Second Life is a marketing wasteland
David Johnson July 25th, 2007
In a long article titled “How Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life,” Wired lays out the age old question which may as well translate into “What if Linden Labs threw a party and no one came?” Or at least, a party where no one sticks around because there really isn’t anything to do in Second Life once you’ve wasted hours trying to figure out how to use it. About 85 percent of the avatars that have been created are abandoned and there are precious few frequently returning monthly visitors, leaving marketers an audience of about 100,000 Americans to pitch on their expensive little islands. It all adds up to a reality that is nowhere near as exciting as the claim that there are 7 million ‘residents’ of Second Life’s virtual reality.
3 Comments Add your own
1. Tim | July 25th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
One of the problems Second Life has is the requirement for higher-level graphics cards to run their client software. Some people, especially gamers, have them; but those of us who use the built-in graphics chips on our motherboards (which are perfectly adequate for the video and other media I consume on the ‘Net) were locked out of participation. It would be a lot better marketing opportunity (not that I’m seriously looking for more ads in my life), if the ‘great unwashed’ could participate.
2. Brock | July 26th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I love this mass-debunking of the media hype that is 2nd life. It is just a playground for burning man wannabes who like to dress up in bunny suits.
3. Anonymous | July 26th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
1. Make it simpler to sign up for
2. Make if free
3. Make it compatible as much as possible with older systems (especially Macs)
Then I’ll play.
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