THE AVATARIZATION OF BILL KELLER

It happened with little fanfare, which is a shame, because I think it represents an epochal shift: in early June, Bill Keller, executive editor at the New York Times, sat down for a Second Life interview with Adam Reuters.  Even three years ago it would have been unthinkable that the senior editor of the world's most powerful newspaper would consent to become an avatar in a virtual world, taking questions from Residents with names like Razzy Rocket. But that's just what Keller did, discussing a number of subjects, including (most appropriately), how the Times is adjusting to the Web 2.0 era.

"He had a few requests about changes to his avatar and I think he was happy in the end," Adam tells me.  They recorded it face-to-face in South Africa during the World Editor's Forum, with the audio piped into the world-- a process that's arguably not immersive enough to count as an in-world appearance.  "[I]n this case it was the only option," says Adam, "and I think we (mostly) avoided gimmicry by having the SL audience take part."

Asked what he thinks of being virtual, Keller laughed and described it as "relatively painless".  As for whether the Times will follow Reuters and set up their own SL-based bureau, his non-committal reply: "[If] there's an audience, we'll go wherever there is an audience."

Hear the whole conversation-- on covering Iraq and the Bush Administration, adjusting to the Internet era, South Africa, and more-- here at Adam Reuter's site.

Comments

[Baba]

Creepy

[Christophe Hugo]

Cross-eyed avatars are so cool...

[gwendolyn kronsage]

I agree its an impressive fact, at least they are looking into the advantages and disadvantages of virtual worlds. I really enjoyed Adam Reuter's interviews during the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. Agree, its not really a virtual appearance, but its good to be able to attend live to such interviews and be able to ask questions.