CNN wrote a story about Second Life (SL) discussion addressing whether SL is over hyped or not. People are not really seeing the possibilities with SL, but it generates a lot of coverage. Most of it amounts to PR stunts, but it still brings in new members.

What’s more important is that as more people come into SL it will start to mature as a platform. I see it becoming a new type of Internet. Not that it will replace the Internet, as it is definitely not a place to find anything fast and it is horrid affair to read in-world (waiting for text to rez, trying to find the right angle to read). The Internet will remain the place to go to find information fast.

What I hope that corporations and SL residents come to understand is that Second Life is a fantastic place to re-create real life virtually with products and services. Adidas and American Apparel’s jump into SL is just for the PR value, but both companies have missed a real opportunity.

Corporations (and residents) should realize that Second Life provides a virtual touch and feel that is difficult to produce online. Many apparel companies have flash sites, because they are trying to cater to the consumers desire to feel their brand. But the Internet rears it’s ugly head because a web designer still needs to remember that people are mainly seeking for information quickly. So a flash presentation that takes you through a 5 minute overview on a product will most likely be skipped.

In Second Life, however, this isn’t the case. People take the time to explore in SL. If you create engaging, interactive content people will flock to it. Feel free to hire me as a consultant to make this happen, but until then (I’m not holding my breath) just imagine what a company like Victoria’s Secret could do in-world.