Second Life’s Flying Penises Beat Off Marketers

Remember when that Second Lifer that makes a living selling virtual property was interviewed and was showered with virtual flying penises? I was guessing that’d throw people off.
The big dirty secret about all these business making stores on Second Life? Nobody wants to be in them.

Ian Schafer, chief executive of online marketing firm Deep Focus, which advises clients about entering virtual worlds, said he recently toured Second Life. He started at the Aloft hotel and found it empty. He moved on to casinos, brothels and strip clubs, and they were packed. Schafer said he found in his research that “one of the most frequently purchased items in Second Life is genitalia.” Another problem for some is that Second Life doesn’t have enough active residents. On its website, Second Life says the number of total residents is more than 8 million. But that counts people who signed in once and never returned, as well as multiple avatars for individual residents. Even at peak times, only about 30,000 to 40,000 users are logged on, said Brian Haven, an analyst with Forrester Research.


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One response to “Second Life’s Flying Penises Beat Off Marketers”

  1. Des Walsh Avatar

    So far my few explorations into SL have led me mostly to beautifully designed settings, beaches, bars, etc with no or few “people” in sight. When I have taken note, the screen has told me there are 20,000-30,000 online. Not where I’ve been, but then maybe I haven’t been adventurous enough. A lot of the “conversations” seem to be about people trying to establish where you are from in FL (no, not the state, First Life).

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