Three Years of Second Life Newser

It was three years ago when one noted newspaper in Second Life came to an end, and another sprung up to carry on it's mission of reporting on the news across the Grid to the residents. James and Dana had left some pretty big shoes to fill, and it was up to us, Shellie Sands, Grey Lupindo, Gemma Cleanslate, and myself to pick up the pieces and go on. We would be starting small. We had no cash sponsors when starting out, and of the several thousand daily readers of the old SLN, only a few hundred would be reading ours for the first few days.  But we were a team, and we were determined to get the news to the public.

Our first few days soon tested our mettle. We were there to cover two major events in Second Life, the layoff of a third of Linden Lab's staff, and the Emeraldgate mess that marked the end of the first Third-Party viewer and the team behind it and the creation of a new Third Party team that would continue to make the most popular non-Linden viewers. We were there to cover these, and other events in a year, including M Linden stepping down, and Philip temporarily taking over for a few months,  that was a turning point in Second Life's history. And we would go on to cover other major news, such as RedZone, the Relay for Life fundraisers, the copyright owners of Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek putting their foot down, and many more.

But we didn't just report on the big news. Our reporters looked around for interesting places that others would like to see, events that people would like to go to, and interesting people whether well known or not. Reporting on the news big and small.

There have been a few setbacks along the way. A few writers of ours had to stop writing when real life interfered. But we've also picked up some fine talent along the way. Grease Coakes and DrFran Babcock have shown to be fine writers, and new writers have come in and have been proving themselves.

Three years and about 2500 articles, cartoons, press releases, and other postings, after it's formation, the Second Life Newser stands as Second Life's premier newsletter. Readership has climbed to over a thousand readers a day, our Facebook page updates over 500 people on the social network to new stories, and has become a force in Second Life's media.

As Editor, I'd like to thank the team for all their hard work, including those no longer with us who left their mark.

Thanks goes out to our sponsors at the Podex Exchange and the Steelhead Estates. Your financial support enabled us to grow and prosper.

Thank you to the Sunweaver and Angels communities, for providing us with our office, and being a great home. We couldn't ask for better neighbors, and friends.

And of course, thank you the readers. Without you, there would of course be no paper. As long as you keep reading, we'll keep writing.

Unless Linden Lab decides to turn out the lights, you can bet Second Life Newser will be there to report on the news big and small.




"And that's the way it is."


Bixyl Shuftan

Editor, Second Life Newser