Interesting TV News about Virtual Worlds – Part 1

Wonderland is a BBC program that delves into the story of people’s extraordinary corners of their ordinary life. In this episode, it highlights the virtual romance/relationships on Second Life. Kristen and Steve (SL avatar – Nik and Kira) will share with us their story on how they met, found love, exchanged virtual vows and living as a happy and real couple in real life.

Habbo Hotel is known to be one of the largest online communities with over 250 million users around the world. Lately, it’s been causing some major panic and terror to parents as it was discovered that this site has become the mecca for paedophiles.  Channel 4 News producers spent 2 months investigating the virtual world and was profoundly shocked at what they have learned.

Montserrat Augustus along with other Second Life users got interviewed by Fox News about their social life online. Each one has their own story on why they joined this virtual world. Some do this for business or even use this as a means to communicate and teach their students in a virtual classroom. While others just want to have fun, meet new friends, discover exciting places and live the world with infinite possibilities.

Fox News described how virtual worlds like Club Penguin, Barbie Girls, and Stardoll influences kids to become materialistic and urge them that buy items as the only means to enjoy the full benefits of the game. This led one concerned mom to do undercover to see how things work in the kiddie cyberspace and learned one important lesson and that is to simply be present for your kids not only in the real world but also in the virtual world.

There.com is an online community with over 400,000 users around the world where you can meet other people just like other social networking sites. In this interview with the ABC News, they demoed an avatar walking around the pirate bay and other locations where you can find people gathering in a plaza. They also explained what makes this virtual world different from others.

Virtual worlds for kids like Club Penguin, Elf Island and Webcarzz are becoming a hit nowadays. Parents TV interviewed Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine and talked about popular sites out there, how they work and what you need to do as a parent to keep your little ones safe from these online games.

This unusual website called Weeblo is gaining its popularity since people are using real money to buy and sell property they don’t even own.  Just think of Monopoly! Fox 25 News tells us the story of the virtual owners of Fenway Park, Museum of Science and 75 State Street in the Boston area. While the website encounters issues with trademarks, there is no stopping the owners from this virtual land rush.

Second Life is a 3D virtual world where people can connect and socialize with other users around the globe. It has become a phenomenon that millions of fans have gathered to experience this new life of fantasy and literally create their own second life. CBCtv is doing coverage on why people find this virtual hangout addictive, entertaining  and they will also shed us some light as to what’s happening on the other side of the world.