Social Media Strategy & Engagement Marketing by Karl Long

Aug 26, 2006

SecondLife Natives Are Restless

As brands fall over themselves to get into SecondLife they are just beginning to find out that the “residents” of SecondLife are not just passive consumer avatars, and SecondLife is not a virtual-mall. It really is a co-creative environment where many of the residents are constituents, virtual citizens that have a hand in shaping it. On SecondLife’s third birthday the residents put on some protests about Linden Labs lifting the requirement that you need a credit card to enter SecondLife.

Well the residents are now fighting for the right to vote, virtual civil rights for avatars. What represents a watershed moment a group called the Second Life Liberation Army (SLLA) has begun millitary operations, and has taken over the American Apparal store and is stopping any residents from shopping there.

The SLLA selected as its first target the American Apparel Store in SL. Volunteers from the SLLA have been posted to the store and are preventing SL residents from buying any goods from this vendor.

The SLLA has no complaint with American Apparel but is seeking to introduce voting rights to Second Life. We hope that American Apparel will join us in putting pressure on Linden Labs to do this. The SLLA can then stop our attacks against customers using their store.

We are “so” not in Kansas anymore

Tip of the Hat - Ilya Vedrashko