Real Reporting in a Virtual World

Written by Josh Nathan-Kazis

2Life Magazine and the Jews of Second Life

The in-world headquarters of 2Life. Courtesy 2Life Magazine.

The three-story Bauhaus-style building that serves as the headquarters of 2Life magazine ranks as perhaps the coolest Jewish magazine office around. Besides the manicured front lawn with two fountains and a fire pit, the building houses an art gallery and a trendy café. There’s a synagogue just down the block, a replica of the Western Wall across the street, and, looming overhead, a skyscraper made entirely of matzo.

2Life is, in many ways, a typical Jewish magazine. It covers Jewish culture and current events, interviews key members of the community, and every so often stirs up a little trouble. There is, however, one key difference. Everything described within the magazine’s pages is entirely virtual.

2Life’s beat is the burgeoning Jewish community within Second Life, the online multiplayer game that would prefer if you called it a Virtual World. The game, developed by San Francisco-based Linden Labs, plays like a hybrid of SimCity, Grand Theft Auto, and an adults-only AOL chat room, gives users enormous freedom to modify and create. The result has been a decidedly weird mix of the sexual, the commercial, and, most recently, the spiritual. Over the past year, Jewish-themed locations have proliferated throughout Second Life, including synagogues, sukkahs, and a virtual Tel Aviv. Since April, 2Life has been providing a serious journalistic perspective on the Jewish community developing in this frequently absurd environment.

2Life is published by Jüedische Medien AG, the Swiss publisher of European Jewish magazine Tachles. It is distributed via virtual news boxes within the game and in pdf format at the magazine's website (www.2lifemagazine.com). A typical issue describes new in-world Jewish construction (the opening of a Jewish-themed “island,” the creation of a full scale replica of the Second Temple), Jewish events (an in-world Chabad Fabrengen, the creation of a Second Life Jewish Defense League), and profiles avatars active in the Jewish community. It is illustrated entirely with screen shots.

Kafka Schnabel, the avatar listed on the masthead as editor of 2Life, is short, fat, and bearded - unattractive for Second Life, where beautifying your avatar is a major part of the experience. Julian Voloj, the man behind Kafka Schnabel, is not much of a gamer. A German-born Jewish journalist (and former New Voices contributor), Voloj's interest in Second Life is strictly reportorial. He first logged on in October of 2006 at the behest of a journalist friend named Adam Pasick, who in September of 2006 was assigned by Reuters to report from within the game as their full time Second Life bureau chief, filing daily business and culture stories.

Intrigued by Pasick's approach, Voloj began exploring the game. He soon discovered a virtual synagogue, which he wrote about for Tachles. After the Tachles story generated unexpected interest, the magazine’s publishers began to consider building some sort of presence in Second Life. In discussions with Voloj, the company decided to launch a Jewish in-world publication that, like Reuters, took the game as seriously as the players did. Jüedische Medien AG hired programmers to build a lavish headquarters while Voloj set about ingratiating himself into the community. In April of 2007, 2Life published its first issue.

Despite Voloj’s best efforts, the reality of Second Life often clashes with the seriousness of 2Life's approach. Take the interview with Shmoo Snook in the October 2007 issue. Snook is a diminutive bunny rabbit with huge anime eyes who claims to be an Orthodox Jew in real life. In the screenshots that accompany the article, Snook wears a black suit topped off with an Amish-style hat. When asked by the interviewer about his favorite in-world pastime, Snook responds, “Sometimes I’ll just sit on my roof and listen to the birds and the wind chimes.”

Even the most sober pieces border on the ridiculous. An article on the growing threat posed by in-game anti-Semitic attacks hinged on a group called the Furzis - avatars in wolf form that wear Nazi paraphernalia. Cited instances of anti-Semitism included the placement of virtual mines near of a replica of the Western Wall.

Walking through Second Life's Jewish districts, everyone has something to say about 2Life. Some avatars boast of having been featured on the cover. Others grumble about petty disputes arising from real or imagined slights contained within the magazine's pages. However it may appear to the outsider, the magazine shines as a local paper, a key creative force in this weird, disembodied community.

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Shmoo Snook (99.147.204.xxx) 2008-02-18 07:33:46

Thank you for bringing the Jewish facets of Second Life to your readers' attention. Is it weird? Sometimes. Disembodied? Certainly. But the key word is community, and it is community, above all else, that raises Second Life beyond being a mere "game."

For the record, I carefully considered my answers to Kafka's questions, and I reviewed them after reading your article. My choice of avatar -- also a considered decision -- admittedly implies a certain playfulness, but that should not detract from the overall seriousness of my interview responses.

Similarly, the fact that an anti-Semitic act, such as scattering burning swastikas across a Jewish sim, occurs in a virtual world does not diminish its emotional impact on those who experience it.

P.S. If you need some quiet time, you are welcome to join me on my roof.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.