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Reuters Pulls Out of Second Life, Army Heads In
A little over two years ago, Reuters made headlines by setting up a reporter as a go-between for Second Life and the real world. Now, they've evidently decided that the buzz is no longer there, so they've ended the virtual-reporting experiment. The reporter, Eric Krangel, offered his own take on the situation, and what he thinks Linden Labs could do to make Second Life a better place. Whether or not the advice is taken, the US Army has decided to carve out its own presence in the virtual world by setting up a pair of islands that will function as recruiting tools. An article at Massively suggests that interest in Second Life is still high among a variety of organizations, saying, "at present it appears that more businesses are coming in than going out."
And strangely, I still don't know anyone that uses Second Life.
And for that matter, I'm fairly certain there's a lot of people I know that don't even know what Second Life is.
My university uses Second Life quite often to advertise. I'm currently involved in setting up a few little modules for our virtual campus that will run alternatives to real-world programs, like an RA training area, a fake Greek are for training on running a legal party, and a freshman orientation area that teaches them the code of conduct. The university is very excited about it, and expect lots of people to use these locations in the future. Of course, I think it's all a bunch of crap, but hey, I get to pass the class if I do this.
I signed up over 2 years looking for an enhanced chat room. SL allows me to create the atmosphere I used to describe to people in chats. I now own a Coffee House and a Mall and make about $60 US per month. Not bad for my $72 annual fee, most of which I get back in the weekly stipend.
I think it's probably hard at this point to sell First Life products via SL, it is common that people bring their skills and personalities in. The $$ now is made by people selling virtual land and products.
Second Life's growth is almost EXACTLY like the growth of the internet. CompuServe, AOL, et al were closed systems that were slow and very limited. Companies came in and out trying to find out if there was any point to the experiment. Geeks ruled. Later on, artists and educators, and yes, the PORN industry, made the WWW more interesting and useful.
I could go on and on... the parallels are all there.
Gone are all the casino's, pedophilia sex areas and ad farms. The place seems a lot less populated now as well. I never see anyone in my neighborhood anymore.