I’m still figuring out what to do in Second Life (SL.)

SL offers property “ownership,” leased land, and a virtual “body” known as an avatar with an endless number of custom options.

Still, after several hours in-world, I haven’t quite figured out what I want to make of it. SL represents a huge opportunity – and the inevitable next “big thing” in social networking online. Folks love to customize their “MySpace” websites, but what happens when they discover they can customize a virtual 3D space? Will SL experience the explosion in popularity as MySpace did?

Growth aside, one compelling potential of SL is the social interaction between more illustrious personalities on the Internet. Progressive folks, such as Cory Doctorow and Lawrence Lessig have promoted their books and delivered lectures in-world complete with lookalike avatars.

Commercially, the band Duran Duran has announced plans to build an online presence. Also, several PR firms have tried to make a hip statement by building in-world. A clothing firm and a hotel chain have both worked to establish in-game presences. Even some mainstream television news shows have featured Second Life segments. It may be a fad, but if SL has achieved recognition among PR firms, it will only get more popular.

Despite the popularity, I’m still at a loss for things to do in-game. I have a great real life; I live in Manhattan with a wonderful girlfriend, love photography and exploring the City – but I also want to participate in these new social experiments. There are people creating things of interest there, and I don’t just mean the virtual trinkets. I’m not looking for a “Second Job,” but rather a means to support and advance some of the work that these more visionary and accomplished folk are doing.

So I’ll end with this. If you’ve stumbled upon this post via a search engine, and you can comment on interesting things to do in Second Life, please do.

If you’re a friend of mine and have come across this post and are curious about Second Life – lets explore it one weekend evening.

As with my other forays into online multi-user environments, it’s a lot more fun with people you know.