3pointD.com » Blog Archive » LFG: Social Limitations in Second Life Groups

Link: 3pointD.com » Blog Archive » LFG: Social Limitations in Second Life Groups.

I found Aleister Kronos' take on Groups in Second Life interesting. I've been a member of Nick Wilson of Metaversed.com's Things to Do group for a little while now. I've attended a number of events, and each one has been fascinating in its own way.

Some of the places we've visited included Second Life Trees - a project where you can purchase a tree in SL and the proceeds go to planting a real tree in an actual rainforest. There was also a tour of the Sculptie contest where we could view strange and unusual prim sculptures.

I have felt that, over time, there has been more of a commercial exchange with some of the tours, but I have no problem with it because I'm eager to discover new places in SL and learn about what companies and nonprofit organizations are doing in the space. I haven't felt the commercialization of the tours is in your face in any way. The gatherings are friendly and informal, and I've been seeing some of the same people there and am gaining new friends and contacts over time. Always a warm feeling to see familiar faces in SL.

In terms of growth, the Geek Meet held by Nick is far more of an overload - it is hard to get in at times. So far, I haven't had trouble accessing a Things to Do, but I'm sure that will happen soon. I think anyone with a SIM they want to promote would be grateful to have the coverage that they'd get from a visit from the Things to Do gang.

I've also been thinking about Groups in SL because I've been joining a lot of them lately in hopes of making new contacts with likeminded people. I'm pretty selective with what I join but somehow have ended up belonging to 22 groups (limit is 25) in a short time even after deleting some that just weren't what I thought they'd be. I'm finding most of the groups, however, are barely active.

I recently listened to a crayonCast broadcasting a panel (crayonCast 28 - Virtual Branding Panel Discussion) including the Chief Marketing Office from iVillage talking about their group iVillage Girls Night Out. 

I didn't think it was a very old cast (July 2), so I went into SL and joined the group only to discover that it has been inactive for months. Even their blog hasn't been updated since February announcing their last event (a fashion show). I've been IMing some of the members who said that previous events were a bit buggy but fun, and they missed having them.

Now I'm wanting to take over the group and start my own fun events for women in SL. There it is, a group sitting dormant with about 100 members. Of course, this would be a bad thing to do with a capital B. So being the ethical marketing chick that I am, I'm trying to reach the CMO at iVillage to see if I could help revive the group. This kind of community building, guiding and networking is right up my alley. Will report back on how it goes.

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