SL Advertisement

Alright, I've ALMOST finally accepted the whole FREE membership deal. And I'm still trying to comprehend the stupidity of the Teen Grid, but thats alright. My question to you though, is this:

What is LindenLabs plan on advertising? I'd ALMOST be alright with a teen grid, if it isn't advertised all over every Viacom owned television channel in the world. The time when I hear about Second Life commercials on Nickelodeon is the time when you REALLY start losing my respect.

I beleive there is going to be a breaking of the line where Second Life changes from a socially themed melting pot of creativity and innovation, to a massive, teen infested, "Totally Hip" 3D chatroom.

So does anyone have any ideas as to what the future holds in terms of advertising SL?

Heya Suru.

First, it'd help on why you feel Teen Second Life is stupid and why you believe Nickelodeon advertising would make you lose respect.

Second, the way SL is scaled, I don't feel it'd be effective for LL to do TV advertising—at least not in the foreseeable future, because of the cost-to-gain ratio. I'm very much in favor of, heck, friends telling friends telling they get their kicks here. Amongst throngs of many people, it can multiply like bunnies.

OMG the Lindens want people who aren't 'leet cool net-folk like yourself to know about Second Life! MY GOD THE HORROR.


...


okay, perhaps I am a bit unfair. But would you mind sharing why, precisely, advertising for SL bothers you so?

Similarly, there's a very good reason for the teen grid that's been hashed out every time the matter has come up(and is, in fact, in the CURRENT active thread). As a entity based in the United States, Linden Labs must follow the US laws pertaining to minors online. These laws, while the intent is nice, are rather draconan and unforgiving, and it is generally easier to simply forbid minors. The Teen Grid is a nice compromise between allowing teens to use SL and complying with the law.

I see what you mean. Point taken, but still I would rather have no advertising.

First off, I dont think im 'Super Leet Cool Net-Folk,' but there's something about Second Life that doesn't scream out mainstream to me. I guess its just a personal thing.

And as for why I think teen grid is stupid? It really just seems pointless to me I guess. Maybe Im just jumping to conclusions, but it seems that if you are trying to get children to not play the game, introducing the option of sneaking into the main grid to a massive group of children seems like more trouble than just dealing with the few that are there already. Just my thoughts.

SL's pretty clearly grounded in cyberpunk-esque ideas of being the rough draft "Metaverse" or the "Matrix", in a sense. In short, a supplement/replacement to the Internet, just as the World Wide Web became the "face of the Internet" for many people.

That doesn't mean that creative and unusual people will be forced to the edges, any more than they are on the Internet as a whole.



The Teen Grid provides a handy cover-your-ass option for LL when the FBI comes knocking, asking about all the porn and such in SL and the possibility of exposure to minors. "Look!" they can say. "Every time we find a minor on the main grid, we send them to the teen grid!"

To say that I'm utterly confused by the original post would be an understatement. There's a bunch of seething about the teen grid, some seething about television, some seething about potential television ads... But, er, after that I'm afraid I'm a bit lost.

In any event, I'll comment on the TV bit: I doubt we'll see any SL ads on TV anytime soon. Television is prohibitively expensive for a company like Linden Lab and a product like Second Life. The cost per conversion, even for just a basic account, would be in the thousands of dollars. Possibly tens of thousands, if they do a big media buy on a major network or cable networks. The return on that acquisition would be, at best, $10 a month? Nah. I don't see it.

There are infinitely better avenues for advertising Second Life than television -- at least at this juncture. Right now, the computer-owning, technology-comfortable demographic that would be the only one likely to embrace Second Life is easily reachable via the internet and other inexpensive mediums of communication, all of which offer a cost per acquisition that's probably something like ten to sixty bucks on average. Much better ROI.

In short: This is not 1999. No one is handing out the capital for companies to advertise a service that's free.

Alright, more points taken. I guess I'll stop complaining

But, it was just my initial reaction to the whole thing. Now that it's a little more put into perspective, Ill accept that a little more.

I don't. There needn't be a seperation of the two here.

The web's a medium where I can read thousands of academic journals from my computer at home, or can hang out on MySpace and talk on AIM if I so desired.

As SL expands, people will gravitate towards that which interests them, or create something if it doesn't exist already. It's vastly open-ended, which is one thing I like about it.

I've also heard the theory that one day, once SL gets big enough, large corporations will start to come in and create content. I think we'll see both of these things, but much more gradually and in a nicer way than most would think.

From what I've seen, I'd go out on a limb and say at least most of the SL'ers posting here to the forums are "techies", somewhat introverted, and moreso artistic than the norm. Would it suck if there were an influx of obnocious people with the maturity level of children? Sure it would. BUT, with an influx of people we see LL forced to deal with the increased stressload, improve how SL works and how many AV's can be in a sim... an influx of customers for those who create content... new pricing structures (free basic acct instead of $10 one-time fee)

If I really like a song, but hear it on the radio day-in day-out, I start to get tired of it quick - so I kinda see where you are coming from with this. I wouldn't expect SL to transform into a "Totally Hip 3D chatroom" as you say, but as others have already suggested I would expect it, if not the slim possibility of some other platform like it, to be as common as web browsers are today to the masses in 10-15 years.

Yeah, I see what you're saying completely. . .

But, on a different note, when is LL gonna update the Physics engine like they said they would,?

OMG for the humanity!

There's porn in SL?

Heh, or fix a ton of bugs, ect? We're on the same page, I agree with you there... Many things a lot of us do in SL are workarounds and tricks, and shouldn't have to be. But, I guess I just see SL as the best "of it's kind" out there, if "There" was any better I'd be there... Software development is full of a lot of trial and error - you patch something and maybe it breaks the functionality of something else. I've seen many movies and games that came out trying to meet a deadline and the results suffered (example: I would have found a way to impregnate the PS game "Xenogears" if it wasn't rushed.), so I can understand when they have to get it done right before they try to chuck a new physics engine in - heck, I still crash trying to play about 1/3rd of the streaming video on parcels I come across.

I figured out what this poll was missing, and I think it deserves some wacky consideration...

Second Life needs an infomercial.

LMAO! I can see it now...

Ron Popeil - "And how much would you expect to pay each month for this fabulous metaverse? $100 a month? $90 a month?"
Dumb cohost - "Absolutely Ron, I'd pay 3 times that! Why, look at how many ways you can make a chicken, or dehydrated beef jerkey, just using the powers of the metaverse!"
Ron Popeil - "Well b!tch, think again, because right now if you sign up, the metaverse is FREE!"
Dumb cohost - "Sweet baby Jesus, FREE, Ron? That's absolutely freaking fantastic! I can't believe it!"
Ron Popeil - "OH, believe it. For a limited time, order now and get SecondLife ABSOLUTELY FREE!*"

* Land tier fee not included. Usable physics engine, clothing, accessories, and vehicles sold seperately. Linden Labs and Ronco are not responsible for lost or misused time, money, loss of friend or family, or any other adverse affects. Using Secondlife may mean that your girlfriend will leave you, have sex with other people, and forget all about your troll-arse. Do not take Secondlife if your are nursing, pregnant, or catholic, as serious health risks may apply. Do not taunt Secondlife.

Classic.

This is my fave line. Great comedy writing, Logan—hey, you know, I bet a band of dedicated Resis could put together one of these and pitch it to LL! And even if it doesn't work out commercially, I bet a lot of us will wanna watch it for the sheer entertainment value. And that's what SL is: FUN!

I would vote for "Yes, on all pertinent channels, but AFTER the teen version has gone live and started to stabilize."