Some of you may not be aware of what Second Life is. Some of you might have tried it, gotten frustrated, and then quit. Some of you might still be SL citizens. Whatever your experience with it, you have to be amazed that it’s still around and apparently doing some thriving business.
Linden Labs, the company that created this virtual space, has recently reported that SL citizens have transacted over one billion dollars’ worth of services and goods with each other, estimating fifty million dollars being exchanged per month. Furthermore, 1,250 text messages are sent every second of the day, and the virtual geography of Second Life has grown to roughly the size of Rhode Island.
Now, before you get all “Who cares?” on me, consider what this means. Second Life’s economy is doing better than our real life economy. This makes absolute sense. Whether or not you personally consider virtual worlds a waste of time, enough people find solace in it to make it an ongoing concern. Chalk it up to that crazy ol’ suspension of disbelief — spending time in a world that doesn’t materially exist is more compelling to its fans than enduring existence in the Desert of the Real.
And while I haven’t dallied there as much as I used to — you didn’t think “Akela Talamasca” was my real name, did you? — I do still drop in from time to time to catch up on current trends and see old friends. And now my question is: When will SL citizens create “Third Life” to get away from the pressures of Second Life?
Comments
PixPol
September 24th, 2009 - 7:26:59 PM
We're using this article as the foundation for some deeper research into how virtual worlds are avoiding the pitfalls of the real world. Hope you'll check it out - your source material was great. PixelsandPolicy.com