Agence France Presse (AFP) is reporting that the Swedes inaugurated “The Second House of Sweden” a week ago, quoting the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
“Second Life is just beginning so we do not know its full potential. Ten years ago we didn't know the potential of Google for instance,” Mr Bildt said.
Second Life is a user generated virtual world created by San Francisco-based Linden Laboratories. It has been the subject of increasing interest from commercial organisations which want to use it as a way of communicating with consumers.
Australia’s Telstra and ABC ate two of the biggest commercial entities to have created a presence in Second Life. More recently politicians have sought to use Second Life as a vehicle to market their message.
At last count there were 6.8 million members of Second Life, with 1.7 having visited the site in the past 60 days.
AFP reported that Sweden had spent about 400,000 kronor (A$70,244) on The Second House of Sweden, which it hopes will reach millions of users worldwide.
According to AFP, The Second House of Sweden will give the Nordic country important visibility and will serve as a place to spread information about Swedish culture and businesses.
Exhibitions and cultural events that take place in Sweden will also be presented in the virtual world as will businesses and famous Swedes.
Each element in the mission, such as art, food or music, will have a link to a related website.
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