I’ve been less-than-sanguine about Second Life’s potential (especially its commercial potential) even as it was being hyped into a very, very hot online property.

Corporate marketing types were drawn to it like flies to a barbecue, possibly for some less-than-compelling reasons. My take was simple; it was modeled on our current lives, so traditional marketers felt their traditional “interrupt” marketing techniques would apply.

To a group reeling under a tidal wave of new, connection-oriented marketing media channels, Second Life was one Web 2.0 technology traditional marketers understood.

Turns out they didn’t.

Even Wired magazine — which has shoveled its share of hype on the Second Life pile — questions the intelligence of marketing on Second Life, especially given the now-apparent lack of participation:

Then there’s the question of what people do when they get there. Once you put in several hours flailing around learning how to function in Second Life, there isn’t much to do. That may explain why more than 85 percent of the avatars created have been abandoned. Linden’s in-world traffic tally, which factors in both the number of visitors and time spent, shows that the big draws for those who do return are free money and kinky sex.

Well, OK, perhaps porn sites and a handful of other entities can find a profitable home on Second Life, but commercial entities spending thousands to build and maintain a Second Life presence are going to be hard-pressed to justify that presence when the “Second Home Office” gets 27 visitors a week.

To those contemplating a business presence on Second Life, here’s a suggestion: the “real” world of engagement marketing is waiting — no funky avatar required.

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