Second Life: "Gen-I" and the Future of Organizational Development
I have been meaning to post on Second Life ever since IAF announced their study on the project, and this is a great opportunity for me to talk a little about the extended benefits of social networking and the future of organizational life.
What’s “Second Life,” you ask? Well, in the words of their website:
Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 3,405,299 people from around the globe. From the moment you enter the World you’ll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you’ve explored a bit, perhaps you’ll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.You’ll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online Linden Dollar exchanges.Welcome to Second Life. We look forward to seeing you in-world.
The short and long-range ramifications of this site and its offspring are profound, but as IAF states, it will take some time to latch on. However, that “some time” won’t be as long as it would have been just a few years ago, as we are well into the life cycle of “Gen-I” and the Digital Natives (Those born after the internet). If you want to deal in human capital and global connectivity on any level, you absolutely must think virtual social and organizational networking. Without a fluency in this language and way of life, you can expect to miss out on a major segment of, well… just about everything!
Just listen to what Fast Company magazine has to say:
“A year ago, we were talking about how to leverage play in the business: What could we use to extend our learning environment? Well, Second Life was popular, it was available, and we could use it to experiment. So we built a couple of islands and tried out experiences within them. One of the first was an online ‘jam’: We brought in people from around the world to discuss how they could use this 3-D space to their advantage. They came from India, China, Brazil, Russia. The island got very crowded.
That led us to the Fresh Blue project in China. If you’re an intern, maybe just out of university, you want to learn all those basic things about our culture, and you want to connect with other people. So is there a way we can meet and not have to bring people together physically? We provide a virtual space in which to do that. The interns get up to speed quicker, and they meet people they wouldn’t otherwise meet. And it’s a very low-cost medium.
In the United States, we’re using Second Life to create a mentoring community. So if you’re interested in talking to somebody who has 25 years in the business, we’ve built a connection environment–a social-networking tool where you profile yourself, then meet in Second Life. We have multigenerational workforces, and this is a way to get together, virtually meet, and connect. We’re seeing very senior IBMers swimming and flying next to people who have been in the business 10 months. The only thing I can tell you is, they seem pleased to be meeting this way.”
I included a short video presentation from a PR company that can be found in Second Life called Text100, but they aren’t alone – many start-ups and product designers can be found in this virtual world. What are the ramifications for the future of business, politics, and globalization in general?
“Linden $” anyone? (Don’t worry, you’ll find out…)
Image: Tifotter (Flickr)
