Nov 29 2006
Who thinks Second Life is a smart move for marketers?
Okay — the umpteenth Second Life proposal just crossed my desk — and I spent 30 minutes writing my usual screed about why I don’t like it. My opinion comes down to this: I don’t like it and your mileage may vary.
Me — aka Horace Clutterbuck — in SecondLife
Here’s what I wrote with some sanitation:
1. Linden Labs has the best PR department on the planet. They have suckered the press and marketing communities like no one else I have ever seen.
2. There are no verifiable traffic numbers for Second Life. Population counts are not an indication of true engagement. Until I see verified third-party numbers that indicate time-in-world/frequency of log-ins, I will restrict my analysis of Second Life to my usage over the past eight months.
3. The hardcore user base has reacted negatively to the “invasion” of their community by brands. Particularly brands that proclaim “firsts.”
4. The most interesting activity in Second Life — which is not talked about in the press — is virtual sex. I’ll bet it is one of the biggest economic opportunities. The second economic opportunity is building stores and islands for companies like XXX and YYY.
5. YYY Island is deserted at any time of day.
6. Inviting people to “join” you in Second Life is a process which can take upwards of 30 minutes to complete registration. The press flamed YYY for holding a press conference in Second Life that required them to register. Most of the proposals I have received over the past six months from the likes of ZZZZ and others are from firms that have made a significant investment in selling Second Life services.
7. QQQ’s deck is highly misleading. It mixes Social Networks — which include MySpace, Facebook, Linked-In, etc. — with MMPORGs — such as World of Warcraft. Second Life has no “objective” or “quest” mode whereas World of Warcraft is a far more rich experience and thriving global community. In other words, there is nothing to do in Second Life except, pardon my bluntness, try to get laid.
8. Second Life is ugly. Second Life delivers terrible performance and the lag times I have experienced usually result in my standing in a corner or walking underwater. I enter it with a negative anticipation, not a positive one. Integrating content with Second Life is a pain in the neck.
9. Second Life has serious IP issues. Users steal content from each other. Linden is obsessed with trademark violations.
10. Second Life’s creation tools are very arcane and difficult to use. Development firms like Electric Sheep and Crayon [correction "crayon" is not a development company per se] are making a mint off of brands needing development help. This is not a language nor development environment that is easily mastered and any moves we take would demand external contractors.
I believe virtual worlds will emerge as preferred environments, but at this point I have a hard time accepting Second Life as much more than a virtual tradeshow with a red light district. Basically Vegas without the gambling.
I have covered and participated in online communities since 1986. I wrote the first major story in the national press about “virtual reality.” Same with the web. The web was an obvious technology because it was a) open, b) intuitive and easy to code (HTML) and c) built on the concept of hyperlinks. Second Life is “free”, but not “open”, impenetrable to code, and owned by a single corporation.
So, my guidance is this:
Second Life sucks in this user’s opinion. I will only discuss Second Life proposals inside Second Life, insuring that the other person has experienced the joys of getting a dumb name assigned to them (I am “Horace Clutterbuck” and walking around the laggiest environment I’ve seen since the days of 56K modems. I hope I eat my hat on this one, but right now, I am solidly in the camp of opinion that Second Life is Get-A-Life. If you want to have a good time online, try World of Warcraft.
AMEN BROTHER CLUTTERBUCK!
I soured on SL when my avatar, Lady Godiva, a pop singer in her mid-50s with a 30 year career, tried to adopt a little purple baby hog from Hog Island, a desolate, poor, crime infested island on the outskirts of SL. Hog Island’s ruler has siphoned off all the money, leaving a cesspool of starving hogs trying to eke a meager existance from digital sand.
My adoption did not go well. The SL press promptly held a luao on my perfectly formed butt claiming I was adopting the hog for publicity purposes. I went on the SL show “Opal” to give my side of the story but unfortunately, I got lost walking under water and no one could understand my flailing underwater arm gestures as a cry for help and instead thought I was signing in an obscure SL language and I was misinterpreted as saying, “this little purple hog will make a delicious addition to my kitchen.” The fallout was ugly.
Thak goodness I can stay in a Starwood hotel, buy a Dell computer, have sex with all sorts of animals, vegatables, and minerals, and, create my own islands. Of course, the point is something that seems to be missing. After all, just because I can’t own an island, a private jet, or a yacht in real life (RL), doesn’t mean I can’t create that fantasy while having virtual sex with a man pretending to be a woman pretending to be a purple hog.
“Quick,” cries PT Barnum, “this way to the Great Egress! See it now, in all its glory! Hurry, step right up, the Great Egress is just right there!!”
I leave you with this bedtime story:
I had a virtual pet once. The little key fob that chirped for food or sleep or love. Like a British nanny, I shook it and shook it and shook it. It stopped chirping. It was no longer hungry or thirsty or in need of affection so I through it under the subway and the circuit boards crushed nicely under the steel wheels. It was more satisfying than SL. The end.
I tried SL but left after 45 minutes, unable to do anything but walk in circles and change the shape of the nose on my little furry bunny avatar. And yes, my poor 2GHz laptop could barely function with SL running. Marketers have enough problems understanding their real customers; they shouldn’t waste time on virtual ones.
I still can’t get my head around playing pretend in cyberspace….I just dont get the appeal.
I am a skeptical user of SL. It doesn’t engage, unless one really wants to escape reality, yet it seems to do something for the 15,000 or so who are logged in at any given time. It’s chat with a new skin and chat has worked for a while now, so I would not completely dismiss it as much as try to maintain some perspective—you’re right, it’s not worth buying an island because the very concept of an island explains how limited the reach of the medium is.
I’ve attended some SL PR events, which consist mostly of people trying to understand how to communicate, whether they should “shout” or just talk or turn on audio or video that may or may not be playing. It’s useless as a venue for getting more information than one might browsing a site. The PR people do like it, because the information flow is very restricted and controllable. All the interviews are one-on-one where the participants don’t seem to leave a certain range of agreed upon topics or are heavily moderated so that the audience doesn’t really get to engage, especially with follow-up questions, which is where deep information is exposed.
But I can’t help feeling folks are learning something–on both sides, the audience and the presenter. It seems worth paying attention to, I just wouldn’t pay the kinds of money the SL marketers want to charge to learn these lessons, which are available cheap, for just the price of dropping in to the SL world.
Cyworld will probably bear some watching, too.
Don’t pay too much to watch is the only good advice.
[...] Who thinks Second Life is a smart move for marketers? at Churbuck.com David is not a big fan of Second Life from a marketing perspective (tags: Churbuck marketing Lenovo SecondLife) [...]
David,
You are indeed a “character.” I think second life is interesting in it’s absurdity, but when it works it’s oddly entertaining. I see the potential and have seen the LawnMower Man.
What’s more important to me is how we measure all this stuff from a web analytics perspective…
And if I am missing the bus… some Chinese women is the first virtual millionaire in the real world. That is, her Second Life holdings are worth a million real, green dollars.
Judah
Second Life (SL) vs. Real Life (RL)
Earlier, I mentioned David Churbuck’s take on SL in the previous post. One of his commenters, Uncle Fester, has the most hysterical comment. I am compelled to reproduce it here for your enjoyment:AMEN BROTHER CLUTTERBUCK! I soured on SL when
The woman Judah referenced has “virtual” holdings worth 1 million US, try finding enough suckers to go liquid.
She owns, in essence, server space, and she rents this space out to people. A lot like any other hosting company, yet she is paid in virtual money or paypal. So while she is getting some real cash, her holdings are at the whims of a group whos ship is shored up by PR hype and marketing fluff.
SL reports 1.6 million users, yet find more than 16k logged on at a time, at best. In a world with people having multiple avatars you can cut the number in half from the start.
SL reports 600k in US dollars is spent per 24 hours. Yet money actually generated is something different. If horny guy A buys 1000L to get a virtual “escort”, pays her 1000L for the “service”, escort B then spends this cash on more “clothing”, and designer C uses this money to pay for either her cost for owning land to SL or renting to people like the woman from Asia. So while only 1000L has moved, and in the end parts have returned to the source, SL reports it as 4000L spent. If you look at the amount of clothing and escorts in SL, you can see the pattern.
SL has, as the OP stated, some damn good PR.
well, if the world revolved only around sex and marketing (they are both the same; someone’s always getting screwed and done right everyone enjoys it), things would be as you say. But it’s not just sex and marketing.
There are tangible opportunities regarding education and international initiatives – some people call it social something or the other – but it’s really just about people interacting. A lot of people do interact without poseballs, despite the odd places you must have been…
Marketing – overdone, yes, but the first group who overdid marketing are the ‘hardcore users complaining’. Most people I bump into don’t really care, and the ‘hardcore folks’ are the ones who *were* the ‘creme de creme’ prior to the ‘invasion’. Always consider the source.
That said, I generally agree with you. It’s overdone, but it’s not just the new PR folks doing it.
Thanks David. Can I put that in our sales material and/or convert it into some kind of bankable equity? I’d certainly like the opportunity to respond to your comprehensive post. Perhaps you’d come on Across the Sound – The New Marketing Podcast to discuss/debate further? Drop me an e-mail at acrossthesound@gmail.com
btw…it’s crayon with a lower-case “c” and we’re not a development firm per se…although sometimes I wish we were
Joe
What is it about biking and people powered boating (I bike and kayak) that makes one wary of SL? (http://www.thisisgoingtobebig.com/2006/11/10_reasons_to_g.html)
I agree with both the sentiments that their PR is really off the charts and that I do hope I “eat my hat” on this one as well. There might be a lot of potential there, but it’s still VERY early to be warrenting this kind of attention.
BTW… Oddcast would love to work with Lenovo again!
I’m not sold on Second Life
Micro Persuation today talks about the untapped potential of Second Life for business. But I’m not there yet (see my comment to Steve’s post). UPDATE: Looks like a lot of others agree….
The usability problems are merely icing on the cake. The more I consider it, the more I question why anybody is enamored by a game that is not a game.
Very thoughtful post. Great to read some rational, informed examination of SL’s limitations.
Difficult to counter any of the arguments you made about SL
As a game, I think the purpose for many players is to engage in economic transactions e.g design and sell “stuff”, purchase virtual real estate and rent and resell it, and so forth.
As you suggest, any place in SL that draws an audience that one might market to, is precluded by the lag.
Edcators are begining to explore the possiblities of SL I am exploring the possibilities or teaching a course in interactive marketing and advertising using SL this summer, but as of yet, I am somewhat skeptical.
crk
Disclaimer: I’m completely biased on the subject. I run a company called Millions of Us that brings real world companies into virtual worlds including Second Life and prior to that I was the Evangelist for Linden Lab.
That said, I think it’s interesting that your #1 point is that “1. Linden Labs has the best PR department on the planet. They have suckered the press and marketing communities like no one else I have ever seen.”
It’s a completely sensible assumption to make, given the level of press activity around SL recently, but it’s not quite accurate. The PR department at LL is really talented and thoroughly professional (it’s actually just 1 person). Ascribing the media frenzy to their efforts is sort of like watching an ant colony and making the sensible (though incorrect) assumption that the queen must be really really smart.
Here’s my point — Second Life does have more PR pound for pound than any company on the planet, but it’s not because they’re misleading people or seeking press. The reason is that because the world is user-created, it is inherently chaotic and therefore interesting for bloggers and reporters to observe and write about. In other words, it a multi-author story being written by a couple of million authors and it will only get more interesting as more people pick up “pens” and begin writing..
And it’s this line of thinking that holds the most appeal for corporations as well — the ability to hand pens to their users and allows them to write/create on their behalf.
You’re on the money with most of the rest of your complaints — it’s neither polished nor particularly user-friendly. This will, I assume, improve, but the general idea is that what Linden Lab sacrifice in terms of polish by letting the users create the content they make back 100 times over because the world is constantly changing and therefore interesting, if a little daunting and bizarre.
[...] Response to David Churbuck of Lenovo Just came across a highly critical post by David Churbuck, VP of Global Web Marketing at Lenovo. Because his post represents feelings held by many in the business community who are first encountering Second Life and wondering what all the fuss is about. First read David’s post, then my response below: Disclaimer: I’m completely biased on the subject. I run a company called Millions of Us that brings real world companies into virtual worlds including Second Life and prior to that I was the Evangelist for Linden Lab. [...]
But SL *does* have gambling, too! Like any mass activity, a fair percentage will indeed be devoted to sex and gambling — and SL really does have more mass participation now, not just the geeks and artists who first showed up — and frankly they’re the ones who created the objects for all the sex and gambling anyway, objects they themselves didn’t refrain from using.
I am rapidly paralyzed with the close-circuit, boring-routine quest-kill-quest-level-skill-guild grind of WoW, so I can’t possibly urge anyone to go there — and precisely because it has no openness for advertising or other types of activities that lead to interacting with brands, I can’t fathom how a marketer could do anything except go to the makers of WoW and look for some deal to get their brand in the game — something very likely to be hugely resented by the mass of players.
1. LL doesn’t particularly advertise in TV or magazine or even game blogs. What they are skilled at doing is picking a few evangelizing types from places like CNET or Reuters and getting them hooked and few people then bother to check beyond the wire service copy. They should. But the PR dept. isn’t at issue; the credulousness and superficiality of the media is at issue — but then, not only are they swooning for the thing that will finish off old dinosaur media losing its advertising, they are looking for quick eyeball fixes. These stories are the best thing I’ve seen showing how the firewall that used to exist between news and sales has broken down in many media corporations.
2. There’s as much hype around the anti-traffic numbers now as around the traffic. 36,000 paid subscriptions for land owners, sustaining about 100,000 regular log-ons who rent or club or do educational or non-profit activities on that land is about the best there is, and that’s from independent sources, not just from the economic statistics page. I only vouch for my own numbers. I have 1250 customers today; I boot any that have not logged on in 21 days; I had 1100 last month, etc. That’s the only way I know how, to judge by real life people paying me rent. So I see the churn within a figure of 1000-1250 to be about 50 on any given month. Of these I only see a handful not coming back at all within 21 days — but that means that people who reach the stage of renting something are already past the hurdles that make as many as 90 percent try-mes give up and leave.
3. I don’t consider myself part of the hard feted inner core, because I came in 2004, and I don’t object to Big Business coming into SL with brands. I do object to their claims of “firsts” which were already done by lesser-known early pioneers before them — and before me. The problem with Big Business isn’t advertising. In fact, if anything, it’s that they don’t come off their silo islands and advertise inworld at clubs, hangouts, gathering places, etc. where their advertising dollar could be sustaining the inworld economy. Instead, they are really advertising through the old media outside of SL by claiming to be the first XXX or YYY.
It’s not that they are branding and advertising IN SL; it’s that SL is used as an add-on. That’s as legitimate a use as any, but then they can’t expect the inworld populatino to be very ecstatic that they had yet another hypervent with only 40 people able to be admitted, that got X column inches in Fortune magazine.
4. No, the most interesting activity is shopping — people spend more time and money on that, and shop not only to set up for sex, but to do nesting, and crafting and exploring. Sex is the add-on to shopping. And yes, building for companies is the most lucrative outworld job.
5. Big Business islands are almost all deserted. I would say the exception has been IBM just because the builders and the IBM people themselves have had more activities both for their own larger community of IBM employees and the community of SL at large, and they have a lot of islands strung out with room for events and such — so they perhaps have had more interactivity than the others like empty fairgrounds.
6. I never invite people to join me in SL. Instead, I join them first on email, Yahoo, real life coffee, whatever. I then offer to show them and walk them through SL for 30 minutes — then they will like it better. BTW, with an avatar looking like that, it’s going to be hard to get people not to scowl back lol.
7. Oh, pick up your mind from the gutter, there’s plenty to do in SL, you just haven’t figured out what to do yourself. You’re right to be skeptical and cut through the bullshit. But no need to make your own disappointments the hinge for the entire Metaverse. I find most people paling on SL are the ones not liking it that their own pride of place in Web 1.0 or dinosaur media is threatened.
8. Yes, SL is plug-ugly in places and also has awesome beauty, it’s made by other people, not professional companies. Most of the content is not professional; even when it is, that’s no guarantee for beauty as we’ve seen from the miles of concrete and reinforced steel imposed on us from all these big companies building RL replicas. SL is laggy too. Reduce the draw to 64, speeds you up, and you have less ugly to look at too : )
9. In the thousands of customers I’ve dealt with in 2 years, I’ve only seen a handful of actual theft of copyright occur where someone actually then benefited. The community polices itself pretty well with reputational loss when people copy. It’s not a very legitimate system — having prim divas peck out the eyeballs of others guilty of theft and eject them from all malls and other properties — but it has worked fairly well. LL seems merely to respond to complaints, not proactively remove trademark items, they put it in the police blotter now and then but I wouldn’t call it “obsession”.
10. I totally agree that ESC and MOU and others are making a mint off the fact that Big Business itself hasn’t figured out that their own IT and graphics design departments could be doing this same work for less. That will come. Yes, the tools are hard. But even I am able to make t-shirts and bits and bobs of stuff and sell them. What’s interesting about these tools, clunky as they are, is that it has enabled non-professional artists from RL and non-RL architects to build and design and make RL money. That’s been an interesting phase of SL, with pluses and minuses. That door will likely close now as firms will have their own big departments that will leave indigenous artists in the dust at times, except for those with very tight niche followings.
The ESCs and MOU of the world are from the hardcore user base and ex-Lindens. Not surprisingly, they catapaulted their early start and connections to lucrative sherpa businesses. But even they will be forced out of business if they continue to serve as impression-shapers and gate-keepers. For one, they will give the lie to the “Your world/your imagination” mantra that makes many people come. If only professional content is valued, and amateur content is crap and of no value, there’s no econonmy, no Horatio Alger story ready to be told every day, and no draw for the user-content public.
So it’s a delicate balance that may be overbalanced in either direction many times over before they get it right.
Second Life is like democracy. The worst form of government — except for all the others. It’s the place to be.
[...] We continue to see the inevitable anti-SL pendulum swing from all the hype of the last few months. Frankly, I don’t blame the detractors, and I think the skepticism is really healthy. I know lots of people who “just don’t get it” and my response is “all in good time.” I don’t expect everyone to have a need that fits the current environment, or to see the promise through some of the current limitations. Reuben responded to a recent post over at Churbuck.com and I thought I would weigh in as well. Below are Churbuck’s bullets (indented) and my commentary: 1. Linden Labs has the best PR department on the planet. They have suckered the press and marketing communities like no one else I have ever seen. [...]
I think your skepticism is natural and healthy, but not surprisingly I see a lot more of the current and future promise of the platform. I do not, however, think that it is ready for the mainstream yet, or for every company or brand. Keep on asking good questions. If you are interested, my detailed response is here: http://blogs.electricsheepcompany.com/giff/?p=234
[...] A month ago Horace Clutterbuck’s real world persona wrote on the Churbuck.com blog 10 reasons why he didn’t like Second Life for marketing. It garnered its share of comments and blog responses. But, with every ounce of me, I hope you read Giff Constable’s blog post response to 9 of Horace’s ten points (one was about Horace’s dislike of being pitched – n.a.) “ [...]
wow,
First with a little googling youll know im no Linden Plant.:)
But, as someone who has been doing virtual worlds and 3d design for over 20 years, and for major advertising and marketing folk, i can really say that all 10 of these reasons are just not based on much knowledge.
Maybe ill come back and point out how each “point” is wrong or just not based on how or why things have/or had happened in real life in this arena:)….
anyhow , and i dont know the writer, only linked into this blog, i can only assume that he was late to all digital media affects to traditional marketing, and communications..and that its almost funny that its in the “blog”- and on the net- which totally redefined marketing comunications a decade ago,but only discovered by most this year;), that he aserts that the next media type= 3d immersion- is not for him..:)and just wont work…:)
Second Life does not equal 3d immersive media or the millions who have made it the dominant media experience in their lives—via playstation3,xbox, and other..Its found the AOL balance of 1992- between forward creatives and the need for the next “thing” to sell in corporate funded america…. but dont confuse the media( and its real value for marketers-creators) and its temporary brand manager..Linden Labs.
Clients, beware the blog pundit.;)
LarryR
cube3.com
Uh, Larry, your point is what?
“So, my guidance is this:
Second Life sucks in this user’s opinion. I will only discuss Second Life proposals inside Second Life, insuring that the other person has experienced the joys of getting a dumb name assigned to them (I am “Horace Clutterbuck” and walking around the laggiest environment I’ve seen since the days of 56K modems. I hope I eat my hat on this one, but right now, I am solidly in the camp of opinion that Second Life is Get-A-Life. If you want to have a good time online, try World of Warcraft.”
Your Opinions seem based on faulty facts as i know them .
i thought the premise was the smart business of “marketing” not “having a good time” playing games.
Most of your 10 points have little context to the real reason Second Life is “hot”..why Im now even for the first time in 10 years on your website and why youre getting the 10 proposals a day..
They seem to represent quite superficial study of whats going on.
Youve chosen to comment publically on a public/commercial interest… wonderful. Power of the Blagh.:) and possibly it WAS the blog, not Linden PR employees, that even has you writing about this media type. -( a thought to digest and investigate if you like.)
Ive just pointed out in the obligatory “leave a reply” field that my experience indicates your recommendation to “whomever” – marketers i would think… is based on faulty information from your POV and i think possibly theirs as well.
If the idea is ‘marketing and Second Life” than the conclusion “Second Life Sucks” just doesent ring of context, since its the “story” delivering the “interest”.
and the 10 reasons given dont seem to apply.
I have been spending countly hours consulting with clients about virtual worlds and Second Life. Especially since most in the last 6 months call with Second Life as the first in mind “thing to do=be=profit” from. All concerns for Open Virtual Worlds and Standards are not of issue yet. The history of digital
media and technolgies used by commercial communicators suggests why.
None of your top tens reasons would make any sence in the context of what they or I would attempt to be doing.
I as much as anyone have written and spoken about the “issues” of closed 3d media systems and business in the last 10 years..but to address marketing and 3d immersive worlds and to end with the conclusion that World of Warcraft is more FUN to play, seems to me to indicate a loss of context to the issue you raised.
larryr
but i do applaud a critical look at both the company Linden lab and the product they offer… I earlier than most have been quite aware of the affects that what they offer may possibly have on people and on the professional design and
communications industries:) im glad to see others now are looking into the rabbit hole…
look deeper;)
I guess the question then, Larry, for the clients calling you — and you billing them for all those hours — is where is the profit in that “thing to do=be=profit”?
I’ll buy that SL doesn’t equal 3D immersive media. With that premise then, why can’t SL still suck? Prodigy didn’t equal consumer online experience and yet, it still sucked while others thrived.
What is Starwood attempting to do? Beyond spending money experimenting with something with no ROI in sight. Do we applaud it merely because of the effort? Is that valid? If you were a shareholder of SPG, would that arguement still suffice? If those ten points don’t make sense, what ARE your clients doing?
Calling an opinion “faulty” is the hallmark of a crime against logic. You may differ but you cannot find fault.
And if you believe that having fun playing games cannot be marketing, you’ve missed a wide field.
Second Life und der Gartner Hype Cyle…
Kritiker und Fans der virtuellen Welt Second Life entdecken den “Gartner Hype Cycle”. Hype Cycles erklären aber lediglich den Verlauf des öffentlichen Interesses an “etwas Neuem”. Sie lassen sich weder dazu verwenden, um dieses “Neue” abzuwerte…
Hey, David — couldn’t see an email address. Could you drop me a note?
Okay, at the risk of being exposed as a Philistine or worse (a middle-aged guy) are people’s “first” lives so pitiful that they require second ones? Between a career, a family, and non-virtual world activties, I can’t imagine having time to be anyone else!
The secret to SL is women. The comparison to WoW is facile for that simple reason–find me the 35-45 female demographic there. Yes, I know a few myself, but seriously, they’re exceptions. Someone above noted that they couldn’t understand anyone being enamored by a ‘game that is not a game.’ Not very intelligent and silly solipsism. To the other half of the population, who don’t enjoy being shot at and really can’t understand being enamored by being in a guild, SL is the best relationship chat-room imaginable. Hmm…I wonder if that has any bearing on brands coming to SL, lemme think…
djangone-
Crucial point that hasn’t been explored in many critiques or expositions of Second Life is the demographic blend.
Picking up on the iVillage tours and from the anecdotal observation of a good number of female avatars, I note the point. Second Life may have a higher than usual representation of women than other interactive media.
I use WoW only as an example of a “purpose driven” virtual world, versus a free-form social. I would not position WoW as a collaboration, marketing proposition — it’s a game, a good one, but worth noting in light of its success and its use of a “plot” to drive repeat usage.
[...] Daniel Terdiman, CNET’s Second Life reporter, covers Clay Shirky’s campaign to clarify Second Life’s dubious traffic numbers — number in two in my list of reasons why I won’t be building an island there anytime soon. Terdiman gets a thumbs up for some objective reporting — he was one of the reporters called out for misreporting the “resident” number reported by 2L. The NYT went off the deep end earlier this week, but I’m too lazy to site the sloppy reporting. [...]
[...] More recently, Lenovo Marketing VP David C. Churbuck asked rhetorically “Who thinks Second Life is a smart move for marketers?” (Not him.) Unlike Glaser, Churbuck did actually have some personal experience with Second Life, and while some of his reasons for rejection were fair and well-taken, many seemed off, so I contacted him. Regarding proficiency with Second Life, he e-mailed back, “Mark me with an F. Make that an F minus.” He estimates his total visitations as ten hours or under, in which he more or less randomly explored a world the geographic size of an entire state, to form his assessment. [...]
[...] Of course there are inflated expectations about Second Life – and of course there are critics and skeptics who are crying “it’s all BS”. A backlash is starting. There are critics with reasonable arguments and some of the “i don’t like it, therefore it’s doomed” school, who, while reflecting personal preferences, might have a large following. A huge problem is the coverage in the “professional” media, which is not very thorough and results in some misunderstandings with those critics, who rarely have the time for collecting personal experiences. Often it is not the platform “as is” which is critisized but assumptions, promises and euphoric fan reviews. This is perfectly normal with a Hype Cycle, too, and doesn’t say much about the the technology being hyped. [...]
This is many of the same arguements used against Internet in the 90s. Could it be that SL is a glimse of the 2ed generation Internet?
SL really sux. It only attracts entrepreneurs and not real consumers. Everyone that comes onto SL are looking to make $$. Hence, the whole system will collapse. After wandering around, all I see was ad after ad after ad.
Waste of time. Uninstalling now.
When we were kids, occasionally we’d be sitting in our rooms stuffed full of toys, whining to mom “I’m borrrred!”
And Mom would reply, “It’s because you’re boring. Find something to do.”
Whenever someone claims that SL is boring, that’s what springs to my mind.
SL can be used simply as a chat channel (more fun to look at than ICQ and IM text chat systems). Or it can be used for creative outlet (building your own house, furniture, making your clothes). Or it can be used for gaming (there are Star Wars roleplay islands, enthusiasts writing game-within-game programs for Fight Club style fights or swordfights etc etc). The most dedicated SLers I’ve met are those who are disabled in real life. Off the top of my head, I know a woman with MS, a deaf man, I knew a quadriplegic (used a mouth stick, but he died some time ago)… for these people whose real lives are socially limited, SL is very important.
So SL can be whatever you want to make of it. If you went in there, wandered around like someone was supposed to entertain you, and then you left, talk to my mom. You’re boring, not SL.
Still, as for whether SL is a smart move for marketers, NO. Don’t go in there and flail around unless you have a reason to go in there. It’s only logical. Just like you don’t go out into the middle of a campground and try to sell the campers a product unless that product has some use in that campground.
[...] Okay, I’m breaking my self-imposed vow of 2L silence, but Eric’s list so closely mirrored mine that I had to point at it. [...]
Your explanation is cool, while a bit like negative more.
I should say SL/any other VW has pros and cons on user aspect, but need to be judged or further explore when we are considering them as a business opportunities.
ya. I agree that real world business will be more effective than a virtual one, and we need to pay after our first investment. In real world, we have PR, Customer Relationship offifer, Reception, call centre to assist our marketing compaign. Investing in SL means, we need to do pay for extra cost other than just buying lands and buildings.
Further more, I do agree that SL is just a place for one-time-fun, then I will never go back again. Since I need more time to be spend in real world~…
[...] Who thinks Second Life is a smart move for marketers? at Churbuck.com Good conversation on Second Life for marketing purposes (tags: marketing secondlife socialmedianow socialmedia) [...]
[...] Unfortunately, much of the conversation in the advertising industry to date is just arguing over the merits of Second Life by holding it to the same standards as traditional mass media platforms like TV and print. It’s far more productive, and interesting to examine how these virtual worlds offer entirely new ways of connecting with people. [...]
[...] Some CMO’s I know won’t touch Second Life with a virtual ten foot, paisley, polygon pole. Some finance folks I know laugh over beers about Linden Dollars. Does that mean specific corporations become a central bank setting monetary policy subordinate to the central bank in the server’s home country? How do International Fisher Relations apply when you have no interest rate? My friends who have physical bodies say “virtual worlds are for when you have no friends in the real one.” Harsh criticisms, but they don’t negate the fact that something is happening and people are participating on some scale. We’re all going to “do web analytics” on virtual worlds some day (maybe sooner than we think). [...]
[...] Nice, huh? The reporter and I talked for 15 minutes, and in the end she went here, to my November 29, 2006 blog post for the quote. Factchecker called Friday and checked the spelling of my name, title, etc. Another irony as it used to be me working with the factchecker on the other end of the pen. Nothing about my thoughts on open vs. closed platforms, browser versus downloaded interfaces, server vs. walled-garden control … nope, it all comes down to bumping uglies. [...]
Your critiques sound similar to those made by people when the WWW first launched in 1990. The web wasn’t obvious in 1990, 1993 nor even 1994 to most people. It’s so easy to say that it was obvious now.
Many said that is was too unreliable, to slow, had too many IP issues, it was used mainly for sex, the creation tools were too difficult to use, there were very few people using the web for anything useful, no one was using the web for commerce… yada, yada, yada.
Whether its SecondLife or another platform, hundreds of millions of dollars are being poured into 3D technology.
SecondLife does have its fair share of problems and is going through growing pains, however I do believe that they will be solved. The upside is much greater than the downside.
Your critiques sound similar to those made by people when the WWW first launched in 1990. The web wasn’t obvious in 1990, 1993 nor even 1994 to most people. It’s so easy to say that it was obvious now.
Many said that is was too unreliable, to slow, had too many IP issues, it was used mainly for sex, the creation tools were too difficult to use, there were very few people using the web for anything useful, no one was using the web for commerce… yada, yada, yada.
Whether its SecondLife or another platform, hundreds of millions of dollars are being poured into 3D technology.
SecondLife does have its fair share of problems and is going through growing pains, however I do believe that they will be solved. The upside is much greater than the downside.
[...] There are legitimate criticisms that Charbuck makes in this original article about Second Life as a game or a marketing platform. I similarly agree that as a game or as a marketing vehicle, Second Life falls short in many ways. [...]
[...] Some CMO’s I know won’t touch Second Life with a virtual ten foot, paisley, polygon pole. Some finance folks I know laugh over beers about Linden Dollars. Does that mean specific corporations become a central bank setting monetary policy subordinate to the central bank in the server’s home country? How do International Fisher Relations apply when you have no interest rate? My friends who have physical bodies say “virtual worlds are for when you have no friends in the real one.” Harsh criticisms, but they don’t negate the fact that something is happening and people are participating on some scale. We’re all going to “do web analytics” on virtual worlds some day (maybe sooner than we think). [...]
I read about SL in the news and such. I find SL to be a complete waste of time, if i wanted to have a 3d chatroom to talk in i would use a webcam (or IMVU since it doesn’t use cameras, just a 3d representation), or go into a 3d prgram specifically designed to be used as such. SL is just a marketing game. The only upside i see is that SL is very dynamic, as it can be used to do many things, since it is pretty much a 3d environment. Since SL has no real purpose and is a 3d environment that doesn’t have a system that was set out for a purpose like (virtual) racing, RPG or FPS. There are better 3d environments out there that aren’t a waste of real money. The worse part of SL is the fact that you pay money for virtual items, you will never see the money unless your make it back by selling your virtual items to another sucker. It’s a waste.
[...] First off, he co-founded Linden Labs of Second Life infamy. I hate SL. Call me a luddite, but I’ve railed against SL before and think it will go down in history as one of those, “yeah, it was kinda neat as a beta thing and sure you can see how cool things might have come from those seeds but it never was gonna work.” Like Apple’s Newton. [...]
[...] Some CMO’s I know won’t touch Second Life with a virtual ten foot, paisley, polygon pole. Some finance folks I know laugh over beers about Linden Dollars. Does that mean specific corporations become a central bank setting monetary policy subordinate to the central bank in the server’s home country? How do International Fisher Relations apply when you have no interest rate? My friends who have physical bodies say “virtual worlds are for when you have no friends in the real one.†Harsh criticisms, but they don’t negate the fact that something is happening and people are participating on some scale. We’re all going to “do web analytics†on virtual worlds some day (maybe sooner than we think). [...]
[...] Some CMO’s I know won’t touch Second Life with a virtual ten foot, paisley, polygon pole. Some finance folks I know laugh over beers about Linden Dollars. Does that mean specific corporations become a central bank setting monetary policy subordinate to the central bank in the server’s home country? How do International Fisher Relations apply when you have no interest rate? My friends who have physical bodies say “virtual worlds are for when you have no friends in the real one.†Harsh criticisms, but they don’t negate the fact that something is happening and people are participating on some scale. We’re all going to “do web analytics†on virtual worlds some day (maybe sooner than we think). [...]
A few years later and nothing has really changed as far as SL’s ability to engage as a useful marketing tool, and even it’s potential as a gold mine social/fantasy environment is withering on the vine due to the negligence of its developers at Linden Lab.
Now, a part of the problem with SL does lie with the marketers. Very few have actually made an intelligent effort to utilize the platform. Instead, most marketing attempts at SL wind up very reminiscent of the corporate world’s first clumsy attempts to make use of the world wide web.
However, that still doesn’t excuse the very amateurish way Linden Lab has handled developing Second Life. They’ve made a lot of mistakes which have really limited what even the most creative, talented, and tech savvy people can do with the platform.
From a visual standpoint, Linden Lab has neglected to include height information or any sort of proportion guides for avatars. Videogames don’t have this problem as they limit your options in these areas, but SL provides more freedom without providing the information and guides necessary to make the most of that freedom.
Linden Lab is aware of this, and has repeatedly stated that they have no intention of fixing the problem.
The animations new users begin with remain a joke. Combined with the visuals a new user is presented with in their orientation, that right there is enough to put most potential users right off the idea of continuing. I would not be surprised if most new users log out before completing the orientation, as the graphics are just that bad. Needlessly so.
SL’s much touted “Windlight” graphical improvements were added more than a year ago, and at present remain still incomplete. Most residents are only ever able to see SL’s bland and uninspired default settings as land owners were never given the ability to apply their own settings as was promised.
Many more small, yet critical, issues like these continue to remain well outside of LL’s priority list. Altogether, such problems make SL a nightmare for visual designers, and anyone who would wish to create an engaging and interactive experience within the platform.
At this point it is very safe to conclude that SL’s poor visuals are less the result of user generated content, or the technical limitations of the SL platform, and more Linden Lab’s complete ignorance of the needs of content creators, casual or corporate. Not only are they ignorant of these necessities, but outright apathetic to requests for these problems to be addressed.
There’s few things so depressing as reading comments from one of Linden Lab’s PR goons to a professional artist, telling them that their request for a very simple, yet also very necessary design tool is foolish because “SL is a virtual world where we can fly and be anything!”
Compounding the problem is the lack of direction new users are given, and the completely broken “Search” function of the SL viewer, which does not allow for meta tags and relies too much on specific search wording.
New users are often left completely adrift, with no idea of SL’s possibilities, or how to find areas that might interest them.
The potential for a virtual world such as SL is great, and there’s an undeniable market for such a world that allows unhindered, uncensored user generated content as SL does. The appeal of this idea is much broader than interest in SL. SL’s problem is Linden Lab’s shortsightedness, and inability to understand their own creation, and the needs of those who use it.