Sun Communicators' Group Blog

Second Life in the Buff

A while ago, Sun held the first 'in-world' press conference by a Fortune 500 company in Second Life.  It was also a day of 'firsts' for me.  Arriving at a work event -- albeit virtual -- without any clothes on topped the list.  I teleported to the Sun Pavilion in the blink of an eye; however, my clothes materialized several minutes later.  Fortunately, there were others in my predicament (yes, misery loves company) stumbling around in their birthday suits wondering aloud: "Hey, where are my pants?"  To make matters worse, most of us couldn't get into the at-capacity event (there's a reason my mother always said arrive 10 minutes early or you're late), so there were angry, naked avatars milling about everywhere.   That was all the motivation I needed to learn how to fly...and fly fast. 

So Second Life may not be all that different from real life in at least one way:  sometimes a jolt to the system helps you pick up the pace and move in ways you never knew you could. With the exponential growth of social networking and citizen journalism, many of us in the communications field are experiencing a jolt (or at least a tremor) of our own.  The flow of communications is morphing from a pyramid into a sphere where conversations are being driven by many individuals in communities and not in a traditional hierarchical way.  Whether this shift is an evolution or a jolt, things are moving pretty darn fast.   And, like my experience in SL, I intend to learn how to navigate as quickly and deftly as I can in this new reality -- fully dressed.

Posted at 12:53PM Mar 28, 2007 by suzannem in Sun  |  Comments[1]