Wagner James Au does "embedded reporting" from within the online world of Second Life via his blog New World Notes. Recently, he sought out Israeli SLers within the game to get their views on the current conflict.
The "SL Israel" group is several dozen strong, primarily comprised of Israeli Residents, and when their country's conflict with Hezbollah reached a savage apex over the weekend, I sought them out, to get their perspectives-- on the situation in particular, and how it's impacted their Second Life.
For the record, I also searched for Lebanese Residents, but was not as lucky; consider this an open invitation for Residents in Lebanon to contact me, so I can give their perspectives equal time.
Au's interviewees include a software developer who's also an intelligence officer for the IDF, who built an area within SL called "Big Shalom," pictured above, during the early days of the bombings. Big Shalom includes Israeli memorabilia like "the Israeli flag and large photos of the country's leaders, past and present, it also features links to webpages on Israeli history, a comment box, and free copies of IDF uniforms." Also interviewed are Israelis with a variety of outlooks who live in London, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
This isn't the first time Au has looked into how real-world war impacts the virtual-world society. Previous posts have included a visit to Camp Darfur, a memorial-cum-infosite on the genocide in Sudan that's currently guarded from racist vandals by superheroes, and a look at Hiroshima Garden, built for SL's version of Burning Man to mark the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Au discusses his reportage in an interview at We Make Money Not Art.
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