Teen:  Second Life Teen Grid news (weekly newspaper)
Second Life Herald:       Second Life news (news blog)
Second Life Arts and Total Entertainmnet:  The arts and cultural scene of Second Life (monthly magazine)
Second Life News Network:   Second Life news and real life news that affects Second Life (daily)
In The Grid:     Second Life culture (monthly magazine plus blog)
Second Style:  Fashion scene in Second Life (monthly magazine plus Fashionista blog)   
Second Opinion: Official Linden Lab newsletter (monthly)
The Konstrukt:  General magazine (monthly)
Second Life Art News:  Second Life art news (blog)
Pixel Pinup:   Fashion and design in Second Life  (web-based magazine)
The Avatar:   Tabloid Newspaper by Bild.
Second Life Reuters:  Business and economy of Second Life by Reuters

Podcasts
SecondCast:   A collection of discussion and event webcasts related to Second Life

Coming Soon
Virtual Life TV:  Broadband channel for Second Life
[1-1-07 url added above] German tabloid by Alex Springer: launching in December, subscription price $10-15 Linden dollars

I’ll be adding a blog roll of Second Life and virtual world blogs to a new blog roll here next week.

November 21, 2006

Wall Street Journal Reports on Fashion in Second Life

Raz Schionning, American Apparel's director of Web services, tells the WSJ that they have sold 4,000 virtual items since opening their Second Life store in late June 2006.  But, that is actually subtext to the fact that WSJ Marketplace (free) is featuring Second Life’s fashion scene in the first place.  Pretty legitimizing.

The story’s essence however, is the growing competitive fashion scene in Second Life – and the importance of Second Life media to driving sales.  Designers gain attention using advertising, websites and blogs – and Second Life style magazines are a key PR tool, as well.  The story cites the Second Man and Fashionista blogs which are now part of Second Style magazine as key media.  (If you haven’t yet checked out Second Style – wow seriously beautiful – you forget you are looking at virtual fashion.)   The Second Life newspapers such as The Herald and the Metaverse Messenger also frequently feature style-related stories, as does the excellent SLATENight Magazine.

Of course “word-of-wearing” is also just as important in-world as in RL.

But what should perk up the ears/eyes of anyone paying attention is the age of the “consumers” quoted in the story, the amount per month in real dollars they spend per month on virtual fashion and the buying motivations that peak through. 

Be sure to take a browse through the WSJ’s fashion slide show that accompanies the story.

Photo credit:  Dow Jones & Company Wall Street Journal Online

Second Life in the Media

Second Life has gotten tons of media coverage in recent weeks – and it’s not limited to just the gaming or tech pubs.  Much of what I find in the news media is fairly light and airy but there is other reporting going on that is much more enlightening.

Here are pointers to a few stories you might find interesting that report on Second Life from different angles.

Popular Science (September 2006)
Your Second Life is Ready
The reporter enters Second Life with guide Hamlet Au of New World Notes and tours several aspects of Second Life.

Open Source Radio: International Public Radio
Living in Game Space. (mp3, 24 min, aired March, 2006)
A broad-ranging interview with an educator from MIT, SL reporter Hamlet Au, and others, about SL sociology, real life versus virtual life, sex, education, architecture and more; with questions coming in from the listening audience.

Be sure to check out some of the reading material at the end of the accompanying blog post.

The Phoenix (August 2006)
Right Click to Learn
Second Life as a learning space and for educational collaboration and community building.

 

ClikZ Network
Marketing Opportunities Emerge in Online Gaming Venues (August, 2006)
Statistics and research about gaming for marketers.

Virtual Identities Article in Debut Issue of New Second Life Magazine

It’s billed as “a guide to all things creative, imaginative, and fun,” Second Life Arts and Total Entertainment magazine has just launched – and they are having a launch party this Saturday in Second Life.  You’re invited.  The inaugural edition of the magazine in its web form is here.

The magazine project is spearhead by Anya Ixchel aka Angela Thomas, a prolific (RL) author, an academic lecturer in English Education, and researcher in online identities.  She has a forthcoming book on children’s identity construction in virtual spaces, e-selves: Identities and Literacies in Virtual Communities.

Among several colorful and diverse articles in SLATE magazine, Anya has contributed a fascinating article, Online Identities: Some Thoughts. It is thoughtful – and personal – and will undoubtedly give you lots to consider about our virtual alter-egos.  A few lines that are particularly interesting to consider in terms of communication:

"…for me the social contexts in which I am immersed are where I am intellectually and emotionally located."


"A long time ago I did my Masters thesis in Drama and I used a term then which best describes what I think is happening for me in my experience of Second Life, and that is METAXIS.

Metaxis: 'the state of belonging completely and simultaneously to two different, autonomous worlds: the image of reality and the reality of the image'”

Anya/Angela is also heavily involved in virtual worlds for education and her name comes up frequently around the New Media Consortium campus project I wrote about in my previous post.  You’ll find a nice article in this first edition of SLATE about the NMC campus as well.

By the way, Anya also acted in a machinima (Second Life movie), “Lip Flap” which won the grand prize at the Take Five machinima festival.  Why it won that honor is a whole story in itself, but at least take three minutes and watch the film – it’s clever – and a tiny look into the creativity that SLATE magazine promises to cover.

Here's the invitation to the SLATE launch party:

Virtual Business Gets a Real Magazine: Business Magazine for Second Life Launches

Second Life, one of the growing virtual worlds, has a new magazine dedicated to real world issues surrounding doing business in Second Life.  SL Business Magazine launched yesterday.  And true to modern media it is available in both ”real world” formats, like PDF and hard-copy, as well as “virtual formats,” like in-world note cards, and a full-color “prim” version (a prim is an in-world virtual object).

The premier issue is very nicely designed.  The content of the issue is geared to those fairly new to business in Second Life but the magazine’s goal is to cover topics such as Law, Building, the rich music scene and success stories. And, it contains both Second Life (SL) and real life (RL) advertisers. 

Second Life has had a couple of news publications for quite a while (in online time), but the SL Business Magazine hopes to focus on issues of both doing business “in world” and the intersection of RL and SL business.

While the reviews of the first issue are mixed, I’m hoping that SL Business Magazine will tell the story of the evolving business side of Second Life without the “novelty” factor given most mainstream media coverage of SL.  Some very serious work is going on in Second Life as both a media channel and a business environment. 

I hope as it matures the magazine will serve to affirm that very real business is being conducted in virtual worlds. Some believe SL is about escapism, however the facts are that some visionary companies are grabbing onto SL to leapfrog their real world businesses.  American Express, Intel and Wal-Mart, for example, are part of a consortium exploring using SL for training.  American Apparel has opened up a virtual retail outlet. The University of Southern California has built a Public Diplomacy and Virtual Worlds Center to explore how virtual worlds can be used in diplomatic endeavors.  The American Cancer Society raised over $40,000 last week in an in-world relay. And, then there are the Second Life Library and the International Space Museum which both regularly hold discussions, presentations and lectures in world - not to mention their amazingly rich exhibits.

Check out the new magazine, and if you are interested in exploring SL business implications with other business people, please join the SL Business Communicators group in SL.  We'll be holding the first meeting in mid-August.

This is a cross-posting from my personal blog, Znetlady: Modern Media Modo.