June 26, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Does setting up operations in Second Life, the popular online game, really make sense for nonprofit organizations?
Social-networking sites allow their users to create profiles that are available 24 hours a day, whether the user is on the site or not and an unlimited number of people can view a charity’s profile, but Second Life is more like the real world — with the same limits of time and space, notes Allan Benamer, former director of information technology at the Coalition for the Homeless, in New York, on Non-Profit Tech Blog.
“In Wikipedia, Myspace, FaceBook, etc. there’s a quick learning curve as you set up your initial presence but you’re not going to have to go in there every day trying to interact with people,” he writes. “It’s an asynchronous communication tool.”
Despite the buzz about the MacArthur Foundation’s announcement that it was setting up an office in Second Life, Mr. Benamer thinks charities will achieve better results in their marketing and fund raising by focusing on social-networking sites.
What do you think? Is Second Life a passing fad, or is it something savvy nonprofit groups should be watching and participating in?
