Governor Mark Warner hold a press conference in Second Life

Second Life's rise to greatness is continuing apace. Governor Mark Warner, a potential candidate to be President of the USA, has held a press conference in Second Life as a way of generating online PR and engaging with a trendy, young, voter base that are turned off by traditional media and politics.



It's an interesting note that the last US election was a great catalyst for blogging becoming borderline mainstream.



New World Technologies explains why he did it:

“Well,” Nancy Mandelbrot explains, “we were sitting in our offices one day and kind of goofing around, just geeking out about social technologies, gaming, that sort of thing, as we're wont to do. Someone made a joke about how great it would be if we brought an avatar of Governor Warner into Second Life.

“When we all quit laughing, we kind of looked around and said, ‘Hey, that's not a bad idea.’

“One of Governor Warner's operating principles is to go where the voters are,” she continues, “not make them come to you. We saw how rich an environment [SL] was. I mean, you can sit next to someone's avatar, strike up a conversation, and forget that you're not in the same room. We started to see that in Second Life, people can get together and talk politics with other folks without the obstacles of real life.”

The idea of social networking and navigating a virtual world is becoming more talked about by the day. It's interesting to note that to do it properly and to avoid backlash, brands / protagonists have to be sincere and credible to a much higher level than in normal marketing.

For more background a commentary click here.

If an American politician can enter Second Life successfully surely we can too.