Case Study: Second Life

I'm sure most of you are familiar. For those who aren't, Second Life was originally heralded as the next generation of instant messaging, the evolution of, if you will. It's an entire 3D world that users can connect to, deploying themselves into it with a user-customizable avatar. These avatars, called Residents, can explore, meet other residents, socialise, participatea in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world (referred to as 'the grid').

Second life has a colossal user base and it's largely thanks to its broad accessibility - The application is free to download and use for Windows, Linux and Mac OS and thus is available to all major PC platforms.

During its inception, Second Life struggled to secure its place as the new form of online communication - users were mostly logging time for entertainment while IM still held the crown for online communication. Today, SL has taken a different direction and grown into an entire metaverse where there was an average of 38,000 residents online at any given moment.

Avatars can take any form the user desires (human, animal, vegetable, mineral, all of the above) and offers users a massive opportunity for customization -- users can even opt to design an avatar that looks like their real self. Users can communicate using either IM or chat - the latter being more of a public address where any other resident within earshot will be able to hear/see what is being said, whereas IM is a private message from one user to another, or one user to a group and does not require any sort of proximity.

Second Life flourishes on a virtual economy built around the Linden dollar (L$) which can be used to buy or sell virtual goods including living spaces, vehicles, devices, animations, clothing, skin, hair etc. Only a relatively small amount of users actually profit from their time on Second Life but it is a quickly expanding category. By february, around 64,000 users had made a profit from online trade, and by March it was known that there exist a few SL entrepreneurs whose profits exceed 1 million US$ per year.

With nearly 2 million residents globally, more and more large corporations are using SL as a medium to reach their customers, or even just allow their employees to interact. The Second Life Corporate Business Council was formed to give larger companies the opportunity to utilise SL. Companies like IBM and Cisco have purchased islands and built domains in the grid, even contracting some work to SL architects who receive hundreds of thousands of real-world dollars for their virtual creations.

Cisco Systems, for example, constructed an amphitheater and a scaled replica of Cisco Field. They also offer classes at the University of Second Learning that are available to the public. The main goal of the company's venture into the metaverse is to open up a dialog between customers and experts regarding their catalog and offer accessible and immersive tech support services.

Profile
Jonathan
35 year old Cisco Systems regional manager living in Toronto
Often has to fly over to HQ to attend meetings
Very active work life with little time for socialising
Always striving to expand client base
Tech savvy, eager adopter of new technologies
Networking is a crucial part of his career and life

Scenario
Jon uses the Second Life metaverse to enhance several aspects of his job. By logging into the SL server he is instantly able to connect and communicate with literally thousands of other Cisco employees. While instant-messaging programs and video conferencing have been around for many years, the creative freedoms offered to Jon by Second Life have not. Joh can outline his projects in a three-dimensional format. His employer can save on travel expenses by conducting meetings and training sessions at the virtual Cisco HQ; which thusly allows Jon more time for his family and personal life.

Second Life also offers Jon the opportunity to virtually socialise with his bosses and peers without, for example, scheduling a meet at a golf course or a business dinner. Jon can also speak with clients in the virtual space. Clients come to him online to receive a better visual understanding of the products that Cisco offer.

As a result, Jon's efficiency and productivity is up in a big way. Second Life has allowed him to manage the same tasks that he already did in a much quicker way, while simultaneously opening new doors that allow for more clients and a new approach to customer service.