IT vendors aren't the only ones to see the opportunities in the virtual world. Second Life hosts thousands of commercial entities, ranging from casinos and shopping malls to movie studios and sporting venues.

American Apparel operates a store in Second Life, as do Adidas and Toyota. Major League Baseball worked with consulting specialist Electric Sheep to show a nearly-live feed of the home run derby at the All-Star Game in a digital baseball stadium in Second Life. Politicians, too, are inside Second Life: Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor and possible Democratic candidate for president, showed up in avatar form for a press interview in late August.

There's an official currency in Second Life, called Linden dollars, and millions change hands every month for the goods and services residents provide, according to Second Life creators. There are even automated teller machines in many destinations to facilitate transactions.

But despite the commercial angle, IT vendors so far say their involvement in Second Life is focused more on building community than revenue.

"Creating a more emotional aspect to our brand is really important to us. That's why we've embraced a number of different things in the social media world," Kirkos says.

Sun, which has gone so far as to petition the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow CEO Jonathan Schwartz to break news on his blog, sees online media as a way to make the big company more approachable. Sun hopes to use Second Life to reach developers, engineers and technically minded people, as well as to open itself up in a more informal way to a larger audience, Melissinos says. "We are establishing a presence in Second Life, which we will use to communicate to that community what Sun is about," he says. "So we're not just about the financial-services guys, and we're not just about the federal government."

Sun plans to expand its presence in Second Life, says Melissinos, who has had a Second Life avatar for about two years. "I'll host a couple of dance parties, invite people from the video-game industry to talk on topics," he says. "We plan on having fun."

Sun also will take a more pragmatic approach. In addition to providing videos of Sun's technology, it also may introduce virtual renderings of its products for Second Life residents to test out. "This is the type of thing we're considering," he says.

IBM, too, has multiple efforts underway in Second Life. In September IBM held a virtual event for media and analysts in conjunction with its worldwide company meeting. Also last month, 150 IBMers took part in a virtual session in Second Life as part of IBM's Innovation Jam, an ongoing effort to facilitate collaboration among IBM employees, clients and partners.