Based on Karrie Karahalios' past work on visualizing Usenet newsgroups, Loom2 is a more extensive version, trying to explore visually the identity of both the space and the people within. Loom2 attempts to develop a visual language that intuitively presents the socially salient features of online communication. Loom2's visualization is multiscale, showing a "landscape" view (an overview of many groups); a medium view (showing patterns within a single group�this is what the original Loom project attempted); a closeup view (portraying a single conversation); and a personal view (showing a person over time and group). Loom2 is intuitive and aims to develop a new visualization aesthetic, one that legibly depicts the meaning and feel of the content. Recent work includes developing database software for storing and analyzing Usenet messages, a series of design sketches, and software to test various ideas, in addition to constructing prototype software for a solid visualization derived from the previous sketches. We are developing this primary prototype and analyzing it as an effective tool for gaining an intuitive sense of social landscapes. We are also exploring different ways to extract more detailed social information from the text of various messages.