The online virtual world Second Life has enjoyed explosive growth, with double-digit increases in sign-ups in recent months.

At the same time, Second Life is drawing mainstream media coverage because of the new economy — in which users can earn real-world money. One avatar reportedly earns her creator in the neighborhood of $150,000 a year from in-world businesses.

Significant nonprofit endeavors include forays by leading universities, including Harvard, that have launched research and educational programs within Second Life.

However, there is also tremendous uncharted ground for creative journalism within this expanding frontier.

“Like the real world, residents are interested in what is happening in their community. And just like in the real world, Second Life content providers need to learn to think beyond the printed word in order to succeed, says Linda Zimmer, a blogger and CEO of Internet marketing and communications company MarCom:Interactive. “Second Life residents don’t want to read, they want to experience. That is what immersive environments are about.”

As citizen journalists have learned to become part of the news industry in the real world, the possibilities of this trend in Second Life, a world entirely built upon user-generated content, seems high.

This stands to reason in a world that is almost entirely created by users. Linden Lab provides only backbone infrastructure and some guiding rules, leaving users to design the vast majority of new islands, housing, wilderness, gadgets, designer clothing, events and anything else people can dream up — even journalism.

And, the mainstream media is mobilizing. Not only have Reuters, Wired and CNET set up virtual bureaus within Second Life in order to bring outside content in and in-world news out, but a host of Web sites, blogs and even an in-world newspaper—the Second Life Herald—are now devoted exclusively to covering the lives of avatars.

Besides one-on-one chats with other avatars, Second Life has press conferences, town hall meetings and concerts. IBM, Virginia politician Mark Warner and the musician Ben Folds have all held special events in Second Life. There have even been protests. The medium is particularly strong for discussions that need a 3d atmosphere.

Second Life has the potential to break certain doors in open source journalism if used to harness a wider base of information gatherers.

Brian C. Howard is a graduate student at Columbia School of Journalism. He spent five years as Managing Editor of E/The Environmental Magazine and has written for Connecticut Magazine, The Green Guide, Alternet, Fairfield County Weekly, Oceana, Clamor and Britain’s Ergo Living.