This news post on Business Week is all about the companies that have been present in SL and are now leaving it, some to focus on developing their own spaces, others simply to go back to doing what they were before. Starwood is mentioned, as are Wells Fargo and Coke, each with their own reasons for not making SL their flagship virtual presence.

I've come to think of advertising in SL as somewhat equivalent to advertising for the Macintosh platform. Both are regarded as niche markets, both have a rabid fan base, both have leaders of vision and uncompromising values. One could say that both platforms feature a userbase that's a mere fraction of the worldwide population, therefore it's a waste of effort to engage their respective audiences. However, one thing that both communities have in common that more advertisers should pay attention to is that they're vocal. They vote with their time and money, and they tell the world what they think. The best advertising is word of mouth, and many technologies that began as tiny concerns grew to gargantuan proportions by the simple application of positive word of mouth by its fans.

I believe that SL is such a technology, and that companies who bear with it in its halting, stumbling baby steps toward its bright future will reap the benefits of having been there early and growing along with it. We'll make this thing a success simply because we want it to be.