Revolution and Great Expectations

Has Second Life® positively impacted the real world like we imagined it would? We (approximately 16 million of 'us') have created an amazing, functioning virtual environment complete with ecosystems, communities, commerce and relationships that would never have formed any other way. We have redefined entertainment and expanded the minds of millions of people with the potential to create and produce far outside the proverbial box. Impact the world? Definitely. Did it happen the way we expected? That depends on your particular timeline. Things are still happening.  

Entrepreneurs and established businesses made a living, or in the very least, took a shot at it. Universities established themselves in Second Life, defining their particular uses for it.  Government agencies have found the value in Second Life, too. But, is the 3D virtual world of Second Life EVER going to catch on with the mainstream user the same way Facebook has? The answer: Not the way Second Life currently is. It’s so much more complex then typical 2D social media. Only a relatively small number of online users competently understand HOW or WHY to use SL™, and that's holding things up for those of us in SL™.

The most amazing thing about Second Life is that we HAVE it. Eventually, we’ll all learn how to USE it to our potential.  (Ahem, sounds a bit like Pip in Charles Dickens’s ‘Great Expectations’, doesn’t it?)

While in San Francisco this summer, Jay and I had lunch with Philip Rosedale on the eve of his SLCC Keynote Address.  The three of us chatted for nearly two hours about Molaskey's Pub, our book, some of SL's history, places to go, we talked a bit about groups what they're doing, we talked about my 2008 interview with him in New York and then the conversation moved on to digitally-born business and social media in general. At some point during lunch, we talked about Second Life's complexities and why mainstream users are struggling to accept the same SL™ we all know and love. Radical change was in the air during that lunch. I could feel it. While sitting in the trendy San Francisco restaurant that afternoon, at some point, or two, I looked around to see if anyone was leaning in on the conversation at our table. They weren't, of course, I was just having fun at the thought.  

The next day, in his keynote address, Philip spoke of the evolution of Second Life and the revolutionary changes that will surely come. Change is not always easy, but it is necessary to evolve for survival. Evolution is gradual and continuous, like people and society. Revolution is a movement of the people and society. Revolution is sometimes necessary to hasten progress. It can be unsettling, or exciting, depending on what side of the coin you call. Adaptors know when they can't beat them and therefore join them, sort of speak. All of these things are happening in the digital world right now.

Philip recently announced he would be starting a new company based on the evolutionary foundation of Second Life. That's revolutionary. Pip has us wondering what this new company will be.  What ever 'it' is, it is expectantly revolutionary.

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