Corporate Image Blurred?

I met an RL CEO today in the new *New Paris* SIM of Madam Zagato. A team in his company had joined SL to study and observe how they could use SL in their sales training. He decided to log on to familiarize himself with the SL environment. I, of course, being the Ms. P.R that I am, had offered to show him around.

During our conversation he had mentioned to me how the company could restrict their employees from accessing the more 'fun' areas of SL when logged in during 'business' hours. I told him that you probably could not, unless someone in his company found a way to create a software program that would limit access to certain areas of SL. I am thinking that THAT aspect alone could give someone in RL a great opportunity to work with Linden Lab in developing such a program to offer other companies with that same concern. Anyhoo ....

I also mentioned to him about my alt avatars and what each one did in SL. He had asked me if everyone in SL had more than one avatar. I told him not likely but that there were certainly many with alt av's. Mr. CEO then asked if perhaps his employees would need two avatars. Hmmmmm.

I thought about it for only a mere moment then said, "Yes! It might be a good idea."

The reason why I agreed to having an alt avatar for anyone whose company had a presence in SL was for the sheer fact of 'corporate image'. Afterall, an IBM employee whose avatar name might be JoeShmoe IBM can't very well be seen hanging out at the Free Archan Sex Community, now can they? I mean, it wouldn't be good for corporate image.

Besides, I am almost sure that anyone whose company had a presence in SL would be smart enough to obtain an ALT avatar just for the reason of having a SECOND LIFE separate from their RL. It would make me assume that having your company in SL would not warrant you the full privilege of creating a Second Life since the avatar you use for your company's SL presence would still have an association with a concrete RL image. I hope I explained that well enough.

This leads me to wonder about corporate image and image in general.

With so many companies and organizations joining SL I am thinking that it would be challenging to maintain whatever corporate image they may hold in RL - in a TRUE sense.

The reason why I say this is because in RL it is very easy to pretend we live our lives within boundaries. We go to work for respectable or reputable companies, dine in restaurants that maintains or increases our social status or ' image standing' , allows us to shop in places that say something of our financial status, and surround ourselves with people that help increase our social standing. (This statement of course is in general. I am well aware that there are a majority of people that are open minded enough to view others as EQUAL)

We can easily define ourselves in RL by the way we dress, the places we frequent and the people we choose to network with. This all helps to create a three dimensional image and impression.

But in SL the boundaries are blurred. They are blurred because as much as IMAGE is so well thought out and put together in the form of avatars, one cannot really KNOW who is behind the avatar and what RL image they present. Can they?

Of course, when one interacts with another avatar over time, they enter into an opportunity of sharing their RL and their SL (if they so choose). But more than that, they enter into a wider range of opportunity for themselves when they interact with an avatar in SL because even though they see an avatar image .. and get visually attached to that avatar image .. inadvertently, they must eventualy realize that they are still connecting ..... connecting thru not just image .. but .....

Okay, the title of this blog entry is "Corporate Image Blurred" because when a company or organization enters SL, there are no boundaries. The only boundaries that an employee has, or any other SL resident or visitor has is whatever boundaries are in SL.

Everyone in SL has an equal opportunity to experience the same things in SL. (Other than those annoying red no-access lines that people put up around their properties, making it difficult for people to fly from one area to another ... which sucks! Sorry I just had to mention that here).

The SL playground is not limited to anyone. So when a company or organization, no matter how image conscious they are or pristine they appear to be in RL, knowledge of what can go on in SL is in everyone's knowledge base (whether they choose to partake in it or not there are no secrets about SL.

I may work for a company in RL but no one can in that company, not even my close co-workers can really know what RL boundaries I have set for myself. They can assume, but they cannot really know. As well, even if I wanted to try a certain type of lifestyle in RL I would not really be free to because it would involve me physically participating to a certain degree and having to use my ONLY RL physical self. And what if anyone in my work place or relatives for that matter, found out?! Yikes!

But in SL, we can go anywhere with our avatar. Or we can create another avatar with an entirely different lifestyle.

So, for all you CEO's out there whose company's are thinking about joining SL and are concerned about limiting certain SL areas to your employees .. fergeet it!

An employee is still an employee when they go home at night and log on as BIGSTUD Johnson!

Why does image have to be so important? Why does corporate image have to be so important?

We are all just people.

Curious. Explorative. Curious. Adventurous. Imaginative. Horny. Curious. Playful. We are essentially all the same.