What is Second Life?

It’s just like real life, but you can fly.

“80% of Active Internet Users will have a ‘Second Life’ in the Virtual World by 2011.”
— Gartner Research Press Release, 4/24/07

“Second Life may be more important, longterm, than even this much publicity would suggest. That’s because what it really may represent is an alternative vision for how to interact with information and communicate over the Internet.”
— David Kirkpatrick, Fortune Magazine, 11/10/06

The Basics

Second Life is an online 3D virtual world imagined, created, and owned by its Residents that offers a platform for communication, business, education, and organizational development to anyone who wants to try it. Developed by Linden Lab, Second Life was launched to the public in June of 2003. Since then, the Second Life world has grown dramatically with Residents joining from all over the globe and a virtual land area of over 4X the size of New York City. A tool for innovation, Second Life attracts not only individuals but non-profits, universities, big brands and government agencies, who see the potential for collaboration, education and communication.

The Three Key Elements of Second Life are:

  • Community – Residents create avatars, form groups and establish a persistent presence in the world.
  • User-Created Content – Residents create and own everything in the world. Using easy-to-master building and scripting tools, Residents create anything from houses and animations to clothing and vehicles.
  • Marketplace – A vibrant economy results in the buying and selling of Resident created content.

Second Life is not a game, instead it’s the next evolutionary stage of the Internet. It merges many qualities of the Web, online games, social networking, user-generated content, creativity applications, and telecommunications technologies. Second Life is whatever you want it to be – a social hangout, a business opportunity, a creative outlet or classroom. While there are no dragons to slay or levels to attain, there are plenty of games INSIDE of Second Life created by enterprising Residents.

First things first

  • Getting In: Your first Basic account is free. Additional Basic accounts cost a onetime flat fee of $9.95. If you choose to own land, you’ll pay a monthly lease fee based on the amount of land you own.
  • Avatar Customization: Creating your avatar is simple. Using sliders, you can customize your appearance endlessly. Buy a custom skin and hair to create an even more detailed look.
  • The Linden Dollar: Second Life has a built-in micropayment system. The in-world currency is the Linden Dollar (or L$) and the exchange rate is about L$270/US$1. You can buy and sell your L$ at the LindeX – the Linden Lab affiliated currency exchange.
  • Land: Buy islands from Linden Lab at the Land Store (or from other Residents via auctions). Owning land gives individuals and organizations the opportunity to customize the Second Life experience for their particular audience.

Teen Second Life is a version of the Second Life world that is accessible only to teens (age 13-17) from around the globe.

How are organizations using the Second Life platform?

Education and Nonprofits
The Second Life platform enhances distance learning, collaboration, demonstrations, and simulations. Early on, universities and libraries staked their claim in the virtual world and have since been pioneering uses of Second Life’s unique tools to reach – and remain relevant to – a new generation. Nonprofits are also making their mark in-world and out. Both national-level and grassroots organizations conduct successful fundraising events and information campaigns in Second Life that impact the lives of people everywhere.

Business
Companies such as IBM, Toyota, Sony BMG, and AOL have opened shop in Second Life, where new media tools converge to provide an environment for building brands and customer loyalty, conducting R&D, and market testing. Second Life features easy to use built-in tools for micropayments, media sharing, html integration, usergenerated content, communication, and collaboration.

Brand Building and Product Development
Companies promote their products through Second Life’s immersive environments and events such as concerts, parties, and contests. Residents who are thinking of buying a Toyota Scion, or are already owners in the real world, can pick up a fully scripted virtual car from Toyota’s Scion City, customize their ride, cruise the town, and catch a drive-in movie. Second Life enables companies to build a virtual world to test out new designs and concepts before introducing them to the real world.

Workplace Innovation
Companies can build private, corporate headquarters in-world to host their virtual meetings and share data. Remote employees and regional offices stay connected using built-in voice conferencing, text chat, and group messaging systems. Project leaders can share data through presentations and streaming video, which can be shown at a meeting or played on-demand by employees in different time zones. Designers can show 3-D product models to clients in real-time and easy to use object editing tools allow feedback to be immediately incorporated and deployed.

What are people doing in Second Life?

Arts and Culture
Artists of all kinds have found a new medium for creative expression in Second Life. Real-world musicians and DJs are migrating to Second Life as the ideal platform for sharing their music. Machinima in Second Life offers directors the opportunity to film whatever they can imagine. Second Life designers have created a booming market for fashion and décor. Hundreds of in-world galleries and museums host shows by artists from around the world, displaying everything from photography to paintings, the real to surreal. Architects can create scale models of real-world houses or fantastical structures unbounded by physics.

Entrepreneurship
There are many opportunities for innovation and profit in Second Life. Since Residents own the rights to their work, they can sell and trade their objects, scripts, and animations for pleasure or profit. Thousands of Residents are making part or all of their real-life income from their Second Life businesses. Second Life empowers Residents to pursue in-world careers such as aerospace engineer, architect, XML coder, graphic designer, game developer, musician, and real estate speculator.

Resources

For further information about Second Life, contact Lewis PR at secondlife(at)LewisPR.com.