Why TVG has an office in Second Life: Part 3 of 3
Aug 6th, 2007 by TVG Staff
Which brings us back to the first point in the first paragraph: massive growth, but coupled with a few mixed population and economic signals. Linden Labs, the parent company of SL, has admitted that the last three months have shown some evidence of plateauing. While now boasting over eight million residents, the summer doldrums have lessened somewhat the previous rate of increase. In-world profits are down slightly as well (note: link is in Excel format).
There are short-term setbacks, I think. Since my last post here on April 16, SL’s has shown an amazing amount of population growth:
- Total accounts: 5.54 million to 8 million, or a 44% increase in two months. That’s correct: Since I made my last blog post, nearly two and a half million people have joined SL.
- Premium Accounts (read: paying customers): 79,000 to 94,600, or a 19% increase in a month and a half (the July numbers aren’t in yet).
Economic activity is, admittedly, down slightly. At the 2007 peak in March, $7.25 million changed hands in SL (that’s $US, not $L or
|
Estimated In World Business Owners |
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| Unique Users with Positive Monthly |
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| USD Equivalent PMLF | January 2007 | February 2007 | March 2007 | April 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007 |
| < $10 USD | 11,396 | 13,490 | 16,598 | 17,795 | 21,006 | 23,159 |
| $10 to $50 USD | 5,671 | 6,625 | 8,692 | 9,475 | 10,638 | 11,544 |
| $50 to $100 USD | 1,489 | 1,690 | 2,133 | 2,340 | 2,613 | 2,697 |
| $100 to $200 USD | 1,119 | 1,289 | 1,635 | 1,763 | 1,840 | 2,040 |
| $200 to $500 USD | 1,018 | 1,165 | 1,415 | 1,592 | 1,628 | 1,685 |
| $500 to $1,000 USD | 386 | 496 | 631 | 699 | 674 | 645 |
| $1,000 to $2,000 USD | 263 | 283 | 395 | 396 | 389 | 422 |
| $2,000 to $5,000 USD | 188 | 211 | 278 | 275 | 288 | 273 |
| > $5,000 USD | 97 | 116 | 152 | 139 | 139 | 132 |
| Total Unique Users with PMLF | 21,627 | 25,365 | 31,929 | 34,474 | 39,215 | 42,597 |
A direct link to the above is here.
As you can see, the number of people making over $500 in SL is down a little, which would account for the monthly transaction decreases. But the total number of people making a profit is increasing. A lot. Sticking with the numbers since I posted last, we see an increase in the total number of people making a profit in SL of 28%. I like that trend. It looks to me like a growing SL bourgeoisie. And that’s a good thing.
Simply put, I think a media backlash plus some not-very-well thought out business models plus a lack of vision is contributing to a small exodus from Second Life. Maybe it’s the start of a diversification effort. Maybe it’s just a blip. Time will tell, but in the interim we should make sure that we are willing to expend the energy to educate ourselves on the technical aspects and be clear about our goals and criteria for success as we move into this new market.