The Second Life forums, which lack a bit of punch when it comes to discussion but are an absolute gem when it comes to finding technical information, have been visited today by someone purporting to be from the BBC.
The forum post, which can be read here, has the following message:
“Hi! Alan from BBC Radio 4 in London here creating a new internet phone-in documentary – we’re looking at who’s out there and what you’re up to online and offline over five days and nights. Have you got an interesting story to tell about what’s going on in your life right now? If so, I’d love to hear from you. This show is about people not opinions – so I want to hear your story, about who you are, what you do, and what makes you tick. Everyone welcome. Add me as a friend on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003149484259 and be sure to Skype me at dontlogoff at the following times
Mon 21 Nov – 1600-2200 GMT (eg. London) / 1100-1700 EST (eg. NYC) / 0800-1400 PST (eg. Los Angeles) / 0300-0900 + 1 day EDT (eg. Sydney)
Tue 22 Nov – 0700-1200 GMT / 0200-0700 EST / 2300-0400 PST / 1800-2300 EDT
Wed 23 Nov – 0700-1200 GMT / 0200-0700 EST / 2300-0400 PST / 1800-2300 EDT
Thu 24 Nov – 1600-2200 GMT / 1100-1700 EST / 0800-1400 PST / 0300-0900 +1 day EDT
Fri 25 Nov – 1600-2200 GMT / 1100-1700 EST / 0800-1400 PST / 0300-0900 + 1 day EDT
It’s a phone-in, remember, so we’ll be recording if you call – look forward to hearing from you!
The finished show will be on BBC Radio 4 on 2nd Jan 2012 at 1102am GMT – we’ll try to include as many callers as possible.”
BBC Radio 4 is one of the more serious BBC Radio channels, they do have a lot of discussion on subjects, with a wide variety of subject matter, so this probably is the real deal, I don’t really see why this would be made up. The Facebook link takes you to the Facebook page of Alan Dein.
This isn’t about Second Life in general, it’s about Internet usage, so the callers will be from a wide cross section, it’s a shame there isn’t more in the media about virtual worlds, the concepts of virtual worlds and why virtual worlds rock …. I could be being biased here!
Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on this and see what transpires, if I remember!