An interesting post on Social Media Explorer Deconstructing Second Life questions the value of Second Life based on a review of the virtual world’s demographics:
The demographics show 8.5 million users, but only 561,000 of those are “active.” While nearly 40 percent of the active ones are age 25-34, only 26 percent are from the United States (with Brazil a distant second a 8.5). The numbers show 57 percent of active users are male.
So, the population is 561,000, not exactly a number global brands raise an eyebrow toward. Only 149,000 of those are in the U.S., so you’re basically trying to market to the population of Eugene, Ore. If you’re trying to reach men, your audience becomes 84,900. Women? Less.
When I spoke with Jim Stroud about this a few weeks ago he mentioned the Q-factor as being important — a counterpoint in the post — but unless you are recruiting techies who also happen to be early adopters, is there any point?
As somebody who both loves and pursues the bleeding edge, SI has been a disappointment from a recruiting or staffing perspective. Maybe at some point down the road but the few, very very few, who get results, could probably spend their time far more productively on the phone.
The bottom line it’s an interesting technology but a real time suck with negligible real results.
I do think that Second Life is not worth the investment of time or money in the short-term, but long-term the site and others like it that will inevitably come along are very exciting for certain types of recruitment. If you’re going to be looking for technology innovators, I can’t think of too many places that are going to be better. But if you’re looking for restaurant managers, enjoy your time but don’t try to tell your boss that the hour you just spent adjusting the color of your avatar’s hair was work-related. Fun, yes, but not work.
Hey there Amitai,
Glad you found the post and that it sparked this one. I’ll be checking SL’s stats again soon and following up with more. I can certainly see some usefulness for some brands using some strategies, but the numbers just aren’t there for me to be as enthusiastic as others.
Nice blog. I’m following now!
Gee… That’s a lot of inactive members. Still, define active. Does it mean members who have not touched their accounts for a month or two? While you have out the facts, I find it a little strange how Second Life can have only half a million active members. Maybe all those big names are after the hype. After all, there’s always the chance that inactive members return and with Second Life’s reputation, perhaps new members can be reeled in…