About Starr
Starr Sonic is the avatar of me, Keren Flavell, an Australian cross-media producer who is currently the Executive Producer of Treet TV (formerly SLCN.TV), a virtual world television network that broadcasts live shows entirely created inside of 3D spaces (see my full bio on LinkedIn).
I was swept along by the birth of the world wide web in 1994 and I feel charmed to be watching the rise of an equally significant platform for global interaction and endeavour. Back then, as a media studies graduate, I hoped the internet would democratize publishing and breakdown the centralized control of attention in the hands of few.
Predictably the powerful players are still dominant brands on the internet, however, there has been an undeniable flood of content produced and exchanged amongst the people sitting in what was previously the viewers chair. So although the media moguls still maintain ownership over attention, the publishing models have had to change to suit the environment.
The powerful brands online are focussed on edge competencies that provide tools to assist their audience be participants rather than consumers - think YouTube, Flickr, Google, Second Life.
Treet TV (formerly SLCN.TV) started operations in March 2007 and since then has made over 3000 hours of content that is co-produced with residents of virtual worlds. Our tools and technology help people expand the audiences they have already captured through virtual world activities. The shows we record with them are available for viewing on television sets inworld and are seen by more than 200,000 people every month.
I am interested in talking about the phenomenon of participation in virtual worlds.
Every day I meet with our show producers in desirable locations like beach houses, modern designer office towers, plush nightclubs with interior spas and balconies with city views. Getting to the meeting is easy - no parking issues, traffic, packed elevators or cranky receptionists. We walk around viewing things, constructing sets, arranging furniture and exchanging tools, images and other items.
Producing each show means using a whole lot of collaborative tools like MediaWiki, Twitter, Google spreadsheets, Skype and of course, Second Life. I’ll be elaborating more on these tools in my future posts.
I hope you find this blog of interest and that it provides you with an insight into the evolving landscape of media generated inside immersive worlds. If you are interested in seeing the shows on Treet TV visit www.treet.tv or search for Treet TV in iTunes under Podcasts.