3pointD.com

It seems that Second Life is about to get its first social-networking mashup — not as a stand-alone app, but as a dedicated service designed to bring the connections made on one social-networking site into the 3D virtual world of Second Life. According to Justin Bovington of SL/RL services company Rivers Run Red (aka Second Life resident Fizik Baskerville), his company is all set for the June launch of a service that will make an integrated Second Life experience available to the 800,000 active users of PlayAhead, a Swedish social-networking site aimed mostly at teenagers. Bovington, whom I spoke with at E3 this week, says the service will integrate various SL grouping and communication tools with the Web-based services of PlayAhead, and will eventually include the ability to pull up PlayAhead profiles in a HUD, plus other nifty widgets that will be made possible by html calls and Web-on-a-prim, once those features arrive in SL.

Rivers Run Red has also created custom grouping tools for use by PlayAhead members, and four SL sims have been created in the shape of the Nordic peninsula to serve as a home base and welcome area. The PlayAhead sims will include branded content from sponsors of the project, and much of the area has been designed by oldbie content creators Torrid and Mistress Midnight, according to Bovington.

Up to 10,000 PlayAhead members each month will be admitted by lottery, Bovington says. There were a couple of questions I didn’t have time for in the heady atmosphere of the Atari VIP tent, where I met Bovington, including the issue of whether the PlayAhead members will all be 18 and over, or whether the Nordic sims will be on the Teen Grid or on a separate Grid unto themselves (it sounded like they’d be four normal islands on the adult SL Grid).

I’m also not clear on whether Linden Lab was involved in making the project happen, though it sounds like they were, given the custom grouping tools Bovington mentioned, and the cap on admissions. (That said, a project like this could be accomplished without their involvement.) Two other loose ends: Will PlayAhead members be charged for the cross-world service? (I’m assuming not.) Will they get their own last names? (No idea.) I have an email out to Justin and will update you when I get more information.

With PlayAhead peaking at up to 90,000 members concurrently online, according to Bovington, the project could well mean a serious influx of new (Swedish) Second Life residents. Better than that, it marks the first real mashup between a virtual world and a Web-based social-networking site. Other Web-based communities — including many members of the Something Awful forums — have established a presence in SL, but none that I know of are associated with a Web 2.0 community like PlayAhead.

While it’s not the SL-based social-networking app I’d like to see (which would allow any SL resident to connect to any other), the PlayAhead project could be a good proof-of-concept for future efforts in that kind of 3pointD-meets-2.0 space. Will PlayAhead members be able to get anything out of Second Life that they’re not already getting out of their Web site? That remains to be seen. A 3D environment doesn’t necessarily make connecting any easier, but it can make existing connections more intimate and meaningful. It also gives PlayAhead members a new mode of expression, in addition to the flat profiles they can create through the site. That’s important. By now it should be clear that many social-networking sites are about more than just networking. Considering the fact that many MySpace members are willing to pay to have their MySpace pages pimped out, it’s apparent that the value of such “spaces” lies in the avenue of expression they provide, as well as the opportunities for connection. And as Second Life residents know, 3D opens up all kinds of expressive possibilities that aren’t possible on a Web page.

The other important thing to know about these kinds of mashups is that they’ll probably be one of the main drivers that help turn the MySpace Generation into Generation 3pointD. Even as 2D Web pages, social-networking sites are being used almost as living and recreation spaces; people “hang out” there, “visit” their friends, “travel” from group to group and clique to clique. A 3D environment only makes this possible in a richer way, and if richness of experience weren’t important, no one would be on MySpace and PlayAhead in the first place. New technologies are traditionall snapped up more eagerly by younger generations; virtual worlds should prove no different. We look forward to meeting the Swedes of PlayAhead, and hearing whether their Second Lives adds anything to the experience of being young and connected online.

[Updated with further information here.]