Second Life is a fantastic example of how not to develop a community. The creators put too much thought into persuading people to join the community and too little in keeping them.
They spent money on marketing, advertising, PR and not a penny on community management. Nobody was helping build boundaries, develop groups, highlight the common purpose, document and spread the shared experiences.
Once the novelty and the PR died, Second Life died. Nearly. What now survives in Second Life is a the same tiny Second Life community that existed before the PR wave.This community isn't about the novelty of virtual worlds, it's about the other people that enjoy the game.
Second Life is an easy target. There are lots of communities that fail to think their community through.
Nice post. It seems like companies such as Second Life get so carried away with the product (and technology), they never actually think about who is going to use it. Or how to keep them using it...
Posted by: Tiffany | Tuesday, 07 July 2009 at 17:47
Hi Richard,
Keep the case studies comming, perhaps you could do some more studies on british communities and give your opinion on the management and members etc..
Posted by: Lodewijk | Thursday, 09 July 2009 at 19:18
I am not sure any community could meet the expectations people (with or without SL PR) put on SL during that part of the hype cycle.
But your point is well made.
Posted by: John Norris | Friday, 10 July 2009 at 07:30