Why Am I on Second Life? (Hint: It Has to Do with Social Media!)

OK, I know the reactions that many of you are having right about now after having read the title.

It’s either “What the heck is Second Life?” or “Is Second Life even still a thing anymore?”

First off, Second Life is an online virtual world which has been around since 2003.

And, yes, it’s still a thing with an active user count of about 900,000 according to its owner, Linden Lab.

Now, as for why I’m there, or inworld as we say…

Let’s discuss that!

I’ve dabbled in Second Life for just over ten years.

My interests in virtual communities and programming (my CompSci masters thesis was about the use of fractals in terrain model generation) led me here originally and I have just hung out after that.

To make a long story short, due to the pandemic, venues began to pop up inworld to support affected groups in Real Life (or, IRL as we say inworld.)

One of these groups was the Second Life Book Club, hosted by Draxtor Despres, a major Second Life media personality, who wanted to help writers of science fiction and fantasy.

I attended several of his broadcasts and, after a while, approached him about my hosting a broadcast for the mystery/thriller community.

Drax graciously agreed and allowed me the use of his inworld studio.

The Mystery Hour with Con Sweeney started in July and broadcasts on the third Monday of every month at 6:00PM SLT (Second Life Time or Pacific Standard Time for you folks out in meetspace – you gotta love the lingo!)

So, that’s why I’m inworld these days.

Now, your next question…

Why Second Life?

Why go to the trouble of creating an avatar and downloading yet another application?

It’s a fair question.

Second Life is not the right forum for all businesses and professionals.

For dentists, lawyers, and retail, I wouldn’t recommend it.

But, for writers, artists, and musicians, I do recommend Second Life.

After nine months of the pandemic, and who knows how many more to come, most folks I know are getting tired of the Hollywood Squares look of Zoom and the Brady Bunch gags.

Second Life offers a creative alternative for creators of original content.

There is a look and feel comparable to being on a late night talk show IRL.

Furthermore, content can be recorded and made available afterwards for sharing on social media.

Oh, and don’t worry, you don’t have to come inworld if you don’t want to.

We livestream each episode to Facebook and YouTube while we broadcast.

I invite you to check us out at the links above, and if Second Life can help your business, please contact me and let’s get you inworld for a walkabout!

I would be remiss if I don’t thank all the folks who have The Mystery Hour with Con Sweeney possible.

First, there’s Drax for his generous off of using his studio.

Then there’s Becky Hanson who creates all the wonderful avatars that represent our panelists.

(What? You don’t think I can do that type of quality work now, do you?)

Isabelle Cheren, our camera person and tech support, who gets up at 1:00AM in England, to broadcast our show.

Strawberry Linden and Brett Linden (No, they’re not married!  All Linden Lab employees have the same surname for their avatars.) who assist in promoting our broadcasts.

My thanks to all of you!

As for the rest of you…

I hope to meet you all inworld sometime!

That’s it for now!

Please check out my 8 step approach for developing a social media program for more ideas on how to use social media.

Also, never forget to reach out to either ask questions or to ask for help from someone like myself!
In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog.

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.

And, remember!

I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me. Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.

I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.

My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.

Stay well!