Second Life Still Alive and Well

Many big developments in technology seem to follow the same pattern: launch, hype, boom, more hype, backlash and, too often, bust. Or at least rumors of bust. But usually this pattern is more hyperbole than reality. Take Second Life as an example. When Second Life emerged a few years ago the hype was deafening, and a host of companies (including Dell, where I worked at the time) rushed to build virtual islands. Then the buzz gradually died down. Some companies left, disillusioned about the difficulty of generating revenue or leads through their island. Others stayed on but struggled to find value or purpose in their investments. Many just stayed away, confused by the technology. Some in the media and blogosphere suggested Second Life was heading towards the crowded bone-yard of technology.

Well, Second Life is alive and well – if you’ll pardon the pun. In terms of size and reach, Second Life shows some pretty strong numbers – though it must be said there are skeptics regarding these statistics. But beyond the crude numbers, I would argue Second Life is showing resilience and relevance through the innovation of its inhabitants. With the benefit of virtual experience, many are finding the benefits of Second Life may be more nuanced than pure marketing – for example cutting communication costs or developing new learning modules.

For a look at some of the creative uses of Second Life – ranging from e-learning to virtual meetings and collaborative design – check out these recorded sessions from the Gronstedt Group, a consulting firm that has long advocated the benefits of 3-D online environments like Second Life. [Disclosure - Anders Gronstedt is a friend and did work for me when I was at Dell.]

Perhaps the most important recent development is the announcement of Second Life’s new platform for the enterprise – which will allow companies to deploy their own, customized virtual environment behind their firewall. This beta program – set to formally launch in Q1 next year – addresses concerns about security and firewalls that have caused many organizations (including the last one I worked for) to stay away from Second Life. Check out Fast Company’s take on this development here.

As this coverage notes, the potential for companies to leverage a “closed” Second Life platform to improve and expand their internal communications is huge. The interactive, graphic and multi-media properties of SL lend themselves well to everything from virtual meetings to project collaboration and training. This particularly holds true for global companies with dispersed or telecommuting workforces. The possibilities are exciting…and endless. Yesterday I participated in a briefing in SL that featured an architecture firm that develops designs using a wiki “tree”, which allows visitors to propose and rank design additions or changes on existing projects. If companies are paying attention, I suspect some of those who avoided or left SL may take a second look. It would be well worth their time.

Obama Feeds the Media Beast

A recent article in New York magazine makes some fascinating arguments about President Obama as the multi-platform, ubiquitous communicator-in-chief. The article suggests Obama and his team are deliberately – and effectively – managing this sustained communication output to brand the president, influence public opinion and direct policy discussions. Obama is described as the ultimate “content provider.” Though there are critics to this saturation strategy, it appears that the public still likes hearing from the President and assigns him considerable equity as a leader. One key implication of this strategy, the author suggests, is that messaging becomes a dynamic, demanding 24-hour contact sport.

Of course, what’s not mentioned in  the article is that many other politicians – or even pundits – are also making every effort to leverage the vast and protean media landscape. It’s just that they are not as consistently effective, and lack the global platform and profile of the President. Furthermore, it’s increasingly difficult to stand out among the profusion of media noise, as numerous companies and bloggers can testify. Despite the apparently insatiable demand for information, there is a saturation point for most users. The challenge for content providers – and their communication partners – will be to avoid just adding their own  fire hose to the mix and figuring out where and when it makes most sense to communicate.

The Olympic Torch PR Fiasco

I’ve been on the road most of the past week in  the US and UK and have watched with fascination as the Beijing Olympic Torch relay unfolds. Though the coverage across the various global media channels varied – I got info from everything from the BBC to USA Today to Le Monde – the story was fairly consistent. China’s attempt to burnish it’s reputation as a country and global leader through the Olympics is in shambles – at least so far. By any measure – save perhaps the assessment by the Chinese government officials – the relay has turned into a PR fiasco of historic proportions. After the carefully planned relay devolved into brawling and demonstrations – all captured by the global media TV cameras – Chinese officials tried to control the message by staging surreal non-events – such as the relay in India which banned any spectators and involved the runners going around an enclosed stadium dozens of times. They also added about 15,000 police for good measure. Subsequent stops were similar – heavy-handed security, private events and stitled celebrations with forced smiles all around. Beyond the politics of this development, what are the lessons here for communication professionals? Here are a few suggestions:

• In the digital era where global media -and citizen journalists – provide 24-day massive coverage of most events instantly, the stage-managed style of PR favored by countries like China is becoming more disingenuous and less effective. The only place where China can successfully control their message is in China, due to draconian censorship and state controlled media. China is learning that their propaganda productions don’t work so well in the real world. Welcome to the Web 2.0 world!
• There’s probably a lesson here how powerful the Internet has become as a news source and force for social movement and debate. Based on what I saw the Web served as an important platform in the planning, promotion, discussion and coverage of the torch demonstrations. Conversely, China seems able to control much of the internal national discussion through their tight censorship of the Web – though they are happy to loosen the reins when their citizens jump with nationalist frenzy with cries to boycott Carrefour stores.
• If anybody needed another reminder, companies that align their marketing with famous stars or countries with dubious track records do so at their own peril. Just yesterday Coca-Cola announced it was ”adjusting” its marketing plans for the remainder of the torch relay. Whether any of the countries can benefit from the Olympic Games themselves probably depends on whether China can turn the PR tides and stem the loud global criticism and avoid major boycotts. Either way, I suspect Lenovo will come out as the biggest loser. As a Chinese company, this is their global coming out party. Bad timing.
• Issues blend and overlap into a messy public relations morass where the public dictates the communication agenda, not corporations or governments. China clearly thought it could segment (or ignore) geo-political issues like Darfur, Tibet, tainted medicine and food and the environment and keep these distasteful issues from the Olympic Games. No such luck. Many saw the Games as precisely the right time to lump all these together into a loud proclamation for change by China. It will be interesting  to see whether China will try to defuse any of these issues (probably behind the scenes) or just continue to plow forward.
• Finally, I note that China’s main crisis-management strategy seems to be to paint demonstrators – and the Dalai Lama – as dangerous malcontents with a nefarious agenda. (Strange how Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe did the same thing this week, accusing critics of trying to re-colonialize his country.) In other words, when in trouble go on the attack. The track record of this tactic seems to be very bad, and I doubt it will work this time.

This is PR on a broad world stage. Let’s watch and see what happens. It’s shaping up to be an interesting summer.

Bridging the Digital Divide

I’ve spent the past two weeks or so in Tanzania (to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro) and was curious to see how much this part of the world – considered a developing region despite the strong tourism presence – was participating in the digital revolution. My verdict, though perhaps anecdotal, is that even in this relatively poor, developing part of East Africa the digital revolution is a daily reality. Consider these snapshots:

- I am writing this post from one of several internet cafes in Moshi, which are typically crammed with locals and ex-pats catching up on email, checking their Facebook profiles or even using Skype to call home

- It’s possible to use a cell phone (or Blackberry) on virtually the entire Kilimanjaro mountain, and even to make a cell phone call from the summit – courtesy of a Chinese cellular network

- Cell phones are ubiquitous among the population of Moshi and the Kili guides. In fact, our guide used his phone (via text messages and calls) to coordinate his team and direct supplies across the various base camps

- By far the biggest marketing presence in the town and surrounding villages is for cell phone providers – Cell Tell and Vodaphone being the most prominent

- Schools designed to train locals in computer and internet technology are fairly common, and appear to be quite popular

Despite these positives, there are still drawbacks. On the internet side the vast majority of connections are via modem, and virtually useless for any type of rich content. Wi-fi hotspots are non-existent. Most hotels do not provide any sort of internet access (we had to borrow the reception desk at our hotel to send a few emails.) And both electrical power and mobile coverage can be spotty in some areas. But overall, with limited effort one can plug into the Web and use cell phones for both personal and business needs. I see all this as encouraging sign that the digital divide is becoming a relic of the past.