Virtual worlds aren’t the real world

Michael Sebastian at PR Junkie writes that virtual worlds like Second Life will never, ever catch on:

Blame a perfect storm* of publicity. This summer and fall you will notice—if you haven’t already—a renewed interest in virtual worlds.

Despite what you hear, remember: The idea that real companies will conduct business in virtual worlds like Second Life is utterly ridiculous.

My opinion runs contrary to that of many intelligent, forward-thinking people; in fact, it runs contrary to some Ragan.com articles. But I cannot, in sound body and mind, think that we will one-day live part of our lives in virtual computer worlds.

Think about that. Living part of your life in a virtual world. Did anyone else just feel real, real creeped out? The idea is so utterly ridiculous it falls somewhere between the marketing disaster that was Coke II and the human disaster that was Terminator II.

Rest assured my conviction goes beyond gut feeling.

Last summer, many brick-and-mortar companies with Second Life presence shuttered their virtual shops. Communities without viable economies often get overrun with sex and drugs. Welcome to Second Life, a hive for sex and drugs. Of course, that duo actually precluded its economic downturn.

Before the stores shuttered, a Second Life terrorist organization—yes, you read that correctly—was carrying out virtual penis bombings. Uh-huh, you read that correctly as well.

Well, I’d agree that virtual penis bombings certainly can take the wind out of a marketing program, but what’s most striking about Michael’s argument is the underlying assumptions: that the only business function of a medium is direct selling, and that you approach a new medium like the old ones.

I can’t claim any special Second Life or virtual world expertise, but Jill Hurst-Wahl, who is most certainly an expert on the subject, offered this in response to the post:

Never? With…

• eight-year olds using virtual worlds like Whyville, BuildaBearVille, and WebKinz
• teens using virtual worlds for fun and gaming
• students using virtual worlds for classes (even college classes)
• businesses and governments using virtual worlds for meetings, trade shows, and training

…virtual worlds are not going away. We’re still learning how to use them. Therefore, I’m not concerned about organizations that jump in and fail. I bet they learned from the experience and will do better the next time.

She’s right: Second Life really needs to be looked at as the pre-alpha release of virtual reality. It will change, it will grow, and uses for it will emerge. 

Michael may feel creeped out by the whole idea of living in virtual reality - and while I wouldn’t put it so strongly, I can relate - but clearly a lot of people don’t have that reaction to it, and are doing interesting and creative things in these spaces.

But Michael is right about one thing: if someone thinks they can just recreate the physical world in a virtual world and approach it just the same way, they’re likely to fail. (And, as Jill notes, learn.)

Michael then notes the fifth anniversary of Second Life, Google’s Lively, and actual real-dollar investment in virtual worlds, commenting:

Unfortunately, attention will fall upon virtual worlds this summer and autumn thanks to a perfect storm** of publicity.

Could it be that these things are happening because the people putting time and money into them are seeing returns on those investments, or recognizing future value as the concept evolves?

Writing the obituary of something as new as this is just foolish, and supporting the obituary by noting that what works elsewhere doesn’t work there is doubly so. I have a hard time recommending that most of us invest enormous time and energy into Second Life. But I think it’s prudent to keep up with it and see how the entire virtual reality space evolves, so as valuable uses for it become clearer, we’re ready. 

* I won’t blame it on a “perfect storm” of publicity, because a number of people writing and talking about something at the same time is not a “perfect storm,” it’s a number of people writing and talking about something at the same time. Please excuse my crankiness about this, but “perfect storm” is the dumbest catchphrase of the decade, almost every use of it is incorrect and should be replaced by direct, accurate English.]

** Sigh. 

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