A fellow co-worker and myself were discussing various social aspects and the new trend of how people use space. As in, where they spend most of their time. The topic was very interesting where we initially narrowed it down into three areas. Home, work and the ThirdSpace (or Being Space as TrendWatching points out)

commercial living-room-like settings, where catering and entertainment aren’t just the main attraction, but are there to facilitate small office/living room activities like watching a movie, reading a book, meeting friends and colleagues, or doing your admin.

BEING SPACES charge us for eating, drinking, playing, listening, surfing, working, or meeting, just as we would at home or in the office, while successfully reintegrating us into city life 

An all too common example is the way Starbucks has made the coffeeshop into a living room type setting.

I also believe that in addition to these three spaces, there is a 4thSpace - online and social networks. A place where people go as a virtual home, from their landing page on Facebook to iGoogle. People dwell in one or two of these spaces at any one time. Usually one is physical with the second being virtual (ex: sitting at home playing Xbox Live, in Starbucks surfing Facebook, etc.)

The Four Spaces
1 - Home
2 - Work/Office
3 - Being Space (Starbucks, Borders Books, Panera Bread)
4 - Virtual Space (Facebook, iGoogle, MySpace) 

The intriguing aspect of 4thSpace is that it continues to exist without us after we place our identity into that realm. With MySpace, there are pages of deceased members that still garner visits and posted comments. So much so in fact that those that have passed now warrant their own sites like MyDeathSpace.com. The virtual identity becomes, or takes the place of, a real presence. Granted, social networks also allow users to be someone (or something) other than themselves, but the 4thSpace allows comfort in a setting where the other three spaces may not.

People unfamiliar, and even the familiar, become known by their page or avatar. Xbox Live, Facebook or when SecondLife was viable allows users to drop in for a visit and say hello. No one home? Leave a message and they’ll get back to you.

It’s a fascinating topic that is vast in it’s research potential, especially with user trends and emerging technologies with the additional social aspects and implications. As we get drawn into The Matrix a bit more, it’ll be nice to know how cozy it will be. Or when a Starbucks opens a Starbucks in it. Trust me, NYC is close already.

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Some of the main problems with Second Life were that too much of a learning curve was needed for people new to virtual worlds — especially adults. The technology itself was clunky, rendered slowly, and just didn’t look anything remotely close to "real".

Well, up to the plate steps Sony, and their virtual world product soon-to-be-available on PS3 consoles and PSP, Home.

I’ve always believed that virtual worlds will eventually make up a significant part of media usage time as the years wear on, and as kids that grow up fully digital, using virtual worlds, communities, social networks eventually become adults that use digital media too.

Well take a look at the beta version of PlayStation’s HOME, and take your first glimpse at the future of virtual worlds. I guarantee that advertisers will eventually figure out how to play nice with residents of virtual worlds. But I think it’s going to take someone BIG like Sony (not LindenLabs, sorry guys) to make the experience comfy for both.

If this isn’t the iteration that eventually is "the one", my guess is "the one" will be inspired by this. The only thing holding Home back is it being locked into Sony’s hardware — which has historically been one of Sony’s weaknesses. But there are millions with PS3s (5.5 million) and PSPs (well over 10 million), so there is certainly a healthy base to start with. If something like this could be made available to everyone, a worldwide phenomenon will be born.

In the meantime, enjoy the beta video.

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I really do believe that virtual worlds, in one form or another, will be at least a part of consumers’ lives in the not-so-distant future. I really do.

But Second Life continues to disappoint from a marketing perspective.

The irony of it all is that when I give examples of which companies should be marketing in Second Life, I’ve used IBM as an example of a natural fit.

Well, it seems I was wrong. Completely wrong.

With all of IBM’s much-publicized Second Life efforts that have included the building of a virtual business center, how many leads have they generated for IBM products?

2.

Two.

Dos.

Try explaining that cost-per-lead to your superiors. Ouch.

Needless to say, IBM is now looking for other venues.

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The interactive marketing industry is better off with Joe Jaffe around. He gets us talking about conversations, rethinking the :30 spot, podcasts up a storm, and just generally makes us all smarter. I’ve known him for years, and respect him greatly.

But I just don’t get the Second Life thing.

I mean, I get Second Life. I get why some people use it. I’ve spent lots of time in there (most of it wondering where people were, then realizing they were all in strip clubs, brothels, nude beaches, and casinos). There is just SUCH a limited number of people that are reachable via SL. And one has to wonder just how much influence they actually wield in real life. I can understand if you are trying to reach a highly technical or tech-savvy audience with an appropriate experience, but does an effort like this for Coca-Cola really amount to anything with measurable results?

There are just so many other communities and virtual worlds that cater to teenagers (i.e. MTV’s Laguna Beach, Gaia Online) out there that would make more sense to me if you were going for some kind of brand association (not to mention a bigger, and more influential [and influence-able] crowd).

The era where there was media value in building islands in SL for a press release’s sake has passed us by. If you want to get press from SL now, Crayon’s effort is certainly one way to do it — create an alternative to the “classic” island-building experience. But for the money it cost, I’d love to know if it was worth it.

Without sounding contradictory, though, I do applaud the effort. Someone’s got to do something new, for us to learn something new. But that doesn’t mean it feels 100% right to me.

Or, maybe I’m just still feeling the Nyquil.

**UPDATE**
AdFreak covers this as well.

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The MIT Advertising Lab blog links to a story in Adweek called “Second Life Loses Luster”.

If anyone has had a conversation with me in the last year, you know my thoughts on Second Life. While it may be possible to successfully advertise in Second Life, I contend that the answer is not “building islands”. The article mentions a recent survey that says that residents are not receptive to brand messaging. As a matter of fact, more than 70 percent of the site’s users say they are disappointed with the marketing that goes on in Second Life.

Is Second Life a viable ad medium at all? Maybe, but the answer is probably closer to CRM tools and loyalty programs than retail presences or destinations we expect people to visit on their own accord. Check some more thoughts on this at my previously written ClickZ Article, Second Guessing Second Life, from November ‘06.

Build relationships — not islands.

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