Lawrence Gee | Marketing, Internet, Creativity, Strategy

While CNN aims to be one of the leaders in news and information delivery, I truly question whether anyone really cares about “virtual” news.  I understand that most companies today want to be on the cutting edge of Web 2.0 intiatives but I think that CNN is stretching a bit on their Second Life presence.  For the amount of money and resources they have probably invested, CNN will probably not get much out of this intiative. 

In terms of branding, CNN is already highly recognizable in both the television/cable arena as well as on the Internet.  While their “virtual” presence might spur some initial interest and submissions, I think after a few months the novelty will disappear.  Most people gloss over real world news and the happenings around the globe, I doubt that virtual news will be any different.  Do you really think that people will care about a 10 car pile up on the virtual Second Life freeway or that a virtual sports team won last night?  I highly doubt it.