I like Mark Colvin’s style of journalism a lot – PM is arguably one of Australia’s best sources of current affairs to be found, and its ongoing success is at least partly due to its host. He also happens to be pretty tech savvy and is one of Australia’s more engaging people on Twitter.
Today, PM looked in depth at Second Life and virtual worlds more broadly. Specifically, Colvin interviews Thomas Malaby, whose recent book has garnered a lot of attention for its in-depth ethnographic analysis of Linden Lab.
The fifteen-plus minutes of interview is more than worth listening to for its insights, particularly for the newer virtual worlds user. For the more experienced, Malaby still provides some great thoughts on avatar as personality, addiction, the health benefits of virtual worlds and quite a bit more. Listen to the lot here. The shorter version broadcast on PM can be found on the same page.
A big thanks to Wolfie Rankin for the heads-up.
Update: Mark Colvin has now blogged his thoughts on virtual worlds here.
I did read another of Marks stories and he didn't seem overly impressed with the internet 🙂
I did read another of Marks stories and he didn't seem overly impressed with the internet 🙂