Second Life is a virtual world launched in 1999 that now has over 14 million users. In Second Life, users create avatars to explore the virtual world, build structures, conduct business, and socialize. While initially popular for marketing, many companies found it did not generate significant gains as some users see Second Life as an escape from real brands. Criticism of Second Life includes that it can be difficult to use and certain users may behave inappropriately or illegally within the virtual world.

1. Second Life Social Media in marketing Noora Moilanen

2. HISTORY AND DEFINITION Was created by Philip Rosedale in 1999, and is owned by a company Linden Lab. Second Life was opened to a limited audition in 2002, and then the name was changed from Linden World to Second Life There are over 14 million users worldwide and in 2011 about 1 million active users. Users are called Residents

3. There are many different functions within the simulation; you can move around with your character or avatar as they are called in Second Life, you can rent virtual land build buildings and start your own business as entrepreneur there is a own Second Life currency: Linden Dollar Most of all Second Life is a social channel and communication is an important aspect.

4. HOW TO USE SECOND LIFE Second Life´s basic use is free of charge, but if wanted, you can upgrade your account to a chargeable premium account. User has to create own avatar, and decide its looks. Users can build their own buildings by using provided building blocks There are limited areas where users can build. These areas are called “sandboxes”. After user has created an avatar it is possible to communicate with other users and also to explore the surroundings. Moving inside the simulation happens by walking, flying or by using a teleport.

5. COMMMUNICATION In Second Life you can write public messages to all users and also private messages between two users. There is also a possibility to speak with other users by using a microphone.

6. Second Life is also used in teaching: You can have meetings and lecturers in virtual world and also share videos, pictures and sound as a teaching material. Second Life also uses simulations as a teaching method. This provides experience from real life situations. There is a possibility to learn languages in Second Life, and this also gives users a chance to use the language they are learning in real life situations. The advantage of using Second Life as a teaching platform is that it brings a feeling of presence more than some other distance teaching equipment’s.

7. MARKETING IN SECOND LIFE There has been marketing in Second Life but many companies have experienced that it hasn´t worked out so great. The big brands still keep marketing in Second Life, but the gain from that is extremely small. There are surveys about marketing in Second life, and some users or Residents have even threated to boycott some areas of Second Life because of these marketers.

8. One difficulty is that for some users Second Life is a fantasy world. Because of that, they don´t want to see real life companies in their fantasy. Many different countries have their embassies also Second Life, for example Sweden. Some universities have their own virtual campuses in Second Life, for example Harvard.

9. CRITICISM There has been some criticism against Second Life It is said, that it can be difficult to use, the programme doesn´t always work properly and also about the behaviour of some users. There has been also illegal copying “copybotting” in Second Life and some users disturb other users on purpose. The freedom of virtual world and anonymity enables that some users can experiment and implement fantasies; this has even lead to divorces.