The real Second Life population

As of last month Second Life has accumulated two million accounts, an impressive increase from one million just two months earlier. However, CNET reports that critics claim that the two million figure is misleading at best.

As of Wednesday, Linden Lab reported that there were around 2,325,015 “residents” of Second Life. Linden Labs defines each of those “residents” as representative of “a uniquely named avatar with the right to log in to Second Life, trade currency and visit the community pages.”

Critics cite that the problem is that the total given out by Linden Labs does not necessarily match with what the community, or even online businesses considers as “active users.” Some say that a lot of people who sign up for Second Life try it once and never come back. Moreover some individuals can have as many as five different avatars each of which would count as a “resident.”

CNET reports that the real number of active, individual users who log in on a recurring basis is likely in the 200,000 to 230,000 range, according to the internal metrics of Linden Lab, and by others in the industry.

If you’re wondering why the exact number of residents of a virtual world matters, keep in mind that population and demographics is a big deal for investors and advertisers.

Given the fluid nature of this virtual world, where a lot of users might not log back in for months at a time, there may not be an easy answer to their virtual census problem.

Via CNET

As of last month Second Life has accumulated two million accounts, an impressive increase from one million just two months earlier. However, CNET reports that critics claim that the two million figure is misleading at best.

As of Wednesday, Linden Lab reported that there were around 2,325,015 “residents” of Second Life. Linden Labs defines each of those “residents” as representative of “a uniquely named avatar with the right to log in to Second Life, trade currency and visit the community pages.”

Critics cite that the problem is that the total given out by Linden Labs does not necessarily match with what the community, or even online businesses considers as “active users.” Some say that a lot of people who sign up for Second Life try it once and never come back. Moreover some individuals can have as many as five different avatars each of which would count as a “resident.”

CNET reports that the real number of active, individual users who log in on a recurring basis is likely in the 200,000 to 230,000 range, according to the internal metrics of Linden Lab, and by others in the industry.

If you’re wondering why the exact number of residents of a virtual world matters, keep in mind that population and demographics is a big deal for investors and advertisers.

Given the fluid nature of this virtual world, where a lot of users might not log back in for months at a time, there may not be an easy answer to their virtual census problem.

Via CNET