Second Life has been in the news again recently. Despite recent changes in upper management and a recent stagnation in new users, the popular virtual world seems to be on an upswing again. Second Life is looking to corporate participation as a key element in their future business (see this CNET article).

When Second Life first came out, businesses jumped in hoping to take advantage of opportunities for marketing, collaboration, and other potential business uses of the virtual world. Now, however, many of the original adopters of Second Life have backed out because of issues that interfered with its successful implementation. Some real issues that businesses face when trying to employ Second Life include the anonymity of users which can leave doubt about with whom one is really talking. Second Life also can’t be put behind a corporate firewall so that confidential communication can take place. Completely “locking down” an entire sim so that stray avatars don’t enter may not be the best business strategy either. Lastly, the endless opportunities for creation of objects and changing one’s appearance can be a distraction in a business setting, as well as reinforce the idea that Second Life is just a game or place for deviant activities–not a place for conducting business.

Second Life is responding to the needs of organizations wanting to use the virtual world for business communication by developing a new server product allowing organizations to run their own Second Life behind a firewall. This will be useful for businesses wanting to use the virtual world for certain types of activities such as conducting meetings or training sessions within the organization. Businesses may still have to consider using the regular Second Life platform, however, for meetings taking place with clients or customers, or for large events.