Social networking is booming on the internet... or so they say. When we first jumped online in 1995, our first "website" was with Geocities, a social network of free websites that linked all of us together as a community. We published all of our funny river rafting stories and other commentaries about rafting trips. Most of these were about private trips, strange customers and funny stories about the guides. Never did we think that it would be a marketing tool. It was just a place to store the stories and to vent and rage on about stuff.
Most businesses left and so did we, though our site still exists and still draws quite a bit of traffic. Small businesses all started "real" websites. In other words, we paid to have it hosted. For us, there were lots of authoring programs that allowed us to create the site with minimal HTML knowledge. We just dropped and dragged text boxes and photos on to the page and then uploaded the document to the servers. Pretty simple.
Linking to other websites became a different social network of like-minded webmasters who were creating content that complimented each other. We were all "bro'in'" down with each other as we sent internet traffic to friends and each other.
And here we are, in 2007 and the buzz word is "social networking" again. Okey. So what's new? Myspace, YouTube, Blogger, Facebook, etc all provide more ways to communicate with your personal network... your friends. Of course, Myspace, YouTube are kings of them all. And Blogger is one of my favorites for journaling everything. But it still seems to be the same way of communicating, just more sophisticated.
A couple of years ago, I heard about a different type of communication tool. More buzz was coming from the gamers about this social network. At first, it sounded like the Sims, but I tried Sims and I got bored with it. The newer concept was Second Life, a virtual world from Linden Labs. They created "land" and people bought it... just like in the real world. Builders were constructionists who had 3-D knowledge and made buildings, trees, boats, cars... you name it with "prims." Prims are building blocks. A cube, a sphere, a pyramid, a cylinder... and then you manipulate it. The basic building blocks of life. Programmers created script to make things move and do something. A river flows. A carousel spins. A door closes automatically. A person can fly and become a fire-breathing dragon. I loved it. So fun. And so much time lost in a virtual world.
It didn't take a rocket science to realize the marketing potential of having a storefront or a billboard or an event hyping your product. And yes, the spammers are there as well as pornographers, gambling casinos and con artists. Just like in the real world. Even the obnoxious stereotypical dude that you hate at every party is there.
W.E.T. River Trips has land on Mauve, a popular land mass with a great sandbox (sandbox definition: a free place to practice building). We've met lots of great builders and programmers. The mind-blowing world invites awe, as beautiful properties unfold before your eyes. Oceanfront property, magical forests, free-flowing rivers and forbidden lands all entice you to explore. Those who attempt to build are surprised by their own accomplishments as an array of international members and residents are so willing to advise and help.
A recent post by Steve Rubel outlines the reasons for being there. It is the future of marketing. Even if Second Life fails, that future has been assured. Though, tech-heads are ruling that virtual world now, the execution will become simpler and simpler for the everyday business world.
For now, you have to have quite a powerful computer to operate in it. I envision Second Life to be a browser based application on Firefox so that anyone can participate. A world mirroring our own reality is waiting for any creative internet marketer. In the meantime, I'm having a blast.
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