“We’re still reporting on Second Life, but only as part of our usual tech and media coverage,” a Reuters spokeswoman confirmed to The Register (via Game Politics). After only two years of activity, one of the world’s leading news services decided to end its virtual branch in the world of Second Life, and it may have taken a month-and-a-half for anyone to notice. The last entry on their site is dated September 30.
In 2006, many companies, including Coke and Nike, spent thousands of dollars developing an online presence in Second Life, only to find out later that they were severely jumping the gun. Most of the real world wasn’t ready for this virtual reality’s unintuitive menu and navigation system, despite its pioneering efforts in intellectual property ownership and commerce. Basically, the aforementioned companies became owners of “hip” and “stylized” ghost cyber-stores. With the infrequency of actual news to report, I’m surprised Reuters remained for this long. The occasional story on flying penises couldn’t have driven that much traffic.