I think we are in the midst of a time of chaos.  Cool chaos, but chaos none-the-less. 

Marketers are scrambling around, trying to get a handle on this whole social media "thing."    And we don’t want to miss anything — so we’re trying a little of everything.

Including Second Life. 

Let me give you my take, by asking you a few questions.

• Would you like to ask your prospects to download a special software, just so you can talk to them?
• Do you want to create a persona (maybe a pirate’s wench or archaeologist) and deal with other people who have done the same?
• As a consumer, do you have time to navigate a cartoon you around, trying to find other adults, let alone other business people, to engage with?
• Would you trust market research done with no controls or any reassurance that the participants are being truthful (remember, they are telling you they’re a biker dude from Fresno)
• Do you sell a commodity (music CDs, software downloads) or are you a huge budget (Starwood Hotels, Toyota) advertiser — if not — is this really a viable venue for your sales efforts?

If you want, go be a pirate’s wench.  Have some fun. But I wouldn’t plan on making your fortune there.  (Unless of course you pillage a village!)

Update:  I was listening to Mike Sansone’s blogtalk radio show and one of the topics covered was Second Life.  Download the podcast and take a listen.