Christina Norman (president of MTV), who keynoted What Teens Want West is jazzed about Virtual Laguna Beach. She said it offered rabid fans of the show a chance to dive deeper (funny to think about doing anythng "deep" with Laguna Beach). My sense from her was that it's gaining some early traction. If it works, look for MTV to start creating other virtual worlds for popular shows...virtual Super Sweet 16 anyone? With Second Life hitting 1 million users, I think VR is about to finally take the leap from sci fi to the mainstream.

I think I mentioned this in an Essentials post awhile back, but I am working on a column for BusinessWeek.com about teens and virtual reality -- what the attraction is, what they do in these environments, and of course what role marketing is playing in these worlds. I did an email interview for the column with Michael Wilson, the CEO of There.com, and an MTV Networks representative about Virtual Laguna Beach, and wanted to share the full interview with Ypulse readers.

Newsletter readers: Please visit Ypulse.com for the full interview.

Ypulse: When did you realize There.com was becoming more of a teen site?

Michael Wilson: Teens have always been an important part of There's population, as have folks from all ages and walks of life. As more teens have gained access to technology, we've of course seen more teens in There, especially over the past year. Just as the falling price of technology has made things like personal phone lines and cell phones more accessible to teens, it's also made better computers and broadband available to them too, and thus access to things like instant messaging and There.

YP: What do teens love to do in There? What are the main differences between what teens do in There and adults? What has surprised you about what teens do in There.com?

MW: Well, since There is a social world, both groups spend a lot of time doing social things: chatting, meeting online, going to events like our Fashion Show or the There Games. They also experience our "kinetic" activities in a social way -- going buggy ridding together, racing hoverboards, etc. When we built There, we realized that sometimes just standing around chatting isn't enough, people liked to do things together while socializing. That's why There has a always strong underpinning of the features you see in social networks : Groups or Clubs, Events, Buddy lists, etc - except that There had them long before today's so called "social networking pioneers." Teens (as well as adult) gravitate to these features because they let them connect with others, and hold their own events. I guess we were a little surprised at the latter, but in hindsight it makes perfect sense - the leaders who will throw parties and organize teams in real life will also do so in There.

YP: Why do you think teens in particular are attracted to avatars and virtual reality?

MW: I believe that Teens view There as just an extension of their whole online "life" -- texting, instant messaging, and now, expressing themselves in a 3D world. I think There "super sizes" their online experience by giving them far, far more ways to express themselves than just text or 2D pictures. This starts with actually customizing their avatar (the face, body shape, hair and skin color, etc), continues on to buying and wearing virtual clothes (a popular teen activity in all worlds, real and virtual), participating in the virtual world at large and all the events in it.

Of course, the other aspect is that since there is anonymity factor, teens can feel safer in There trying out personas and activities in a virtual world. The things which are so important to teens -- "Am I popular?", "Am I good looking enough?", "What if I act like a jerk?" all become less important when they realize their avatar is an anonymous form of self expression (if they wish) of themselves. The other appeal is the degree of self control There gives them -- if they feel unsafe in any situation, they can just "ignore" the person (which makes it impossible for the other person to contact them), "teleport" away from them, or, if they'd like, report the abuse to our staff.

YP: How do you ensure that There.com is a safe site for teens?

MIW: Well, first, in There, safety is not an afterthought. Since the service was designed and launched in 2003, it has been designed to be a PG world. Why? Because since There is a social world, we wanted as many people to feel comfortable and safe there as possible, and "PG" clearly casts a wide net.

What's behind making There safe is what I call the "Clean Train" syndrome. As you may recall in the 80's and 90's, the effort to make New York a better place started with cleaning up the graffiti on New York's subway, on the premise that once people saw the city cared about New York, the populace would follow. It's well known that this approach worked, and New York is a far better place than it was before.

In There, since we ensure that all objects which enter the world are "PG" and don't infringe on other's intellectual property, we create an atmosphere which tells people we care about their experience and feeling comfortable in the world.

The next principle is one of self-determination and education. We really believe that people who are stalked, propositioned, what-have-you don't want those things, and a little simple education goes a long way to prevent them. So, we give all of our members easy, accessible ways to avoid predators, people they don't feel safe around, and people they just plain don't like. We also give them the ability to have "private" spaces (clubhouses, homes, etc) where they can hang out with just their friends or people they trust.

Education is accomplished by putting safety tips in prominent places in the world, putting a short "safety handbook" in every member's in-box, and including a "What Parents should know about There" page on the site to extend the education even more broadly.

Finally, we have our abuse staff, which acts both reactively, but responding promptly to reports of harassment or abuse, and pro actively by hanging out in world looking to members who may be harassing or abusing others.

We believe that only by thinking of safety throughout the process can we be effective at providing as safe an environment as possible. Of course, no place -- real or virtual -- can be guaranteed to be completely safe, so the ideas of self-determination and education are a key part of making There as safe as the members would like to be.

YP: In Teen Second Life, brands are not permitted, unless they buy an island (where teens can visit, but anyone from the brand can't go into the teen grid), though none have. How is There working to integrate brands in ways that don't intrude on the experience?

MW: First of all, There does not have, nor need, a separate "Teen Space," since we believe all of There is appropriate for Teens and adults alike. Our reaction to the growing numbers of teens in There is "Great!" The more diverse and "real" the population of There is -- as opposed to reflecting just one segment of society -- the better it is for everyone. We certainly think about safety issues constantly as we see the numbers change, but since safety's not an afterthought, we're comfortable with our effort so far.

As for brands, our approach will be to work closely with a few selected brands at first, and make sure that everyone - the members, the sponsor, and the company get the most benefit from the experience. It doesn't do anyone any good to suddenly have millions of virtual billboards appear in world (or any other sort of garish advertising), and we're just not to go down that road. We're going to look for subtle yet elegant ways to integrate branding into the world that doesn't mess up the online experience while still giving high value to the sponsors. We've already had experiences with Nikes and Levi's in world, and components of that experience - Nike and Levi branded virtual goods - continue to fetch a premium price on the virtual "used" market.

YP: Tell me about what teens are doing in virtual Laguna Beach. Are they spending a lot of time there? Longer than in There.com? Are there new teens being drawn in via MTV? Do you anticipate doing this with other television properties? How do brands operate in virtual Laguna Beach?

MTVN: Teens are exploring all facets of Virtual Laguna Beach (VLB), living in the same environment that is parallel to the world they see on television. No longer are they simply "watching" Laguna Beach -- with VLB, they are living it. VLB provides the stage, transporting viewers directly to the show's origins in Orange County, Calif. From there, our audience takes over, not only living in the same environment as the cast members, but becoming the stars themselves. They get the opportunity to live the life they see -- or would like to see -- on-air. They can form relationships with others in-world, hang out at the beach or other familiar landmarks and even invite their friends to watch an episode of the program in-world.

MTV Networks recently celebrated an industry "first," becoming the first network to debut a television program in-world prior to on air. Never before has a television show debuted in-world before on-air. The debut coincided with the Winter Formal episode, in which cast members attended the big dance. Immediately after the show's debut, members within VLB had the opportunity to attend their own version of the Winter Formal. The Winter Formal tie-in is just one example of MTV Networks' unique ability to closely link a television franchise with emerging virtual-world technology.

Because VLB still is in beta stage (in fact, we launched it less than a month ago), we're not yet in a position to share numbers. Suffice it to say, though, that the audience is growing daily, driven largely by the popularity of the current season and promos appearing online.

We are working hand-in-hand with a number of marketers, including Pepsi, to help bring their brands to life within Virtual Laguna Beach. Our goal is to help marketers become an integral and meaningful part of the programming in-world, finding ways they can seamlessly weave their messages into the overall experience. Viewers in-world also can choose to interact with sponsors' content and also purchase virtual as well as physical goods. It's fair to say that our efforts on behalf of our marketers will be integrated at a deeper level to drive audience engagement. More information on that to come in the coming months.

Other virtual worlds are planned for the broader music community and for viewers of LOGO, making it one of the first such applications for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community.

P.S. MTV also will start debuting new episodes of the program on Virtual Laguna Beach two days before their air dates.

Posted by anastasia