Second Life news value
David Ugarte
There are many reasons why Second Life news is valuable. People want journalists covering their events on Second Life. There are limits to the event search program, so the role of the media in Second Life is to filter the information being spread through parts of Second Life for more people to hear quickly. According to the journalists from Second Life there are some activists who take Second Life very seriously.
However there are many challenges to in-world news and reporting as well. Reporters have to build a large network of friends to find stories. There are in-world groups and a single character can only subscribe to twenty groups. The reporters being interviewed said they often have to use other news sources to get their news in Second Life. One reporter admitted that the news in Second Life is mostly just interesting to people in Second Life.
There are some special advantages to Second Life news too. Reporters can cover political campaigns in world without the politicians or the reporters having to travel. Celebrities or athletes can participate in events in-world that may never happen in the real world, and these can make very interesting or important news, just as events in the real world would. One reporter talked about a person she met in Second Life whose opinion was valuable to a story she was reporting. People have opportunities to talk to people they would never have been able to speak with in real life.