A couple of months back we saw Reuters plant a reporter in virtual world SecondLife, now German tabloid giant Bild are to launch an in-world virtual newspaper called the Avastar and will sell for 150 Linden Dollars. SecondLife already has newspaper called Second Life Herald and the newcomer promises to provide news, entertainment, service and orientation for the residents. It’s been built with the help of our friends at CScout and they tell us that it will be English language. The press release reads:
“The AvaStar” will offer its readers – the “residents” – around 30 pages of wide-ranging information about life in the virtual world. The majority of its readers will be relatively young, well educated men and women with an average age of 32 years. Its approach is direct and emotive. “The AvaStar” aims to serve as a guide and help newcomers in particular to find their bearings in the “Second Life” environment. The content is clearly structured: News, Business, Celebrity & Gossip, Style & Fashion, Travel and Entertainment form the editorial framework. A weekly guide to “Second Life” rounds off the newspaper.
Launch date: December 21 2006
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
What do you mean “Second Life Gets a Tabloid.”? Second Life *has* a tabloid, and it has had one for nearly two years. And yes, The Second Life Herald is a tabloid in the sense that it has a gossip columnist (Pat the Rat), paparazzi, lots of sensationalistic reporting, and even post six grrrls/boyz to spice things up. And not only has the Herald been discussed on the front page of the New York Times but it is the most widely read online publication in the SL infosphere at this point, so ignorance of it is not really excusable. (here are your traffic stats: http://www.cleeker.com/cleeker/second_life/graph.html )
I also take offense at the claim in AvaStar’s press release that it will be “the first mass medium in ‘Second Life’ to be produced with a professional background.” Setting aside the 10 books I’ve written or edited our Editor Mark Wallace has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, weekend Financial Times, The Times of London, New York, Harper’s, GQ, Details and Salon.com, Institutional Investor, The Banker, Euromoney, City Limits and Publisher’s Weekly, among others, wrote the “Fast Forward” column for the Financial Times, and was Contributing Editor of Gulf States Newsletter and Managing Editor of Emerging Markets.
Just keepin’ it real.
December 18th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Yeah, Piers, you of all people should know better than to title your post that way. You’ve actually looked in Second Life before, and if you haven’t read the Herald, I konw you’ve read 3pointD.com, where the Herald is often mentioned and where the banner is fairly prominently displayed. To post like this without even mentioning the Herald is either a serious case of trend-missing, or evidence that the marketing blogosphere looks only to flash and money, not to culture and consumers. Oh, wait…
December 18th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
ok, ok. I hear you. It’s not like we said it was the first. The interesting thing for us is that it’s supported by a huge newspaper publisher. I’m not ignoring the others - it’s just the concept of some firm investing a lot of money into such a venture. Or so it seems. I will update with a hat tip to Second Life Herald.
December 18th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
so - what is it going to do differently than the SLH? I mean - there has to be something *special* that they plan? Right?
Must be a super secret. O.o
December 19th, 2006 at 1:49 am
I don’t understand why people get so hung up by the fact that a tabloid announces its launch in a sensational way - isn’t that what tabloids are all about. And according to my SL experience there’s plenty of tabloid’esque magazines in there, Metaverse Messenger, Pixelpulse, In the Grid, Second Style etc. everyone with their own niche.
December 19th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
There is nothing with a tabloid launching in a sensational way, just as there is nothing wrong with another tabloid criticizing the launch in a sensational way.
But the real problem isn’t the idiotic press release from the tabloid company, but rather how the so-called “legit” media is lapping it up without critical analysis.
December 19th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Check this out! The AvaStar´s Myspace Profile.
Cool video, music and photos. Peace.
December 19th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
here the link to the avastar´s profile.
http://www.myspace.com/theavastar
December 19th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
//M: What do you think of another tabloid for SL?
Aimee Weber: Another? I guess there is the SL Herald, but that’s a blog, as I understand it. Issue #1 of the AvaStar is a really fun read. I think people are going to love it.
//M: What about The Metaverse Messenger?
Aimee Weber: That’s not really a tabloid, more of a regular newspaper. I think the AvaStar is filling a niche that hasn’t existed in SL before. People are going to love it.
//M: The SLH is controversial, yes, but undermining?
Aimee Weber: Pretty much, yeah. They don’t really have anything good to say about SL. They celebrate griefers. If there is any story about SL numbers, or anything like that, SL Herald is always there to provide a negative take on it.
http://metaver.se/2006/12/22/aimee-weber-and-the-avastar-corporate-love/
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:59 pm
Aimee Weber works for AvaStar, what else can she say…?(lol)
I wonder if solarboy, niklas also works for AvaStar, to do damage control on blogsphere?
How professional.
December 23rd, 2006 at 5:01 pm
I just did an extensive interview for Avastar…lol.
December 28th, 2006 at 5:04 am
Come to think of it, they were asking a lot of questions about, the exploits and what is LL doing about it, my answers about LL were very positive tho, said they’re doing a great job, etc., protecting us from greater threats. If they try and twist my words, I’ve got a chat log, and after reading SL Herald’s posts about Avastar, they would love another story like that.
But, we’ll see I guess. When does the next one come out?
December 28th, 2006 at 5:20 am