HOW TO BETTER USE SECOND LIFE AS A PUBLIC ENTITY - PART 1
17. May 2009 – 16:30 by POLITECH
https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/promos/politics/blog/blog-secondlife1.533.jpg
As a following to Politech Institute’s video “Public Actors in Second Life” the persistent online game created by its citizens SECOND LIFE VIDEO, I went back “in world “, rushed to the “search” option, and typed European Elections to see if something were happening there: I didn’t find a lot on that matter, apart from a European citizens group of… 3 people, and a G&L Center, proposing an exhibition about European Elections: links to all Parties’ sites, but not EU ones…
Mainly, most of the regions I went to visit, where Public Institutions have settled, were desperately empty. But I remember that during the French elections, UMP and PS parties had regions and proposed discussion groups and debates. It worked pretty well, with interest from the SL inhabitants with this new eParticipation vector.
To ensure a successful Second Life installation for an Institution, it requires a number of factors and actors:
- A consistent approach with the Second Life world : it needs a good updated computer, time for learning the many tools and tricks, time to meet people and associate with “in-world” known and trusted old timers.
The presence in Second Life also involves the acquisition and maintenance of locations and to pay a monthly fee.
- A well designed project and well managed,
- A rich content, complementary to what is presented in Second Life, opening to the many activities, as eLearning, Culture sites, exhibitions or libraries…
For example, eLearning: a study investigating how the Second Life environment is being used in UK Higher and Further
Education, https://www.eduserv.ac.uk/~/media/foundation/sl/uksnapshot052008/final%20pdf.ashx
or how universities use Second Life to teach complex concepts:
https://www.govtech.com/gt/252550
- An animation by a team in Second Life, with the awareness to captive an audience to a region through new offers, dance balls, freebies and parties… This means the creation of a new kind of job, a professional virtual job…
- An interactive virtual mediation strategy, well defined. It has to be understood that people in SL come and go, have time some moments of their life, then no time. So the public is very varied. It’s not “won “when you have members in a group, it’s a day to day job…
And still has to be a Fun place!
Yes, it’s a lot; an investment in preparation, implementation and like in Real Life, it has a cost, but I believe that the return on investment is interesting, and I will tell you more about it in my next post!
To be continued…
Claire Mercier
Politech Institute
Tags: eLearning, eParticipation, games, second life
