September 12, 2007

Second Life 2.0: The Metanomics Conference

Duncan Riley

18 comments »

Things are changing in Second Life. The period of glee abandon in which companies joined Second Life, built giant edifices to their offline brands which no one visited, then ran away has passed. We are now seeing those who survived and new players in Linden Lab’s online world build something new, something perhaps more sustainable and in tune to user needs.

On the surface it appears that Second Life is repeating the internet development cycle, but at an accelerated rate. The scandals and useless attempts at bringing offline brands to Second Life parallel the first web boom. After the crash of 2000, many fled the web, whilst a core few remained and over time, along with new players, started to build interfaces that were useful. Second Life today is like 2001-2002, the dawn on a new age; Second Life 2.0.

A rather late comer to Second Life is Nick Wilson. Wilson was best known as a SEO blogger writing for several years at Threadwatch. After selling the site he cast his direction towards Second Life, launching the Metaversed Blog, a chronicle of the ups and downs of doing business in Second Life. Wilson has officially announced the Metanomics Conference in conjunction with Cornell University, a series of events that will explore business and policy in the “metaverse” of virtual worlds over several months.

I asked Wilson whether we were indeed witnessing a change:

The corporations in SecondLife are just ignoring the backlash, and are getting on with it. We lost a few in the initial rush, but those still standing, are standing strong, and leading the way for others. Breaking the trail if you will. Less about showy press splashes, and more about finding really useful ways to use virtual environments to collaborate with colleagues long distance, engage customers and experiment with the platform.

Interestingly Wilson sees those remaining in and now joining Second Life as looking towards longer term goals:

None of these companies really expects to be pulling profit out of virtual ventures right now. but they all see the potential, and firms like Sun, Cisco, IBM, Intel, Amazon are in it for the long haul.

Wilson says that Metanomics is about bridging the gap between those comfortable in Second Life, and those wary of it:

One of the things that I want to do, is use video, podcasts, web to bring this stuff to people in formats they’re more comfortable with. To bridge the gap between those who’re comfortable in SL and those not yet there. Hence partnerships with SLCN.tv for all of these shows and the team up with Cornell.

The conference preview video is below. The first session is September 17, unfortunately smack bang in the middle of TechCrunch 40, but for those not joining us in San Francisco and interested in the potential of Second Life and other online worlds, it would be worth a look.

Click To Play

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September 13th, 2007 at 8:48 am

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September 13th, 2007 at 10:30 am

iVinnie - YOUR Number ONE Virtual News Network - Edita Kaye Editor-in-Chief » Blog Archive » If A Conference Is Held In Second Life, Will Anyone Listen?

September 21st, 2007 at 4:32 am

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January 26th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

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Marshall Kirkpatrick

September 12th, 2007 at 11:41 pm

On a related note, Anshe Chung raised VC funding, it was reported today. http://www.3pointd.com/2007091.....nvestment/
sean percival

September 13th, 2007 at 12:34 am

Duncan,

Thanks for taking the time research and write such a nice post about these guys. They are really doing some amazing things in Second Life.

Also click my name to buy my new Second Life travel guide. Sorry for the plug!
Taran Rampersad

September 13th, 2007 at 1:26 am

Oddly, most of what Nick is quoted as saying has been said for months now by others… it is nothing new for many people familiar with Second Life. I don’t know that the timing of the Metanomics conference bodes well - Bloomfield, Castranova, Dibbell - those names will certainly bring some attention, but there is also a feeling of ‘Yet Another Conference’. I’d think more time after the SLCC would be more appropriate, but time will tell.

It is a very niche market right now - made more so by the end of the hype bubble.

But here’s the thing: if people are going to follow the ’start of the internet’ metaphor, they should probably follow it more completely. The Internet had some things which Second Life has no equivalent of… yet. But many of those things were developed by the community - not by people who speak at conferences. That needs to be remembered.
Taran Rampersad

September 13th, 2007 at 1:27 am

Oh, forgot to pimp my starter’s guide for Second Life. ‘Sorry for the plug’.
Yacco

September 13th, 2007 at 2:29 am

As soon as Second Life gets a few ‘killer apps’ that will give people an actual reason to install SL on their systems, it could catch up.
Deepak Singh

September 13th, 2007 at 6:51 am

A bunch of scientists have been participating in a weekly poster presentation every week in Second Life held at Second Nature (the island for Nature Publishing Group, who are also active participants). The quality of the science is excellent as is the discussion. Now THAT is a reason to go into Second Life. I know at least a couple of persons who would have never used Second Life otherwise.

I’ll continue to maintain that SL as a medium for information and education has a lot of potential
Textbook Case

September 13th, 2007 at 6:54 am

Unfortunately I can only attend events with URLs that use ‘meta’ less than twice. Shoot.
Steve Ballmer

September 13th, 2007 at 7:29 am

A fool and his virtual money are soon parted!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
Velioncho

September 13th, 2007 at 8:48 am

I heard google is going to start similar (ZeroLife?) but integrating Google earth into it.
Anatoly

September 13th, 2007 at 9:11 am

@8. I’m waiting for a fool and his virtual identity to part. You cant be a fake Steve Ballmer, yet be more annoying than the real one.

(Not afraid of virtual chairs)
Catherine

September 13th, 2007 at 11:41 am

Oh for goodness sake it’s just a game.
Ed Reynolds

September 14th, 2007 at 11:44 am

Some companies have had the right perspective on this for some time:

http://www.beatenetworks.com/b.....-Life.html

Others are still trying the same old same old:

http://www.vnunet.com/crn/anal.....eb-3477995

I don’t know who’s right, but my hunch is with the younger crowd who will figure out what SL is and what it isn’t. I don’t think the old line corporations are the leaders in this space.
Ed Reynolds

September 14th, 2007 at 11:57 am

I also want to add, I whilst I like you call on “Second Life 2.0″, I think the current situation was inevitable. I think until we see the server side open sourced, which will thereby give these new young turks a chance to really make things happen in SL, that we will endure this lull. That’s really a key event IMHO.
Ed Reynolds

September 14th, 2007 at 12:03 pm

One more thing (not to sounds like Mr. Jobs), I would include IBM, Cisco and Sun (as referenced in the second article I linked) as “old line corps.” It is true that they know there is a “there there” with regards to Second Life, but I suspect they need the nextgen innovators to make something happen (and then of course do a series of M&A’s).