Information

This page shows some of the press coverage we receive and the media trends in some of Second Life's major markets.

Linden Lab News Archives

Here are links to the various Linden Lab websites where we catalog the press we receive. (Not all of these are up-to-date, but we are constantly working on it.)

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Weekly Reports

In this section, you will find the media trends and press stories we are tracking in some of our key markets.

Week Ending December 19, 2008

Key Coverage by Market:

US

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Positive coverage across topics, with a great piece on CNBC about the “sexiest man in cyberspace” and a story about positive relationships on CNN.
-- Increased news about Gore Verbinski’s movie.
-- Continued to coverage of HOME, which is generally positive or neutral for Second Life.
-- Positive news on virtual worlds being used more effectively in the enterprise space.
-- Growth in Second Life’s educational uses and seeing traction as a platform for support groups to bring people together.

Key Coverage:

CNBC – Covers the results of Second Life’s ‘sexiest man in cyberspace’ competition.

CNN International - Couples have met in Second Life and have gone on to meet and get married in real life.

Variety - Director Gore Verbinski has purchased the rights to do a possible movie about a married man in a relationship with a virtual wife in Second Life, based on the 2007 Wall Street Journal story.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

TMC Net - Nortel’s virtual business environment could mark the future of B2B communications and also mentions businesses are already using Second Life in this way.

Federal Computer Week - Posts about the launch of the army’s islands in Second Life to be used for recruiting.

TG Daily - Forterra Systems will soon issue a new report claiming that virtual worlds are much more effective than web conferencing for conducting business.

EDUCATION Coverage:

News 10 NBC – Reports that students from the Rochester Institute of Technology have created their own virtual island in Second Life and had an official ribbon cutting in-world.

Cutting Edge – Covers use of Second Life to form autism support groups where parents of those who are profoundly affected can communicate with each other.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

PC Magazine - Director Gore Verbinski has purchased the rights to do a possible movie about a married man in a relationship with a virtual wife in Second Life, based on the 2007 Wall Street Journal story.

The Escapist - Reports that director Gore Verbinski has purchased the rights to do a possible movie about a married man in a relationship with a virtual wife in Second Life.

Variety – Coverage of Gore Verbinski’s film plans about the Second Life relationship.

Cinematical – Further coverage about Gore Verbinski’s film project.

CNBC - Reports results of Second Life’s ‘sexiest man in cyberspace’ competition. The team had coordinated with Jane Wells on this piece as well as secured her interest in luxury items in Second Life.

CNN – States that some couples who met in Second Life have gone on to meet and get married in real life.
Digital Trends – Coverage of Verbinski’s film project.

Kotaku - Gore Verbinski purchased the rights to a movie about a married man with a virtual wife in Second Life, based on the 2007 Wall Street Journal story.

ShackNews – More Verbinski film project coverage:

MTV - Director Gore Verbinski plans to make a film about a Second Life relationship, based on the 2007 Wall Street Journal story.

Slash Film – Continued coverage of Gore Verbinski’s film project.

ValleyWag - Posts on the movie that will be based on Second Life, taking a quick dig at Hollywood’s lag in keeping up with technology.

VentureBeat - Weblin, a Germany-based startup, has figured a way for users to export Second Life avatars to any web site.

HOME coverage:

The Wall Street Journal - Covered the launch of HOME, citing Second Life as its inspiration.

Philadelphia Daily News - Covers PlayStation Home in a news roundup and mentions it as the first “Second Life”-like virtual universe for gaming consoles.

GameDaily - Reports on the PS Home viral video of users hitting on female avatars.

Beta News - Negatively covers Sony’s HOME citing Eric Krangel’s posting and includes a favorable mention of Second Life.

UK

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- There has been a wide range of articles particularly focusing on the entertainment value of Second Life.
-- Particular focus on the consumer sector this week, with a range of articles discussing the virtual music scene. -- BBC article, including a recording from Working Lunch, a popular consumer daytime TV show, has an amazing profile of a Second Life businessman.
-- Continued coverage of Second Life’s benefits to educators, and an article on the use of Second Life to consolidate political protest.
-- Discussion of the potential movie including Second Life as well as the growing popularity of the virtual music scene for the consumer sector.

Key Coverage:

BBC - Profiles a business that is run exclusively in Second Life.

HR Magazine - Provides an analysis of an e-learning roundtable which Clare Rees and Language Lab attended.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

The Drum - Lists companies that have used Second Life to their business advantage.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Guardian - Mentions a company called TwoFour that has links to a school that conducts entire lessons in Second Life.
Indy Media - Looks into individuals’ use of Second Life for an interactive media installation in solidarity and support for the boy who was shot by Greek police.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

BBC - Reports on EVE Online, and mentions that in Second Life, Residents are in a shared virtual world (rather than separate experiences).

PC Pro – A look at how far the Internet has come, including all the things you can do in Second Life.

Music Ally - Describes ‘Virtual Vancouver’, a virtual music festival.

Total Film - Covers Gore Verbinski’s (director of Pirates of the Caribbean) intention to make a film based on a man who plays in Second Life.

gloucestershire.co.uk - Briefly mentions Verbinski’s plans to make a film based on a man who spends 20 hours a day in Second Life.

Newswire - Announces that World Music performing artist Ridha Ibrahim will debut his album, ‘Amalgam Feelings’, in Second Life.

HOME coverage:

The Independent - Mentions that Microsoft prefers Second Life to Home.

digital spy - Microsoft prefers Second Life to Home.

Spong - Mentions that Microsoft don’t see Home as competition for Second life.

GERMANY

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- No negative coverage this week.
-- We saw a lot of coverage in the “Education” section.
-- More coverage about the scientific use of Second Life.

Key Coverage:

Industrie.de - Published a long article about the possibilities for scientists in Second Life and virtual worlds in general, quoting Stefan Seitz from Fraunhofer-Institut Stuttgart.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

Marketing+Verdienstmoeglichkeiten+nun+auch+in+virtuellen+Welten-/09300.html fair-news.de - News about Solution Provider Liventura who are currently building up the Telekom’s T-Home presence in-world.

Spiegel.de - An article about Sony’s HOME, which includes a short film in it that shows how HOME works.

EDUCATION Coverage:

[http://www.sltalk.de/index.php/2008/12/17/tu-braunschweig-in-second-life/ SLtalk.de] - Coverage about a new institution in Second Life: Welcome to Universität Braunschweig!

VDI-Nachrichten.com - A long article about IBM’s engineers who look for the right interface to make virtual worlds accessible for blind people.

FRANCE

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- News published this week around Home and the first muslim virtual world.
-- News about competitors and SL’s leading role in the Virtual World industry since 2006 in France.
-- Continued coverage of Second Life’s use for business and recruiting.
-- Positive focus on musical and charity events in Second Life.

Key Coverage:

Le Point.fr - An excellent article about Second Life and the creation of Issy les Moulineaux City hall in-world.

Univers virtuels.fr - A note about Immersive workspace.

Premiere.fr - Covers Gore Verbinsky’s film project in Second Life and the consequence of virtual worlds on human’s relation with other people.

Buzzomatice - Covered the article from DVDRama about Gore Verbinsky’s project to do a film about Second Life and the consequence of virtual worlds on human’s relation with other people.

Sortiraparis.com - An article about Alain Chabat , French actor and producer, who will produce the film by Gore Verbisky about virtual worlds immersion and its consequence for human relations.

mk2.com - Published an article about the video game industry and the consequences of the crisis on it. Mentions Second Life as a virtual world gaining confidence even in these tough times.

Numerama.com – Reports on the opening of the first virtual world dedicated to muslims: Muxlim Pal.

20 minutes.fr - Published an article about the opening of the first virtual world dedicated to muslims: Muxlim Pal.

Gamekult – Covers the launch of the Home beta.

Vnunet.fr - Published an article about the launch of the Home beta.

Aterlier.fr - Posted an article about avatars and their social influence.

Numerama.com - An article about Home beta and the disappointment to its users.

Le point.fr - Published an article about the failure of Home’s launch.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

Silicon.fr – An article about the interest of companies to propose a social network to their clients.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

Blogabulle - A note about the first Champaign sale on RIL Shopping in Second Life.

En direct de second life - Covers the presentation of the book “l’encyclopedie des Elfes” on Second Life.

Week Ending December 5, 2008

Key Coverage by Market

US

Trends we’ve noticed:

-- Several positive stories this week across all topics, including articles on Howard Look’s appointment.
-- Coverage in mainstream press and the blogosphere about the Army in Second Life and benefits of using the platform for training.
-- Stories about Reuters leaving didn’t spread beyond in-world press and blogs.
-- Positive coverage of university expansion, more schools are increasing courses in Second Life and several organizations are conducting studies in the virtual world.

Look appointment coverage:

ReadWriteWeb - Linden Lab has hired Howard Look as SVP of Customer Applications.

Virtual World News - Reports on the Look appointment.

Second Life Update - Reports on the Look appointment.

World In Motion - Reports on the Look appointment.

Inquisitr - Reports on the Look appointment.

Dusan Writer’s - Reports on the Look appointment.

Metaverse Journal - Posts on the Look appointment.

Other coverage:

TIME Style and Design - Presents and article on virtual luxury. The team connected the journalist with Jeska as well as several inworld designers.

WIRED - Reports that the U.S. Army is building two training islands in Second Life to attract new recruits.

CNET - Posts about the Army’s presence in Second Life.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

CBS WBZTV - Thanks to the popularity of Second Life, the article states, 80 percent of active Internet users will live a virtual life within the next three years and the government is becoming more involved as well.

New York Times - Mentions that it is important that the government engages in technology like Second Life to, “develop understanding between American people and peoples of other countries.”

Government Technology - Mentions that in 2007, Missouri created an employee-recruiting site and held job fairs in Second Life.

T + D - Reports that it is important for companies to invest in Web 2.0 technologies, mentioning Second Life.

Inside CRM - Virtual worlds like Second Life can improve upon and expand Web conferencing technologies for businesses.

SD Times - Reports that Asynchrony, an IT consulting firm, is using Second Life to run ‘agile projects’ for its developers.

Biz Informer - Mentions that there are uses for Second Life beyond just sales and marketing, including virtual conferencing.

New Brunswick Business Journal - Reports that the Syntesi Corporation is using Second Life to train current and future workers.

Fist Full of Talent - Blogs that at the HR Leadership Forum, there was a strong emphasis on the use of Second Life for HR professionals.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Reflector.com - Reports that high school students will soon be able to take classes at East Carolina University through Second Life.

CFO - Reports that Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business will offer classes in Second Life for their executive-education program.

Dr. Dobb’s Journal – A University of California, San Diego student will spend 365 consecutive hours immersed in the Second Life to study how people adapt to virtual environments.

Inside the University of Florida - Reports that the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (at the University of Florida) will try to improve language teaching and cultural awareness using Second Life.

The Star Press - Reports that the Las Americas Network of architecture students from 30 Latin American colleges collaborated with graduate students from Ball State in Second Life.

Associated Press - Reports that studying avatars in Second Life will help researchers determine how people become satisfied or dissatisfied with their bodies.

Discovery Magazine - Virtual reality platforms like Second Life can be used in psychotherapy.

CONSUMER Coverage:

Escapist Magazine - Reports that the U.S. Army is building two training islands in Second Life to attract new recruits.

Virtual World News - Reports that the U.S. Army is building two training islands in Second Life to attract new recruits.

Serious Game Blog - Mentions the Army setting up in Second Life.

C2 - Blogs that the U.S. Army is building two training islands in Second Life to attract new recruits.

Kotaku - The U.S. Army is building two training islands in Second Life to attract new recruits.

Virtual World News - Reports that the U.S. Air Force will also set up an island in Second Life to help recruit and inform civilians, and train cadets.

Maxwell Gunter Dispatch - Blogs that the U.S. Air Force hopes that their MyBase island in Second Life will attract people interested in learning more about the Air Force.

CNET - Sweden and South Korea are attempting to tax virtual goods and currency.

Cornell Daily Sun - The lines of infidelity are being blurred due to complex relationship and interaction between people in Second Life.

The Observer - Online images and real-life personalities are melding as evident in the vast character customizability in Second Life.

Wallet Pop - An assembled virtual orchestra plans on performing on YouTube and in Second Life in the near future.

Union Leader - A woman has won the first federal registered trademark for an avatar used in Second Life and the real world.

New World Notes - Blogs that Barack Obama’s two new cabinet appointees to his ‘Innovation Agenda’ group are regular users of Second Life.

TED - iIn an interview with Philip Rosedale, he discusses the future of Second Life.

Dusan Writer’s Metaverse - Posts the interview on Ted Talks.

UK

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Coverage this week has been mainly positive but with little key focus on Second Life. There have been positive articles in The Daily Mail, The Sun and The Guardian, with the rest of the coverage lacking focus on Second Life.
-- The educational and enterprise sections have received the most focus this week.
-- Positive education coverage, calling Second Life the potential future of education and nurses being able to train online.

Key Coverage:

Daily Mail - Writes about how a womens’ magazine editor found love in Second Life.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

The Guardian - Looks into web 2.0 as a tool using Second Life as an example of online copyright laws.

The Guardian - Explores the research done by high tech industries for online and real life shopping tendencies.

Earth Times - Talks about the appointment of Howard Look as senior vice president of customer relations at Linden Lab.

EDUCATION Coverage:

The Sun - Talks about nurses being able to train in Second Life.

The Guardian - Discusses whether or not Second Life is the future of Education.

CONSUMER Coverage:

Daily Mail – A women’s magazine editor found love on Second Life.

GERMANY

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Business applications are less interesting at the moment, Second Life is pictured as a quite sexy place.
-- Coverage of the use of Second Life for scientific purposes.

Key Coverage:

UniCompact (not available online) - Published in its print issue the interview we sent over with Jean at Medientage. It has a really nice layout plus an attractive heading (”I sit on a marshmellow”).

ENTERPRISE Coverage:
-- Positive coverage regarding Second Life, and may even welcome a very interesting new resident.

turi-2.blog.de - An interview with Professor Thomas Schildhauer from the Institute of Electronic Business at Berlin University. He recommends companies to do some careful virtual steps. There is also a video stream of the interview.

SLtalk.de - Good news published, that German county Saarland has got its own presence in-world now. On 7 islands, it shows its sights as well as some companies.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Neuepresse.de - Presents a lawyer who is writing a book on legal matters within virtual worlds.

Deutschlandradio.de - Published a program about the Matheon at Berlin University that took the concept of avatars to help teachers to explain complicated molecular structures to them.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

SLinside one of the most important German SL blogs, is celebrating its fifth birthday!

FRANCE

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- It seems that some journalists are overall becoming more confident about Second Life.
-- Several articles this week around companies, initiatives in SL. They also insist on the fact that SL is really a good way to recruit nowadays.
-- Musical events and public affairs covered, such as the music event “Transusicales de Rennes.

Key Coverage:

Virtuel News – Coverage of the fact that maybe journalists and other people have dismissed SL too quickly.

Mascottus - Published a review about Second Life.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

LeMondeInformatique.fr – Coverage about the best practices in terms of recruitment. Mention of SL as one of the best ways to recruit.

Johanmarketeur - A note about AIR FRANCE KLM being in Second Life.

Pyrennéesgascognemag - Posted an article about RIL shopping, the first private sales space on SL.

Duperrin – Coverage of the fact that even in crisis, social networks continue to exist. Mentions Second Life as a virtual world reaching its “second life”.

Alltrends -Covers Second Life professional utility thanks to Immersive Workspaces.

Brocateo - Promotes on its website its sale on RIL shopping in Second Life.

ITRGames - Published an article about the Bank SOFINCO entering Second Life.

Educpro - Published an article about the first virtual recruitment of SUPELEC in Second Life.

Indice RH - An article about the first virtual recruitment of SUPELEC in Second Life.

CXP.fr - Published an article about the first virtual recruitment of SUPELEC in Second Life.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:
Wangxiang - An article about the musical event “Transmusicales de Rennes”. Mentions Second Life, where there will be a live re-transmission of the concert.
Francomix - Published an article about the Musical event “Transmusicales de Rennes”. Mention of Second Life due to coming live retransmission of that concert.

nt2 - Published an article about Cyril Thomas’ conference on SL about the status of objects and documents inserted in SL.

Louche - Published a note about the Musical event “Transmusicales de Rennes”. Mention of future retransmission of that concert in Second Life.

Inworlds – Coverage of a guide for compression format for Second Life.