Community Mobilization

Virtual World Engagement for those Virtually Engaged

E Marketer Daily posted a report from the Virtual Worlds conference and had some surprising pieces of information. The charts provided show that time spend in Second Life is on a very steady and rapid increase while participation volumetrically speaking is increasing at an equally impressive rate. Expect additional investments in marketing from some of the more advanced media companies and expect and equal amount of resistance from the residents of the virtual spaces. They are there in part because they are tired of the consistent bombardment of marketing messages.

Social Network and Your Brand

Steve Ganz, Sushi and Robots Boagworld, Ordered List,

Part of the challenge is social networks is perception and how your avatar is perceived. There is value in having a persistent avatar – but make sure it is the correct avatar picture. Commenting can positively impact your personal brand. Volume and content are key in others perception of you. Commit over the long term. Be honest, consistent and represent yourself as you are and maintain attitude across the board. Take inventory of what is out there on the web about you. Making comments on the internet is open, public, and permanent.

The development of social relationships and damage control is all part of existing in fast moving arena of online media and space. Relationships move quickly and missteps are amplified. Retaliations and flame wars are counterproductive and reflect poorly on you for engaging in the behavior. Take disagreements offline and treat the other person publicly with respect.

Virtual Eco-Tour

Some friends at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars have put together a nice article on the Eco-tour of Second Life. Developed by UC Berkley Graduate Student Stephanie Gerson, the tour looks at how some virtual spaces are examining real world ecological issues and developing solutions. I have always maintained that one of the best uses for this virtual spaces is as a 3-D collaborative platform for big problem solving. I am glad to see an issues such as the ecology being tackled.

Kaneva - Social Networking meets Virtual Worlds

Kaneva is a new tool and system set that combines aspects of virtual world interactivity with real life social networking back end. In some circles the drive to connect the two types of interactive activity has been met with excitement and disdain. As community building tools both have their individual appeals, such as a level of anonymity in virtual avatar based communities, and a level of disclosure in social networks. The challenge is the melding of the two diametrically opposed components. I have yet to use Kaneva but will keep an eye peeled to see how it evolves. As a company it seems like the management has a tight hold on content and use which could turn off some looking to push the bounds of social acceptability, a practice not uncommon in either circle.

Area produces Metaplaces

Areae - Raph Koster's relatively new company has launched Metaplaces, a mark up language for the creation of one off virtual communities. The system is exceptionally because it looks to create unique URLs for every item created for the virtual items. Koster envisions users coming to a Metaplace world by clicking on a link in a Web page. That link launches a page where the user finds herself inside a world, perhaps using a default avatar, but no log-in or registration is immediately required. Metaplaces will create a development tool for deeper interactive experiences with ideas, products, or people. The prospects are limited only by the desire for traffic and creativity. My curiosity will be satiated when users begin to experiment with the tool and report back out the stickiness of the experience and their own ability to drive users there.

Working in a Virtual World

Forester has published an article on working in the virtual world. The article looks at using virtual world and 3-d world technology as a complimentary tool enhancing meetings and supplementing face to face interaction. It is important that Forester is looking at the technology not as a backbone of business but more as a tool of business, and that may be the critical item. If virtual worlds can become 'business as usual' then the adoption rates will rise moving forward.

Web Playgrounds of the Very Young

It is no shock to me that youth wordlwide are being drawn into graphically based virtual world environments. The medium captures attention like no other as it engages us in sight, sound, hearing, and touch (keyboard). As parents encourage their children to stay inside more often then venture outdoors for unstructured fun and free time, kids are making semi-structured play online.

The article in the New York Times captures the exuberances of the youth entertainment community but it fails to represent the potential for outside marketers to engage participants. Will these spaces be breeding grounds for the next wave of consumerists who are cultured to 'purchasing' as the only means to enhance their avatar? I applaud the CDC's efforts in engaging the community of Whyville, where avatars are catching the flu ... that is unless they get their vaccination. Rez Nation recorded a session given by Erin Edgerton and John Anderton from CDC on their engagement in virtual worlds.

MMORG Philanthropy

There have been few articles I have read on MMORG and game development that really get me thinking about philanthropy and the possibilities of philanthropic activities. However I did get some inspiration from the Game Developer Magazine article 'Purchasing Power' by Taiyoung Ryu and Kyuhwan Oh. It was a very straightforward review of item based payment models in Korean games but the purpose of purchase intrigued me. What most people are not considering is the basic premise that high fashion virtual items are as relevant to gamers as as a coach purse is to a soccer mom. That being said there is a robust branding and product development industry solely to serve causes and virtual space is not being engaged the way it could be. finding the nexus between the cause missions and the gamers needs is where the real mutual payoff lies.

Virtual Worlds, Real Laws

One of the major intellectual quandaries in the virtual space arena is what are the roles of real world laws, if any? New York University Law School and Harvard's Berkman Center, with the direction of Professor Beth Noveck, even set up the State of Play conference to address some of the concerns. They included legal questions on Intellectual Property rights, taxation, pornography, and free speech. Now Virtual Worlds Management is conducting a Virtual World Law conference in New York this spring. I am not sure of the attendees or the nature of the presenters, academic or professional, but their conferences have been well attended in the past and their content is consistently very good. The conference will involve the American Bar Association's committee on Virtual Worlds and Multiuser Online Games. Their participation will help in world business owners address legal questions they have in the wake of some of the more public virtual world law suits.

Herbie Hancock Remix Contest - Speaks VOLUMES!

I know it is a bad play on words but the fact that Herbie Hancock is running a contest asking for a remix of his own music speaks volumes about community engagement. Herbie is opening up his art form (ironically jazz its self is a very open art from taking cues from so many various genres) and allowing the creative community to play. As a measure of course he is encouraging a new level of interaction with his art - from listening to co-creating. If only other brand and marketers could feel comfortable with constituents, admirers co-creating the experience. I admire the fact that this is in conjunction with the launch of the Pangea Island (supported by Universal music Germany) in SL. More on that in a later post.