Second Life Dieing according to the Telegraph

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hmmh- and the Daily Telegraph is one of the better papers in the UK....its not far behind The Times in terms credibility.

If it were "The Sun" or "The Mirror", i wouldn't have wasted time reading it! Those are real rag mags!

I think SL is becoming something of an easy pickings for disgruntled hacks on slow news days. First we have David M. Ewalt of Forbes writing this:

http://blogs.forbes.com/digitaldownload/2009/02/second-life-deathwatch-the-final-days.html

And now we have Rupert Neate writing this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/technology/5078444/Second-Lifes-span-is-virtually-over-as-firms-decide-to-get-real.html

It would seem that balanced opinion has been replaced by nothing short of biased rancour in the 'quality' press because neither of these 'journalists' seems capable of phrasing a sentence without some scathing observation about SL and the type of people who use it.

The only ostensible difference is that Neate's article is longer and he paid a little more attention to his sources. Both authors quote Valley Wag. Is Valley Wag a respected source? I browsed it once and dumped the cookies and bookmark almost immediately for it just seemed to be a biliously opinionated blog with a particular axe to grind on Phillip Rosedale and Linden Labs.

The Telegraph seems to have gone one step further to produce an extremely ugly graphic of what SL supposedly represents. The credit is "Photo: SECOND LIFE" but I cannot believe Linden Labs provided such a crappy file. It would seem they were obliged to credit their atrocious screengrab out of respect for the TOS.

The mere fact of Neate's comparison with Facebook and the latest buzz, Twitter, shows that, like Ewalt and all those big, disappointed corporate brands, he doesn't grasp what SL is about. It would seem they are getting away with this low grade journalism because their editors are themselves most likely totally ignorant of what the medium represents.

No irony intended or unintended, jus takin' a piss on the article, shoulda " " mah nonsensical word.

Thanks Pip,

~Chipley (never said 'I' wasn't in a high school remedial english class, just thought that was some crappy writing from a SL hater... you don't have to be a genious to go to art school. I used to hate listenin' to those kids read their papers, this article brought back memories ... )

I remember just three years ago when 5000 concurrent users was a shockingly high number.

As for the RL businesses I am surprised at how shortsighted and superficial their research must
have been to invest the money to establish a presence only to abandon it a few months later.

I believe the ones who actually did do sufficient research are still here.

As for the articles like this, they generally tend to pique people's interest for better or worse
and lead to a increased number of sign ups.

The author of this article just doesnt get it. And appears to be viewing SL through a telescope
or the eyes of fellow media cynics.

pffft..... it's the Torygraph. What else would you expect from them? The article itself reads like the ramblings of someone who completely misses the point of Second Life and, because of their mindest, is incapable of tuning into the zeitgeist. If you want snarkiness you'll find it in the Grauniad or the Indy. As far as surviving, the Torygraph has a higher likelihood of going bust.

But all sides of the press spectrum are desperate to keep their potential readers off "t3h 3b1l 1nt4rw3bz" and firmly sucking on the centralised media teat of television and newsprint. Expect the stories to become gaudier and the polemic more shrill as the old paradigms are blown away. The internet is shaking up society in as fundamental way as the gutenberg press did in its' time. However traditional print-on-paper has pretty much run its course and electronic media is becoming the norm. Will newspapers adapt or die? Second Life is a glimpse of how 3D VR networking will be once all the wrinkles are ironed out. Second Life itself may not last forever (boo-hoo) but the concept of 3D virtual worlds as an evolutionary step beyond 2D flatweb is the roadmap.

I read the article. It was obviously written by someone who finds SL about as interesting as I find golf! SL isn't for everybody and the writer didn't really show any real knowledge of SL.

To turn the tables a bit:
I've hardly ever read the Daily Telegraph but I can say here that it's a paper for stuffy retired middle-class, conservative English people! OK, that's a sweeping statement, but that's exactly how the journalist treated Second Life.

It's true the get-rich-quick people left when they failed to get rich quick, the gamblers left when their 'vice' was banned because of legislation in the USA.

Facebook and Twitter serve a very different purpose to SL, although there might be a slight overlap. What puts me off Twitter is the terminology. The idea of grown adults posting 'tweets' to each other makes my tummy feel queasy.

I try to keep up with new developments in the virtual worlds industry. Nothing has come along to match SL, the nearest being the SL 'clones' created from OpenSim and the SL copycats like Hipihi. Since then, all the more recent virtual worlds seem to be cartoony and aimed at children. The late Google Lively is just one such example.

I expect there is someone, somewhere in SL who's spent their entire existence doing the freebie kick-dance at a welcome area, but most of us move on and expand our horiSLons!

i'm on facebook and it sort of is kinda useful if you have relatives on the other side of the ocean... not as useful as email or msn though.

but twitter... well, twitter has "twit" in it.
'nuff said.

Would the past tense be "twat"?

My First Life profile has always read:

"They got Facebook for that and I ain't in Facebook."

Which sums up the difference very nicely for me. Email is quite good enough for RL relationships although I sometimes hanker to write a good old-fashioned epistle of the pen and ink kind.

I just can't buy airmail stationery for love nor money in my neck of the woods.

Publicity Departments of large companies have numbers. For example, a two inch column in Wall St journal is worth $50,000.

So, if they can have a sim built, and have an opening ceremony of some sort, and they get that two inches, they are happy.

OMG, golf is dieing???

If SL is gonna die, I call dibs on all it's stuff.

I just took a look at the Telgraph's webpage relating to Letters to the Editor (I say relating to, since I don't see the print edition and don't know how accurately one represents the other).

Nothing about SL on that first page of it:



Anyway, I'm wondering if a succinct expression of what's been said in this thread (especially about the misleading graphic and the reporter's manifest ignorance) might be especially effective if sent by an actual subscriber to the Daily Telegraph.

(I'm not one, but from the comments, it looks as though a couple of us are...)

I'm a Grauniad reader myself but, yes, I definitely think it would be a good idea if one of the regular Telegraph readers were to write a complaint about the shabby, indeed offensive, tone of that article.

stoped reading after that, (While the site is still beloved by geeks and the socially awkward,) because obviously they have no clue, therefore anything coming after those words.... pfft.

I'm always surprised that someone believes that nothing can live without corp support..rent one lousy island, put up your corp logo and expect people who are finally free of loud ads and spin to flock to you!?

Many residents own more land and pay more tier than the corps ever did...and create far better experiences for other residents.

SL isn't dying, the worship of "The Emperor has no clothes" corps-are-oh-so-necessary myth is dying.

I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately LL does not,For some reason,known only to themselves,they seek to change the profile of this place .

Corps,education,meetings, Worthy stuff, blah blah blah. They still push it at every opportunity but they are "flogging a dead horse".

LL needs to get over it's delusions of grandeur and get back to it's original fun track.

They still envision SL as the center of the Metaverse (tm), which is highly unlikely in my uneducated opinion. it will be more like just one of many solar systems, each offering something different.

Any company who doesn't like its clients (we are not residents as we have no rights, we are clients) and would prefer other clients instead will have a hard time surviving.

The Reuters guy in the article has a point.
“The very things that most appeal to Second Life’s hardcore enthusiasts are either boring or creepy for most people: spending hundreds of hours of effort to make insignificant amounts of money selling virtual clothes, experimenting with changing your gender or species, getting into random conversations with strangers from around the world, or having pseudo-nonymous sex (and let’s not kid ourselves, sex is a huge draw into Second Life)."

I love the pseudo-nonymous sex with strangers while making insignificant amounts with my on-line business. Surely not something a Reuters reporter would write about Coca-Cola needs to put an advertising sign next to.

Too bad the Lindens don't like us and try so hard to get the audience they can't reach.
Most vampires, pony girls, slaves, goreans, shemales, fairy's and wolfs I meet really love SL. (although quite a few think of leaving because of the upcoming adult content changes)

Those companies did not have a clue how to attempt SL. If they did any research at all....it sucked.

Maybe they hired some Clueless Joe in SL who had a "marketing consultant" tag on their profile. Maybe they blew in with a Corporate Tude they knew what they were doing. Their demise in SL is due to their own lack of education and correct resources, and should be blamed on their own inferior attempts, rather than the SL venue.

All they had to do was watch, study, and learn. All they had to do, was spend a week with one of you.....for a nice fee, of course heck....I bet half of you would have done it for pure enjoyment and the experience.

Let those who pay their dues and contribute, and understand, be the judge of whether it works or not....and let them quietly enjoy their rewards.....whether it be monetarily or psychologically, or both......they, in the end, make or break it, and will benefit, as well as enhance it......not the clueless corporate entities....and that's the way it should be.

Cheers to those