No Man’s Blog

As a non-gamer and someone that’s usually too busy dealing with the real world I’ve always been reluctant to experiment with the virtual world. But the recent fantastic special report on Second Life from The Economist made me wish I had more time to explore this phenomenon. It is a must read to anyone who has any interest in social media.

The most interesting bit for me was the review of experimentations of different brands with Second Life and the discontent it elicit in some of the ‘residents’. The author then raises a BIG question which has to be asked in relation to any integration of brands to social media:

"Will Second Life, that realm of individualism and pure creativity and spontaneity, get plastered over by the same mega-brands and mass culture that have, arguably, made the physical world such a homogenous place? In real life, many avatars argue, big business tends to push out small artisans. If the same happens in Second Life, the metaverse will lose its raison d’être".

This is a serious question that requires a serious debate – perhaps a conference in Second Life?

Many people have developed a strong repugnance to mega-brands. They have come to loath marketing communications in general and advertising in particular and they feel that brands are at best crashing on a party with a funny hat or, worse, are like parasites that smell an opportunity to simply suck the blood of their host without giving much in return. Marketers are facing huge challenges dealing with such attitudes and while they must experiment with social media they have to be really really careful and to strongly adhere to the idea of PERMISSION if they want to restore some trust with their potential consumers.