ABC’s 4Corners looks at Second Life
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The national Australian broadcaster, ABC, tonight broadcast an edition of its flagship ‘4Corners‘ current affairs program dedicated to Second Life.
To be honest, there wasn’t much in there that would be new to anyone who has spent a bit of time in Second Life, but for one of my clients (who I knew would be watching because I’ve offered to build a presence there for his organisation for free) the show would have been an eye opener.
And not just because of the pink penises.
Also of interest — at least to me — was how Clay Shirky came across as ’snarky’ and somewhat ‘foolish’ in his criticisms. Calling attention to the difference in numbers between ‘Signups’ and ‘actual players’ three months later, he poured scorn on Philip Rosedale. But as Edward Castronova pointed out, getting 20,000-30,000 people online in any one place at any one time was unheard of before Second Life and really needs to be recognised for the phenomenal achievement it is.
The ABC has a useful extra resources available for broadband users — additional interview material and so forth — that make it a useful stopping-by point. The material that wasn’t included from the interviews makes for compelling watching — especially when Edward Castronova talks about how his whole interest in online economies started. Did you know, for example, that virtual world economies are growing faster than China and India? Neither did I…
Stop by if you have a spare minute or two…
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