Second Life (SL) is not a game. It “is a 3-D virtual world created by its Residents” (“What is Second Life?“), tens of thousands of whom log in every day. In 2008, they spent almost 400 million hours “in world” (“Second Life Residents“).

Residents can do just about anything in SL that they can do in RL (“real life”)–and a lot more. They can fly, teleport instantaneously from one island to another, and appear as any size, age, gender, or species they want–all while sitting at their computers.

Hundreds of educational, business, government, and non-profit organizations have taught classes, offered training, conducted conferences, and provided services in SL.

Newt Gingrich has spoken in SL (“Newt Gingrich“) at Capitol Hill, which is modeled after the one in Washington D.C. (“Congressional Hearing“), and a speech by Madeline Albright was streamed into the virtual world (“Former US Secretary of State“).

In addition, to “spur economic growth in their community the city leaders in Decatur, Georgia [are] creating an online virtual version of their city on Second Life” (“Decatur Georgia’s“), and officials in Arlington County, Virginia, have created offices in SL where “executives can swing by to gather market research aimed at luring grocery chains to Arlington. County officials can conduct presentations on an interactive white board as they promote the region to corporate prospects. And later this month, anyone interested will be able to join a confab on how to launch a business in Arlington” (“O Brave New World“).

Not surprisingly, leftists have protested Israel’s recent retaliation against Hamas in Gaza (“MBC Breaking News“) and held an inauguration ball “in world” (“Avatars in Tuxes“).

There are already quite a few Republican and conservative groups in SL (“Conservatives and Republicans“). One of the most active of these is the GOP Cafe founded by Wyatt Forster on Sagamore Island. The group currently has 263 members.

In addition to political discussions and a beach party every week, the steering committee organizes parties on special occasions. Tuesday night, members got together to honor President Bush at the Welcome Back to Texas Celebration, with music, dancing, bull riding, good conversation, and a tribute to the outgoing president.

Sagamore Island is also home to NRA-SL and Pro-Life Conservatives of Sagamore.

To keep up with activities at the GOP Cafe, read their blog and visit their Ning social network.

Gartner, Inc., has predicted, “By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a ’second life’” in a virtual world like SL (“Gartner Says“). Republicans and conservatives need to start learning how to use it now to advance our causes and our candidates.

Second Life is the next best thing to being there–in some cases. In other cases, it’s even better.

NOTE:  This article was original published on the Social Media Platoon site on January 21, but it is no longer there.

The five-part series began last Thursday, May 7, and will continue tonight and at least the next three Wednesdays:

• May 13–Part 2, “Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession” (text, audio)
• May 20–Part 3, “Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs” (text, audio)
• May 27–Part 4, “Of the Present Ability of America: with some Miscellaneous Reflections” (text, audio)
• June 3–Part 5, “Appendix to the Third Edition” (text, audio)

All discussions will be held at the GOP Cafe in Second Life at 6:00 p.m. SLT/PDT.

Rally, videos, discussion
6:00 p.m. SLT/PDT
GOP Cafe in Second Life
Follow the arrows or directions to the dock.
Free tea party signs will be available.

Thurs., Mar. 5
6:00 p.m. SLT/PST
GOP Cafe in Second Life
to help members gather ammunition to support conservative principles and Republican issues in discussions with our political opponents

Sat., Feb. 28
7:30 p.m. SLT/PST
Ronald Reagan Building at GOP Cafe in Second Life
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sagamore/165/155/32
Retrospective on GOP, live performance by SL Rat Pack, dancing

Earlier this week, I had an article about politics in Second Life published on the Social Media Platoon website.  Check it out if you haven’t read it yet.

Beginners’ questions about Second Life and video answers from YouTube:

• What is Second Life?  ”Second Life – What Are Virtual Worlds – Intro to Second Life“
• How do I get started?  ”Second Life Tutorial:  Beginner Guide to Getting Started in Second Life“
• How do I move and fly?  ”BASICS:  Moving & Flying – Second Life Video TuTORial“
• How do I teleport and use landmarks?  “BASICS:  Teleporting & Landmarks – Second Life Video TuTORial“
• How do I chat?  “BASICS:  Chatting – Second Life Video TuTORial“
• How do I make friends?  “BASICS:  Friendships – Second Life Video TuTORial“
• How do I create and join a group?  “BASICS:  Creating & Joining a Group – Second Life Video TuTORial“
• How do I use the pie menu?  “BASICS:  Using the Pie Menu – Second Life TuTORial“
• How do I customize my avatar’s appearance?  “BASICS:  Editing Your Appearance – Second Life TuTORial“
• How do I customize my profile?  “BASICS:  Filling in Your Profile – Second Life TuTORial“
• How do I use the camera controls?  “BASICS:  Looking around with Camera Controls – Second Life TuTORial“

For more advanced skills, check out the Second Life tutorials here.

I have some more questions for the RNC Chair candidates:

• Do you play any MMORPGs?  Do you have a Second Life avatar?  How much experience do you have with online multi-player role-playing games and/or virtual worlds?
• How can Second Life and other virtual worlds be used to advance our candidates and causes?
• If you have been a state party chairman, what was the percentage of elected offices in your state held by Republicans when you started and when you finished?  How will your experience in that office influence your decisions and actions as RNC Chair?
• If you have run for office or managed a campaign, what is your win-loss record?  How will your campaign experience influence your decisions and actions as RNC Chair?
• How long have you been using “social media” like Twitter and Facebook?
• Have you ever had a blog?  When did you start it?  How often do/did you post in it?

Last Sunday, I wrote that Second Life (SL) “can be used to organize and train conservatives and teach future conservatives about the Constitution, capitalism, socialism, and so on.”  This afternoon I spent a few minutes searching to see how SL is being used by conservatives and Republicans.  Using the “in-world” search function, I found the following groups:

• Republican Party of SL (566 members)
• **The Grand Old Party** (209 members)
• Ron Paul for President (361 members)
• John McCain for America (243 members)
• Conservative Coalition (92 members)
• Stand Strong America (15 members)
• Rush Limbaugh Fans (74 members)
• Sarah Palin for President in 2012 (3 members)
• Go Sarah Go! (49 members)
• SecondLife Friends of Fred Thompson (3 members)
• Mike Huckabee for President (4 members)
• The Conservative Hall of Fame (2 members)
• Conservative Matters (36 members)
• Conservative Women’s Forum (15 members)
• Conservative Party of SL (109 members)
• Second Life Conservatives (18 members)
• Conservaties and Patriots (18 members)
• Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions (17 members)

I also found residents named Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Fred Thompson, and Newt Gringrich.  It looked as though the Coulter and Gingrich avatars might really belong to those individuals.

There were no results for the following individuals and organizations:

• Sean Hannity
• Bobby Jindal
• Michelle Malkin
• Mitt Romney
• Heritage Foundation
• American Enterprise Institute or AEI
• Independence Institute
• Heartland Institute

I listen to Laura Ingraham as often as I can, and I’ve discovered that she’s usually right.  However, Friday morning as I was driving to work, I heard her talking about Second Life (SL).  She was wrong about SL, and I have to admit that I wondered if she’d ever been “in world.”

First, she called SL a game.  It’s not.  It’s a three-dimensional virtual world where people can do pretty much anything they can do in real life.  There are no rules, and there is no way to “win.”

Second, she talked about people wasting time in SL and cheating on their spouses there, but people do those things in real life. 

SL’s potential has been recognized by a lot of people in higher education.  (People have to be 18 to join SL’s main grid, so it can’t be used for K-12.)  Just check out these sites:

• Using Virtual Worlds in Education Programs
• Second Life in Education
• SimTeach
• University of Cincinnati’s Second Life Project Wiki

A number of prominent educational organizations provide professional development activites in SL, including the Sloan Consortium. AECT, and ISTE.  In SL you can visit sites based on almost any time, location, or culture on Earth–or off Earth and in the future.

Since the election, I’ve heard Laura say that Republicans need to start using new technology if they want to win elections.  SL is part of that new technology.  Just as it’s being used in higher education, it can be used to organize and train conservatives and teach future conservatives about the Constitution, capitalism, socialism, and so on.