CNN Opens Post in Second Life

This blog aims to keep an eye on new marketing channels, and so far we’ve focused on Facebook, MySpace, Second Life, Podcasting, Youtube, Blogging, viral, and Mobile platforms. More channels are invented every week, but we’ll try to focus on the ones with long term potential.

So CNN has finally caught up to Reuters and opened a “bureau” inside Second Life. Reading the official story, it seems that the purpose of it is to collect news items from citizens (a la CNN’s iReports) and then that can be featured inside SL from CNN newsreaders, and perhaps if you’re lucky on CNN’s SL blog.

There is no mention on these news reports being integrated into CNN’s existing news stream. Basically, CNN is not treating what happens inside SL as real news, but totally isolating it.

There’s nothing wrong with that approach. If a group of avatars inside SL get together and stage a protest on some new Linden Lab policy or initiative, and someone captures that, it’s not the same as when people march on Washington demanding change from congress. It clearly isn’t, so I wouldn’t want to see Wolf Blitzer reading about new records being set by the Second Life stock market, or some avatar did this, or some avatar said that.

Basically, companies such as IBM, Reuters, CNN, American Apparel, Nike, and Nissan have said that they’re willing to experiment with the Second Life “game” and see what interesting ideas can be generated by it. They’re not betting the farm on it (nor should they), but they want to be there alongside their competitors, trying new things out and seeing what works.

Who knows, in 20 years we MAY be getting our news from an animated 3D avatar, and things they learned from the Second Life experiment may have directly influenced the future of television news. I said “MAYBE”.