Analyst firm Next Up Research has published an extensive report on Linden Lab, the San Francisco company behind virtual world Second Life. The research is based on aggregate data and is available on SharesPost, a site set up to trade shares of privately held companies (if you register, you can download the report for free from that page, or you can find other valuation reports on companies like Facebook and LinkedIn). The report goes rather deep into the valuation of the Linden Lab, which it pegs at somewhere between $658 million and 700 million.
More on that later.
Now that Linden Lab has been around for nearly 10 years, and with its product Second Life celebrating its sixth birthday since launching publicly in June 2003, we thought it would be a good idea to take a close look at the report and see how the company’s doing according to the analysts.
First of all, you may be wondering if anyone is still using Second Life at all. The answer is yes, and users are very active on there. During the past 30 days, one million users logged in, according to Second Life’s own statistics. In average time spent per user per week, Second Life in fact trounces all other MMORPGs, including World of Warcraft and Civilization IV. In another testament to the service’s apparent stickiness, the number of hours users spend on Second Life has been increasing steadily and is currently at historic highs, totaling approximately 124 million hours in the first quarter of this year.
More importantly, Next Up says in-world transactions have recovered after a significant drop in September 2007 – when gambling was banned in the virtual world – and has been steadily increasing ever since December 2007.
Which brings us to the valuation, or at least the estimated value Next Up claims Linden Lab is worth after running a couple of calculations. Using publicly-traded online gaming companies as a proxy, Next Up pegs the median enterprise value (EV)/ Revenue multiple for that group at 7.2x off of 2009 revenues. Subsequently applying this self-proclaimed “conservative” multiple of 7x to the estimated revenue of Linden Lab ($100 million for this year), the current target valuation amounts up to $700 million.
That seems like a stretch. In November 2007, the last time we asked ourselves how much Second Life is worth, we came out somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion. The current estimated enterprise value calculated by Next Up falls pretty much right into the middle of that range.
Next Up defends the 7x multiple variable by referring to a two-year-old M&A deal. When Disney acquired Club Penguin for $350 million in cash back in August 2007, it paid out at least a comparable multiple based on Vlub PEnguin’s projected revenue for the year (between $50 and $65 million), despite the fact that it reaches a narrower demographic profile. But things have changed since then: stocks have tanked, valuations have dropped, the IPO market has pretty much dried up and VC-backed liquidity is at a record low. So that implies a major discount, with a valuation between $300 million to $500 million, which is decent but not spectacular, assuming Next Up’s revenue projection is accurate.
Here’s what else Next Up says could have a negative impact on Second Life’s valuation:
- the aging population of its main target markets (U.S. and Europe) and less of a presence in developing nations where its main target audience (people from 13 to 45) is quickly gaining in size.
- limited amount of premium subscriptions (about 1% or 170,000 users)
- possible taxation on virtual monetary transactions in a variety of countries
- cost and complexity of running the technical infrastructure behind the virtual world
If you’re interested in the virtual worlds or Linden Lab in particular, there’s a ton of information and speculation about the market to be found in the report, even if we focus mostly on the financial side of things. To conclude, here are two charts from the report, one on the estimated valuations based off of different calendar years and one on the post-money valuations after the various funding rounds raised by the company.
i prefer habbo hotel..
Nowadays flash based virtual worlds are rage. Many fb apps thriving. Still seems some link missing.
once upon a time, i played this game…but Real Life was always so much more fun!
but I hate how every time I fly somewhere in Real Life I have to take off my shoes first
I too prefer Real Life…..although I do miss some of the items in my SL inventory
I talked with the gaming industry, and they agreed. You’re now free from games. Enjoy real life without games.
There will be a truck passing your house to collect all your computergames.
Consider for a moment the fact that Activision Blizzard’s holds 3 out of the top 10 spots in the “Most Immersive Experience Online” list and has Starcraft 2 coming out in the latter half of this year.
Looking at Activision’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Enterprise Value/Revenue multiple of 3.52 and the timing of Disney’s acquisition, which was near the peak of the market, I would put the valuation of Linden Labs at half that stated by Next Up Research at $329 to $350 million.
Applying a discount to this valuation to account for liquidity issues, the valuation could dip to as low of $230 million.
I used to use Second Life, but am rather ashamed to say that I no longer do. Why? Because the technology requires better and better specs from a computer and while my computer could run the client just fine a year ago, it can no longer handle it without a video card and possibly processor upgrade. Upgrade so frequently for one service? Nuh uh.
Clearly you are not a PC gamer.
Second Life wasn’t made for just gamers. It was made for casual people who want to slow down into a low action environment.
it’s so boring, i can’t understand who wastes time on 2nd life…
those that are missing real connections in their “first” life.
And yet you feel the need to share your opinions with anonymous people on a vaste worldwide network.
Shouldn’t you instead go to your real connected friends in “first” life instead?
I got to agree.
Second Life was certainly not designed for G@m3rs.
Boring, pointless and pretty ugly graphics. Besides, I don’t buy the “1 million users logged-in during the last month”
I’m pretty sure we’re not talking about users, but number of times people connected to Second Life.
(same thing than the difference between numbers of viewed and numbers of viewers for a video…)
I still can’t understand why companies would want to BE there.
If anyone here knows…
Tim this question can be applied to any social or advertising network. The succinct answer is that Second Life may prove to be a great tool for exposure and customer education. Tomorrow, they may simplify Second Life usability, and offer up spectacular advertising avenues. If that happens, the companies who are already there are poised to get great exposure.
Of course, few companies have proven to greatly boost their audience after so many years of failure. The odds are against them.
It’s because there ARE a whole lot of potential customers in game who they can model their product for and get ideas basically in person of what consumers worldwide like. And the models may be a but clunky, but it doesn’t take much to turn them beautiful. People make wonderful skins and clothes as well as hair or full avatars of fantastic creatures.
IBM held many conferences/workshops/meetings in Second Life to reduce cost for flying people from around the world.
That’s what teleconferencing is for
No, that’s where mbile phones are for, no wait, forums. oh wait, net-meeting from microsoft, oh better yet, Asterix the voip software, oh am I thinking about Skype?
Seems like there are ALOT of ways to meet online.
Perhaps, just perhaps… Second Life is just another way to teleconference?
Funny, that’s pretty much my take on Facebook. For me, SL is a hell of a lot more interesting than all that “superpoke” crap.
Get a life! Real life.
I wanted to make a comment towards the numerous people shouting out get a real life.
Something I’ve noted about SL, because of it’s high versatility, it appeals to many disabled who are unable to do much in real life. It gives them a chance to explore, meet people and do things they normally couldn’t ever have a chance of. I have a friend in game who’s paralysed from the chest down and can barely even type. ANd as she says “IRL I can’t even walk, but in SL, I can dance!”
They’re also developing a program to help blind people navigate SL.
In another vein, there are artists who aren’t yet in the field of computer graphics that want to test the waters and try their hand at it. This allows them to and can help them get a start in making money with their designs. Even designers who aren’t certified for IRL designer jobs who can get a start and experience. I have a friend who’s an interior designer IRL and in game, he’s able to go further than that and be an architect of great dreams.
So think on that when you jeer about a real life.
Really good points – thanks!
I agree this opens up the world for ppl that cant get out and it gives them the friends and support needed thru RL. I have a very productive rl and sl and I can say a few ppl I met in sl are some of my best rl friends. we have met irl and sl is basicly like a chat room with an av that I can dress up and design any way I like. I am a RL person and SL is a part of my life- for those of you able to climb a mountain dance the night away go to bars and get drunk… GO FOR IT- but please dont put us down because we are doing the same thing in the safty of our home and with our friends
I’ll give you a bic mac and a large fries for it
With about 70′000 players simultanously online every time I log in, I believe the numbers could be true. Why to play SL? There are as many reasons as are players I guess. Be it business, information exchange or RL compensation.
It’d be interesting to get a bit more information about their future plans and their ideas about connecting to the web?
But some people are able to make serious money off of Second Life, aren’t they?
I think Secondlife peaked and is just slowly going downhill.
Like the internet
Second life has been a fantastic and expensive PR experiment that showed what a well oiled marketing can do. Otherwise it was pretty piece of * from day one. And was a bit ahead of the times, with technology solutions (that sucked at implementation) and some high level academic ideas.
I love these naysayers. I’m not a SL user (i mean i have an account but couldn’t remember the user name and or password if i tried-signed up for 2 years ago as part of a work project to do voice in SL).
But my point is this.
Whilst i’m not the the target audience – there are people who are. and regardless fo your catcalls of get a real life…(like browsing techcrunch is so fulfilling….) there are people who spend a lot of time there.
So i think it’s time to give SL it’s due.
If a regular website had these kind of numbers/repeat visitors we’d be calling it a success. Linden Labs might not be the second coming but they’ve been around for 6 years with SL and it’s not going away.
Cheers,
Dean Collins
http://www.Cognation.net.
Well said Dean. As much as anything else SL is a fantastic dynamic tool. It is a global free phone service, marketplace, sales outlet, nearly instant feedback on uploaded graphic creations, in addition to being a recreational diversion. There is always something to do from the least challenging such as
relaxing and chatting to learning new things that really have no upper level or completion point.
And it is always evolving.
Second Life is like adult diapers. Nobody will admit to using it but it seems to be a large business.
LOL!
Second Life (SL) continues to grow as a next-generation platform for social, educational and business networking and collaboration. Their biggest challenges are making SL easier to use and providing small to medium size businesses (SMBs) with enhanced collaboration & integration tools, that make investing in SL worthwhile.
This type of functionality is already being provided in part by 3rd-party tools, with both Linden Lab and others hard at work on next generation solutions. The Lab is also moving forward with a Solution Provider program, designed to help them market and support the platform.
Most of those who are critical of Second Life either have little experience with it, haven’t been in-world in years or have pre-conceived notions of what Second Life should be, such as a gaming platform similar to World of Warcraft, etc. We who log in every month/week/day recognize that no platform is perfect, but Second Life offers the best Virtual World experience and community currently available.
We (Vuturus, Inc.) plan to continue to build our Second Life presence and encourage our clients to use Second Life to test Virtual Collaboration and Prototyping projects. We are hopeful Linden Lab will continue to focus on customer service, reliability, ease of use and channel-friendly programs/services that will allow them to continue to grow and provide us with a solution platform that we can enthusiastically recommend and profit from.
What’s up with Half-Life 2 being on that list? I can’t imagine there are hordes of plays still playing single player. HL2: Deathmatch was fun but never really took off.
Are they lumping all HL2 related games? HL2:DM, CS:S, DOD:S and TF2?
what is it with stupid analysts ? Revenues don’t mean anything! All that mAtter is PROFITS . Way overvalued .
While mostly I agree, it depends alot on the growth of the category and the potential marketshare grabbed.
When you’re in a growth game, revenue is important (so is profit, don’t get me wrong), but revenue is king. In a marketshare grab – such as commodities (shampoo, power, phone operators) then its your ability to squeeze out that .1% more profit out of your steady revenues.
But revenue means nothing without profit. If you’re breaking even, grab market share, then bring costs down.
I tried it. I met a very friendly and helpful admin who was willing to help me learn about second life.
I guess it was just not my thing.
I gotta say, I fell in love with Second Life almost five years ago and I’m still in love with it. I just really love being able to create in game. Random stuff or furry avs or even sushi. I just wish I had better health to make more dreams real in there, I love creating fantasy structures like treehouses. To me it’s one of the most incredible games. lol I just wish I could get my husband to try it, he doesn’t like the lack of objective, but we both still play World of Warcraft together at least.
The minutes-per-week statistic needs an asterisk. Second Life is now being touted — and used — as a venue for virtual training, seminars, workshops, etc. People are there because they’re in class.
Comparing minutes-per-week at Second Life vs. a gaming site is like comparing hours spent on campus vs. a movie theater.
I downloaded once upon a time. Looked at the entry site for about 3 minutes and then deleted it. I don’t get these fake lives on the internet. I don’t have time to read about all the crap I use in real life.
Yeah!
Fake lives, real life rules.
eattrn, I like your name. I wish I had a cool name like that, but how do you pronounce it?
And if a cop stopped you, do you smirk when he gets it wrong?
I am so happy you came to this webpage and express your opinion for all of us anonymous users to read.
(since this is internet, I need explain this was sarcasm mixed with irony)
Maybe the problem is the name, ‘Second Life’…
Why so many ‘get a real life’ posts if you’re not in ‘real life’ too..?
Cmon, all you guys are comfortably seated in that chairs too! Just because this is not the otherlifesite?
So.. why so many people scared with a powerful platform for interactive experiences? Why choose text if you can choose an immersive environment? I do not have any doubt about the future of web.. why deny it?
I recommend ‘The Inspiration of second life’ video @ http://www.ted....econd_life.html
But yes, i agree, SL is just in the very beginning.. i’m a gamer too and designer! There’s too much trash there, but you can find amazing places already.. and much better graphics are coming!
Btw, as in alcohol, SL may be consumed in moderation.. there’s no need to be a geek
CAN SOMEONE CONFIRM THIS FOR ME???
This says the AVERAGE person spends 12.6 HOURS (760 mins) per week logged into Second Life???
Is this right???
On average, sounds plausible.
Months could go by without even spending a second on SL, and then I read something, of have an idea for an application, or a design, and I can spend 12 hours per week on SL testing the concept in SL.
Set up an xmlRPC channel, hook it up to a website and do some tests.
So, yeah
Second Life user . daily. For close to 4 years now.
Doubledown Tandino chiming in.
Wow, are you off.
First of all the target demographic IS older people. It’s Second Life’s dirty little secret that much of the PAYING population of SL is 40+ They are the people with the resources and the time. They are a growing demographic.
Secondly, a 5% stake of SL recently reportedly changed hands for $100 million. Do the math.
Citation please. All I found was a PE deal (stratim capital) to cashout an existing shareholder for an undisclosed amount… for an undisclosed % just 2 weeks ago.
http://www.pehu...tratim-capital/
Also the last big purchase (2007) is still quite fuzzy in the details. So a citation would be nice.
The valuation method uses a profit (not revenue multiple). If you read the report, it uses net margins on revenues. Net margins*Revenues = Net profits.
Second Life rocks. It just depends what you’re using it for. No, it’s not a game. It’s a social platform, a great place for universities and schools to teach, and an awesome place for Role Playing.
I have several avatars. Some I use just for role playing in the Star Wars sim. One avi I use for socializing, networking, going to buddhist talks and meditations, and for building stuff.
There are games in SL, but there not the shoot um types of games, and not what serious gamers want.
I’m going in now to build some picture frames, hang some of my photography in my house, pay my tiers and see how my animals are doing on my property. Then I’ll log in as one of my SW characters and have sun fun!
Dana
I call B.S. on this report.
http://www.goog...e%2C&cmpt=q
It’s for saddo’s who canot real life………those weird type of people you avoid in the street.
i avoid people like you
I have a real life. I go clubbing pretty much every weekend, have travelled to 22 countries in 5 continents, love scuba diving, photography and cookery and regualarly do the more usual trips to the gym/cinema/restaurant/pub/etc. Yes, I do play other computer games too…
Despite all that I still spend a fair bit of time in SL.
What I don’t do is plonk myself down in front of the TV for 4 hours every night. And anyone who plays computer games or sits on social sites all night is a total hypocrite if they call SL players ’saddos’.
SL is my way of winding down from a hard day at work. Sure, it’s not hectic, adrenalin fuelled fun but it’s fun. I get to meet interesting people and learn about cultures different than my own and even learn their language. I get to build all kinds of stuff an add code to make them ‘work’. The fun is in the creation but the fact that I’ve managed to sell some of my objects mean that now I’m at the point where the ‘game’ pays for itself.
SL is what you make of it. It’s perhaps not a place for those that need to be spoonfed their entertainment, it is however a place where those with a little creativity can experiment, play and discuss with few boundaries.
It seems that there are both ignorant and narrow minded people out there who are very quick to call SL users names.
I too am very active in real, run my own company, travel, go out etc etc however Second life is something special. It’s a world full of virtual opportunitues one can not be apart of if it wasnt around. It is wrong to compare it to “games”. Just because people use avatars, are able to teleport, roleplay etc etc it doesnt mean they arent real. Real people do do real things in second life. I personally run a business there and quite a successful one.
Like soneone mentioned there are so many people less fortunate in their daily lives that they are able to use second life as a means to socialise, there are those who conduct business, those who create, those who educate and not to mention the “real” as everyone seems to be putting it, firms who conduct their day to day business within second life. Indeed games are not a reality so alot of the gamers on this site are right to bag SL out, as they have no idea about the value of it, and i’m not talking about $$$ value,….. people value.
Thousands of people will tell you how second life has changed their way of thinking, how their interaction with people from all over the world has added so much more to their lives. From CEO’s to housewifes to students to artists everyone has who has been involved in or apart of will most always tell you how fantastic of a place it is.
Grow up people and stop being so ignorant to the fact that life isnt all about games.. you may not spend 4 hours in sl life however spending 4 hours playing a “game” is less rewarding dont you think??
To the sl residents….. you all rock!!!
Dear John,
a bit Ditto and Agreement from me. It’s a SOCIAL platform, educational, and creative as well. That’s what’s so addictive for me, as an artist the medium is fascinating. As you say, meeting people from other countries, sharing experiences, or roleplaying in your favorite fantasies. There are places where people can duel with Katanas or as someone said, go meditate with others. There’s literary groups, discussing Walt Whitman, artists showing their work. Fashion designers designing gorgeous outfits and even making things that aren’t possible in Real Life. No it’s not an adrenaline based experience. It’s way way deeper than that.
Personally, I don’t see it as separate from real life as I’ve made some awesome friends there that I’ve gone to visit in other countries and they’ve taken the time to come visit me and my husband. How awesome is that!!? Like LIFE period, it’s what you make of it. Perhaps that’s the problem for some, SL is as good as YOU make it. It’s content is in the hands of the players, not Linden labs (apart from the welcome areas for newbies). You can find and do amazing things, learn and educate yourself as well, or even make some extra cash(which I do).
I also have a “real” life, am a fit person with friends in RL, mostly creative types or surfers & musicians(hubby’s a musician). So no, we aren’t all “sad” types. Actually I dare say most that take to the SL experience are above average intelligence, and open minded. And as John just said, HOW exactly is spending 4 hours planted in front of the TV set better than being creative and exchanging ideas with other people in SL? Ahem. Seriously…come on. No comparison.
I find it interesting that there’s this compulsion to either build it up out of proportion, or tear SL down and denigrate it. Not sure what it’s about, people wanting to claim they know what’s the next best hot thing I guess…
Meanwhile, all us users ignore the hype and keep using it because we love it’s ever changing, creative and social environment.
It’s for social people who like to meet other people, or creative people who like to test idea’s in a free 3D invironment.
You’d hate it there.
It’s like the internet, you can use it for everything.
Including acting like a total twit like you.
Civilization IV a MMORPG?
Thankfully not… if there’s ever a good MMORPG based on the civ series, there will be no progress in tech for at least a year!
SL is like NYC: we find what we are looking for. Some of us are looking for friends, others for excitement, others for purpose or creative outlook, or respite. It all seems to be there.
I’m the executive director of BooksForSoldiers.com and we use Second Life to connect soldiers serving overseas with their spouses back home. The troops can log in from Baghdad and the spouse can log in from Kansas (or wherever) and have some fun socializing in the “BFS Social Club.”
It has been wildly successful.
I have seen one couple come in where the husband is a double amputee (wounded in Iraq) and the BFS build in SL is the only place he and his wife can go dancing.
There are a lot of uses for Second Life, you just have the find them.
Lots of facts, and also lots of opinions here, clearly. It can be boring, but it can also be deeply captivating.
I am one of those over 40 premium users mentioned above. And my main observations are, somehow Linden Lab does seem to follow a path of trying to make it harder for people to find a good reason to stay and enjoy the system. We have to really convince ourselves there must be something worth staying for.
- the removal of casinos… well, maybe they had to do that, but the sheer fact is that there might have been other solutions, and it did reduce a lot of fun AND commerce.
- the slow elimination of features (live help, checking balances in the viewer, changing search, etc)
- Loss of people’s inventory items, and seeming lack of commitment in getting them back for people
- adding more and more difficulty for people to join (getting names they would like, and poor functionality of sign up system)
- phasing out support for older machines
- age verification farce (it has always been a given that people in SL are adults anyway, that’s why they have a teen grid)
I know people who pay hundreds a month, and have also been hurt greatly when many things changed, like SIM pricing and policies. I just pay the regular $72 per year, and there isn’t much you can do with 512 sq meters of land. I also paid $10 each for alts to try different AVs and environments. And I only go there about once a week for an hour or two.
If it wasn’t for meeting a nice person or running into an occasional friend every few months, I’d probably leave too.
Linden Lab’s greatest challenge imho is, Improved Customer Service, not continuing to burn their bridges as they try to move on.
We use Second Life to teach English as a second language and have taught thousands of students from more than 50 countries. Without Second Life many of these students would not have had access to high quality English teachers.
SL doesn’t really fit into the MMORPG category. It is a virtual world that you can use for what every you like. Likewise users can’t be described as players, attending an English class is not really playing.
The uses for Second Life are limitless. As more businesses and educational institutions realise it’s potential it’s value is only going to grow.
I’ll give you $5… Maybe $7.
Great comments here, mainly stoked by the financial numbers mooted by the article, leaving some scratching heads and wondering what the fuss is about and others trying to defend the lifestyle choice.
As the founders of what we all perceive as an awareness of the next generation of social/business web based and real time interactive tool better known as virtual worlds second-life should be applauded for the work they have done so far.
I have no reason to doubt the numbers quoted above, but would put in the following caveat, If is based on usage/understanding/acceptance of the whole of virtual worlds/spaces today and does not take into account new and non technical persons who will bring their own needs, and creations to this evolving media and for all any of us know the vista of VW we see today might be unrecognizable, come next year and into the next decade. and I hope they evolve with or they might see a sharp decline in projections should we all be shown another way forward.
I for one hope that second-life does make efforts to evolve into what it can be, as stated above, in so far as a tool we can all use for whatever we wish,be it business or social, though I do not draw a line between the two as any advertising agency will tell you.
Julius Sowu virtually-linked London
If we take Second Life as a social networking platform (a simplification to be sure) then the valuation becomes rather interesting. There are other social networking apps with a higher valuation which have no discernible revenue model.
SL on the other hand has some 25000 simulators active, each producing monthly profits out of up to $295 dollars of income (plus $1000 setup fee). So there’s some portion of $25 million one off funds plus a portion of $7.3 million potential income per month that they draw proffit from. (The actual figures are lower due to scaled land pricing for different markets and uses.) They also take a proportion of the sale of the millions of dollars of virtual currency as well. Plus they get a portion of any user to user transactions from online purchases of virtual goods through web stores.(Other fees and any negotiated business or technology sale they engage in are icing on that cake.)
While their actual profits are obviously only a small portion of this, it’s still miles ahead of twitter or [insert fave social networking app] in terms of actual revenue. I’d say the figures are probably pretty accurate.
I think SL is something more than a simple social networking or gaming platform – but as social networking I find it compelling. By simulating everyday people for the account it restrains the ways in which folk can interact in a more natural way than, say, facebook and twitter. One can feel they’re interacting with real people in a more natural environment.
With twitter, facebook, etc those who are annoying or have too much time on their hands can frustrate hundreds of folk by exploiting the anonymity and instant gratification built into the system. Much of my social networking experience is about managing this noise. In SL you’ll be face to face with these frustrating folk instead, and can deal with their behavior like normal human beings.
Of course online games give the same instant feeling of dealing with a real person. I just find that as I develop friendships online there’s a point where I want to stop shooting and raiding and just hang out in a less constrained environment. One of my favorite memories of SL is hanging out with friends watching old movies (Radar men from the moon), shooting the breeze, and throwing virtual popcorn at the bad guy. It was a lot more real and fun than being superpoked.
I love how people always flippantly claim how much better real life is, cancer, friends passing away, dogs at the vet, swine flu, bills, people losing their jobs… oh yeah, real life for the win.
Wolfie Rankin.
It’s probably a good idea to download the Future Tense program which examines “internet tribes” and changing our realities, at the ABC website (Australian Broadcasting Corp) under “Futuretense”.
Wolfie!
chinese kaixin website is the hotest site in China, it’s PI is very high !
I am personally glad the twitter, facebook, plurk, and myspace people have not discovered Secondlife for what it is. If those people knew what they could do with their avatars, profiles, inventory, and friends list they would die and go to social networking heaven. The reason is the interface. “Those people” aren’t geeking enough to traverse through Secondlife’s world. “Those people” are happy they found that pic in their pictures folder and uploaded it! OMG they “uploaded” something. Please keep those people away from SL…we don’t want them!
I totally witht eh last comment and many… I am a SL Supported and think that it is one of the best and most REALISTIC social experiences on the web. Sometime too real and involves REAL Emotions…
I totally with the last comment and many… I am a SL Supported and think that it is one of the best and most REALISTIC social experiences on the web. Sometime too real and involves REAL Emotions…
But ALAS… I am one of the Geeks the previous poster refers to
Second Life faces a major image problem: people under 30 think it’s a game, log in, get bored and leave. People over 30 think it’s a game and don’t log in at all.
Second Life is not a game. It’s a 3-D environment in which people can pursue their interests and professions. If you attend events like my own Metanomics broadcasts, you can’t throw a virtual stone without hitting the avatar of an entrepreneur, educator, anthropologist, filmmaker or politico.
For a little more insight on the financials, take a look at this interview with CEO Mark Kingdon: http://www.meta...h_mark_kingdon/.
Mark talks about why Second Life and e-Bay turn a profit (and youtube doesn’t): because they provide a way for their users to make a profit too.
More generally, take a look at http://www.meta...mics.net/shows/ for a number of interviews with people who are taking Second Life seriously–and making a living out of it.
Second Life is an Online Social Sandbox.
The term ‘Sandbox’ has a definition that is very, very wide, and is the best one for Second Life.
Being a Sandbox platform, it can be actually anything you make of it.
Add some chairs and a video screen, and you have a online converencing tool.
Rebuild a house you’re selling and you have a sales tool.
Place some virtual versions of real products and a sensor and you have a marketing tool.
Program a couple of objects with the basic behaviour of atoms or chemicals and you have an educational tool.
Most people aren’t brought up with the concept that they can ‘do’ stuff when ‘entertainment’ is involved. You ‘watch’ television, you’re not supposed to decide what happens next.
Even discussion programs are targeted at ‘telling’ you what the opinion of the people (including you) is.
Second Life is like visiting legoland, but offering you an unlimited supply of bricks. You’re suppose to do something. Sure there are premade lego constructs, but those are also made by visitors like you. Use those if you like, or make your own from scratch.
Or build a chair and sit and talk with people.
Or you can go act like a twit and shout “get a real life”.
I have noticed much less traffic on 2nd life these days. I logged in alot over a year ago and now find that most of the places I went to are gone. Most of my SL friend don’t login anymore, so I get bored pretty quickly. There used to be places to get linden easily and free, can’t find them anymore either. Are there less people playing SL these days? I like SL because you can meet people from all over the world.