Second Life = Waste of Nonprofit Time
General, online communications April 12th, 2007After almost a year of people getting excited about Second Life, I finally decided to give it a chance. After wandering around for about an hour I decided I can’t even begin to understand why most non-profits would attempt to build a presence in this thing. It’s incredibly hard navigate unless you know exactly what you’re looking for. This is the perfect example of something that seems to be all hype, little substance. The only time I hear Second Life mentioned is when something funny happens on there like John Edwards site gets vandalized and he has to build a new one.
A quick tip for all nonprofits. Sometimes something is cool, but not worth doing. Second Life would fall into this category.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:02 am
OMG, there has been so much debate about this over the past year. My first reaction was similar to yours. The problem is that SL requires a steep learning curve and some immersion before you see or appreciate the benefits. The best experience is participating in online learning events and having the networking opportunities. My best experience was attending an event and having a great conversation with Jimmy Wales - I’d probably never be able to do that in Real LIfe. For people doing work in online learning, particularly where it requires simulation - it is useful.
With that said, I don’t think it is for all nonprofits only those that work on cutting edge, online learning, or want to do some networking.
I’ve written alot about the good, bad, and the ugly with Nonprofits and Second Life -
http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/npsl/index.html
April 13th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Hi Beth,
My issue with Second Life is that nonprofits could be spending more time on other areas instead of wasting time on SL. More time developing their email lists, MySpace pages or new videos instead of worrying about SL. Sometimes we start getting excited about technology before we start thinking about whether its a good use of our time or not. SL could be fun for individuals, but I don’t see it as worthy of nonprofit resources at this point.
June 18th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
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July 25th, 2007 at 11:06 am
I totally understand your confusion and lack of excitment about Second Life. There is indeed a steep learning curve, but I feel the reason that non profits have done well in SL is due to the community aspect. My only request would be to keep on eye on this space (not just SL, virtual worlds at large) as we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.