Second Life is taking the world by storm. Though right now it may not be considered a necessary media platform it won’t be long before it does become one. One of the main reasons that it will become a necessity is, as Professor Fox said in class, because the biggest demographic that uses second life is the one that is hardest to reach in real life. Second Life makes this demographic very accessible.
In many ways journalism in Second Life is the same as in real life. In the Blogher report Cybergrrl Oh says, “...people are thinking that virtual news is so different… but we’re operating just like a reporter would out of Second Life… the same rules apply.” The same real world challenges face Second Life journalist; they are just amplified in some cases such as credibility of sources. The minimal pay also makes it hard to make Second Life journalism more than just a “paid hobby” according to Cybergrrl Oh.
At this time I don’t believe that in-world news supersedes real world news but it does have the potential. The people in Second Life are doing real things and creating real news. 57 miles says that at the moment it is hard to find news in Second Life by anyway but word of mouth. This is what has brought the need for Second Life journalism. As the Second Life population expands its news will become more prominent. I’ll be very interested to see where Second Life’s developments will take it.