'Second Life', What About Our First Life?!
(With this post, guest contributor Rich Polt makes his PhilanTopic debut. Polt is president of Louder Than Words, a Boston-based PR agency serving foundations, nonprofits, and related businesses.)
I am incredibly conflicted about Second Life.
On the off chance you aren’t in the know, Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world that enables its residents to explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and trade goods and services. Second Life even has its own economy and a currency referred to as Linden Dollars (L$), which is exchangeable for US dollars or other currencies on market-based currency exchanges. Enterprising folk can become rich on Second Life (see this story from BusinessWeek), and charitable folk can generate some serious dollars for causes (the American Cancer Society recently raised over $128,000 through its annual Second Life Relay for Life).
A few weeks ago, I attended a great conference in Miami that was sponsored by the Communications Network. The theme of the event was "What We Know (Or Should Know) About Effective Communications" in the philanthropic sector. As one would expect, much of the conference was dedicated to Generation Next and Web 2.0 strategies. The penultimate plenary session included a presentation from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, describing how they are using Second Life to build communities of interest (virtual and real) related to their grantmaking. This comes on the heels of a recent $550,000 grant to the USC Center on Public Diplomacy to examine the role online communities can play in fostering real-world activism.
So why am I conflicted?
Part of me thinks this is very cool stuff! Foundations are learning that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people are spending time in virtual worlds, and they are using this knowledge to leverage awareness of the sector and to harness real world generosity. Plus, the PR value for doing things on Second Life is still huge. As MacArthur is learning, there is tremendous opportunity and potential to be explored through this medium.
Another part of me is appalled in general by the virtual reality boom. It’s escapism to the nth degree and experts say it’s only going to become more sophisticated and pervasive. To quote from the movie Dazed and Confused: "Everybody in this car needs some good ol' worthwhile visceral experience." There are 193 results that appear when you type in "sedentary lifestyle" on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Web site. That’s because it is a leading cause of childhood obesity, which RWJF is dedicated to reversing. In other words, let’s go outside, let’s exercise, let’s interact with real people, let’s work on our first life before we get lost in a second one.
No doubt I will struggle with these opposing views as I try to inspire my son to "play outside" as he grows older and, at the same time, come to see the value that virtual worlds offer the philanthropic sector. In the meantime, here is some unsolicited PR advice for RWJF. Stage a childhood obesity symposium in Second Life (or even a passive demonstration) advocating for people to log-off, get outside, and lead less sedentary lifestyles. That would be great!
-- Rich Polt
