Four Must-Reads from the Times

The Times has not just one but four good stories today about social media.

First, comes news that MTV is gearing up to launch a metaverse extension to their Laguna Beach reality show. On Virtual Laguna Beach fans of the program can immerse their avatars in virtual versions of the show’s hangouts.

On a related note, Nickelodeon, MTV's sister network, has launched a social network called ParentsConnect.com. It plans to also include video blogs.

Another story details how the tourism industry is coping with bloggers who have incredible power to sway their brands. Some are doing a nice job of embracing citizen journalism.

Last but not least we have a profile of Dogster.com.

Comments

[Mike Abundo]

Viacom owns MTV and Xfire, so I'm not surprised they'd pull a TV-game tie-in.

Virtual Laguna Beach is built on the There engine. At first I wondered why they didn't just recreate Laguna Beach inside the existing There gameworld. Then I realized MTV's Laguna Beach is even more different from Earth than There.