The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse

Citation

Fourie, I. (2009), "The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse", Online Information Review, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 214-215. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520910944526

The Second Life Herald takes the reader into the world and personal experiences of virtual journalist Peter Ludlow (Urizenus in the virtual world), who was banned from the digital world of The Sims Online. His ban followed reports in his virtual newspaper on the cyber‐brothels, crimes and strong‐arm tactics of The Sims Online. It was covered by The New York Times, BBC and CNN with cries on internet censorship, showing the impact happenings in virtual worlds may have on real‐life reactions and real‐life emotions.

Peter Ludlow is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and has a number of books to his name. His co‐author, Mark Wallace, is a freelance journalist who has written widely on virtual worlds and online games. Together Ludlow and Wallace take the reader behind the scenes of the Alphaville Herald newsroom into a virtual world. Second Life Herald tells Ludlow's tale as he takes his newspaper into the digital universe of Second Life, where he, Wallace and their friends continued to delve into the nature of virtual worlds. They explore the issues that arise (e.g. sex, scamming, grief and abandonment), and analyse the impact these will have on the future of everyone's lives, both online and offline.

Second Life Herald reads like fiction, but with a real‐life message of what happens in virtual worlds, the challenges, concerns, and likely impacts on individual lives and group identity. Some statements from the book include the following: “Sex and love in the virtual world takes many other forms as well. Some of it far more kinky”; “Online, though, masters and collared slaves could be found in all concerns of TSO – to the dismay of many who felt that this overt behaviour was inappropriate in a game that admitted 13‐year‐olds”. This came as an eye‐opener to me, as well as the conflict in virtual worlds and the pain and hurt that can follow abandonment of virtual characters and virtual identities.

Web 2.0 technologies and Second Life are increasingly mentioned in relation to typical library and information services (LIS) such as reference work. It seems that Second Life might turn into a buzz in the LIS literature. In this context it is important for LIS professionals as well as educators considering Second Life as a way to gain the interest of the Net Generation, to at least familiarise themselves with what Second Life and other virtual worlds may entail, how it can be used, and what to watch out for. With almost no chance becoming a member of such a virtual world myself, I appreciated Second Life Herald and the tale of Peter Ludlow as an important eye‐opener to the complexities of such worlds – that move way beyond play and having fun. I would therefore recommend Second Life Herald to anybody interested in using Second Life to promote services and interest in other context, e.g. LIS services or education. It is, however, not the type of publication I would necessarily recommend for the personal bookshelf.