The online virtual world/game has generated a lot of buzz lately not only on the blogosphere but in mainstream media. So, at the end of last May, I decided to have a quick look for myself (and, well for the team, too :-)
I haven’t written about my experience before (although I shared it on a Skypecast a few weeks ago), because I got to admit that I’m still puzzled with the possibilities and the limitations of this virtual world.
As pointed out earlier by Dan Karleen on his blog, some educators have already started to use SL in their classes while marketers, businesses and conferences organizers are staging virtual happenings under SL’s virtual sun.
What’s different in SL is the possibility to create anything, promote it and sell it to its residents in exchange for Linden dollars, this world’s currency — avatars animated by real people with real money who register an account with SL.
Beyond the academic applications already explored by several institutions, I can see interesting opportunities for colleges and universities in SecondLife to attract and meet prospectives by organizing virtual open houses.
High School seniors’ avatars could come to these events and ask their questions to your admission staff’s or student ambassadors’ avatars. They will get valuable answers while keeping their anonymity (even though this generation has no problem showcasing their entire social life including the bad and the ugly on myspace and facebook, some of them can still get shy when it comes to the college admission process ;-) They could even attend one of your institution’s classes held in SL to get a better idea of your academic programs. This type of open house would definitely give you a competitive advantage with international students or out-of-state students who cannot afford a visit in the real world.
I have to add that your institution would also look very cool and cutting-edge.
So, what would it take to make such virtual open houses work in SL?
More residents – Even with more than 300,000 residents at the time of this writing, I don’t think SL has the critical mass to get significant traffic, especially because the world is split between the adult (residents 18 and over) and the teen (13-17) grids. This specific divide between adults and teens doesn’t help as some high school seniors will be considered as teens and the others adults.
Programs in computer game design – If your institution has such programs, don’t wait. You have to be in SecondLife. Chances are your future and current students are already there. For other programs, I believe we would need to wait until SL gets mainstream – which would probably requires an easier user-experience (closer to the point-and-click experience on the Web)
Voice instead of instant messaging – In SL, communications between avatars are only done via the game instant messaging application. I’ve heard and read that voice over internet protocol is in the plans and should happen soon. When slow typers will be on equal grounds with their faster counterparts, exchanges will become easier. That’s what I’m calling online interactivity, the next best thing after face-to-face interactions ;-)
Admission staff training – When you’re not a gamer, it can take a while to get used to moving around and doing stuff in SL
A PG location – Lots of adult (like in adult movies) activities are going on in SL, so you should definitely check out the neighborhood before scheduling your open house even on the adult grid. Get a place rated PG or a private (yet pricey) island.
Good promotion inside and outside SL – In-world promotion, although possible via SL advertising agency, newspapers or event calendars, won’t probably reach everybody. If you were to hold such a virtual open house, you would definitely have to get the word out on your website or blog without forgetting to provide a quick link (a SLurl – SL direct links to in-world locations) to your open house.
What do you think?