Comments on Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users
TypePad
2007-12-19T03:55:22Z
SLHamlet
https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/
tag:typepad.com,2003:https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/12/half-a-million/comments/atom.xml/
Paul commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fda1c908834
2008-01-09T19:03:28Z
2008-01-09T19:03:28Z
Paul
Hamlet Au, thanks! Paul
<p>Hamlet Au, thanks!</p>
<p>Paul<br />
</p>
Kath Kanto commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fd9f05a8834
2008-01-09T16:53:56Z
2008-01-09T16:53:56Z
Kath Kanto
Great article. It seems to me that "a user-created 3D world without imposed guidelines and goals" is the key phrase...
<p>Great article. It seems to me that "a user-created 3D world without imposed guidelines and goals" is the key phrase here. Although it may be what keeps some from coming into or remaining in SL, for me it was the entire reason for being. I had to approach everything slowly (I was several weeks on Help Island) as I was so unsure of myself. But I instinctively knew the rewards would be high. So I do not think it is "such a bad thing." Quite the contrary. Most of those who stay embrace, love, and enhance SL. And that's what it's all about.<br />
</p>
Kath Kanto commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fc6cbf98833
2008-01-09T16:53:14Z
2008-01-09T16:53:14Z
Kath Kanto
Great article. It seems to me that "a user-created 3D world without imposed guidelines and goals" is the key phrase...
<p>Great article. It seems to me that "a user-created 3D world without imposed guidelines and goals" is the key phrase here. Although it may be what keeps some from coming into or remaining in SL, for me it was the entire reason for being. I had to approach everything slowly (I was several weeks on Help Island) as I was so unsure of myself. But I instinctively knew the rewards would be high. So I do not think it is "such a bad thing." Quite the contrary. Most of those who stay embrace, love, and enhance SL. And that's what it's all about.<br />
</p>
Kath Kanto commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fd9e3e58834
2008-01-09T16:23:26Z
2008-01-09T16:23:26Z
Kath Kanto
Great article. It seems to me that "a user-created 3D world without imposed guidelines and goals" is the key phrase...
<p>Great article. It seems to me that "a user-created 3D world without imposed guidelines and goals" is the key phrase here. Although it may be what keeps some from coming into or remaining in SL, for me it was the entire reason for being. I had to approach everything slowly (I was several weeks on Help Island) as I was so unsure of myself. But I instinctively knew the rewards would be high. So I do not think it is "such a bad thing." Quite the contrary. Most of those who stay embrace, love, and enhance SL. And that's what it's all about.<br />
</p>
Hamlet Au commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fd9790c8834
2008-01-09T06:48:54Z
2008-01-09T06:48:54Z
Hamlet Au
http://nwn.blogs.com
Paul, in the Excel file, click a tab like "Countries by Hours" and "Countries by Active" and scroll down to...
<p>Paul, in the Excel file, click a tab like "Countries by Hours" and "Countries by Active" and scroll down to the bottom.</p>
Paul commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fd8d6df8834
2008-01-08T21:31:37Z
2008-01-08T21:31:37Z
Paul
Can you explain where you've derived the 500k 'active users' from? I've been studying Meta Linden's stats for quite a...
<p>Can you explain where you've derived the 500k 'active users' from? I've been studying Meta Linden's stats for quite a while and can never find user stats beyond registrations. Little help here?</p>
<p>thx<br />
</p>
Sered Woollahra commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fc2b2e38834
2007-12-24T09:46:57Z
2007-12-24T09:46:57Z
Sered Woollahra
http://sered-sl.blogspot.com
Maybe I'm a bit late to this game, but I have been thinking about this 538K active users number. That's...
<p>Maybe I'm a bit late to this game, but I have been thinking about this 538K active users number. </p>
<p>That's 538K people spending on average, 45 hours or more in SL per month. </p>
<p>I do not have 45 hours each month to spend in SL. There's just too much other stuff going on: day job, wife and kids, volunteer work in our local community, RL friends, family, etcetera. </p>
<p>So, I think there's a sizeable group of people who are spending time and money in SL, who are considering themselves 'active sl users', but who are not counted among the 538K because they don't get to 45 hours a month. And many of the more recent, post hype signups, might be of this kind: casual, moderate users, maybe spending a couple of hours and some lindens each week in SL, just like they spend a few hours on a website or at a sports club.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to have the number of active users if 'active' is defined as 10, 20 or 30 hours per month online. </p>
Mario Parisé commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fbfd0148834
2007-12-21T14:31:24Z
2007-12-21T14:31:24Z
Mario Parisé
http://happypixels.ca
I'd like to first say, great article. I can't disagree with most of it. Except for the main point, which...
<p>I'd like to first say, great article. I can't disagree with most of it.</p>
<p>Except for the main point, which to me is an issue with interpretation.</p>
<p>I don't think SL is on a plateau, or at least not a permanent one. There are 2 things I see wrong with this interpretation:</p>
<p>(1) The popular media hyped SL to a gigantic degree, then vilified and ridiculed it. It's still getting bad press. The fact that usage rates have not gone down during this period is, to me, a sign of SLs resilience.</p>
<p>(2) Shows like CSI and The Office (I wish I had seen the latter) will not bring in new active users. They never will. I compare them to sites like Digg. They can bring in huge amounts of traffic, everything spikes overnight, and then the dust settles and you realize you haven't gained anything. Growth is a word of mouth endeavor, not the result of an advertising campaign.</p>
Christian Scholz commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fab97d68833
2007-12-20T09:07:59Z
2008-01-04T22:24:49Z
Christian Scholz
http://mrtopf.de/blog
We had some good discussion over my post "Is Second Life polarizing?" which is sort of about the same topic:...
<p>We had some good discussion over my post "Is Second Life polarizing?" which is sort of about the same topic: Why do not more people get Second Life and why are they sometimes even hateful about it without really knowing it.<br />
There might be a mix off different reasons for that and one of them might be a conceptual barrier or that it's simply too new.</p>
<p>I wonder though what this means to other virtual worlds coming up these days. Of course not all of those worlds will survive but how many users can they actually attract? And from this areas? Exitings SL users, completely new ones? Having an answer to this question might also shed some light if it's a conceptual barrier with virtual worlds or maybe just a problem with Second Life. </p>
<p>If it's a general problem then the next question would be if this is going to change in the future.</p>
<p>Of course nothing is wrong with being Portland, Oregon but if you want to be the internet of tomorrow it maybe is not enough. And this of course is what Linden Lab is dreaming about with their Open Source and Open Grid projects.</p>
<p>(besides as a company like that of course you generally want to grow).</p>
francesco d'orazio commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fbdcd908834
2007-12-19T19:43:06Z
2008-01-04T22:24:50Z
francesco d'orazio
http://www.connectingworlds.net
I totally agree with your analysis, and the access barrier that applies every time we deal with a user-generated content...
<p>I totally agree with your analysis, and the access barrier that applies every time we deal with a user-generated content based media surely applies to second life. <br />
But, I think that after the hype, this situation is absolutely physiologic.</p>
<p>While I think there's something definitely wrong with being Portland (no offense to Portland ;-)! Isn't a bit too risky to start thinking about SL in terms of Portland? I mean, usually in online and offline communities, when this kind of 'let's keep it small' thinking emerges, decline soon follows... <br />
I think that any community must keep growing to survive. When a community stops growing, sooner or later, it dies or just survives, but it's not really alive, meaning that it's not renovating its body constantly. <br />
To stay 'alive' and keep growing maybe Second Life needs to start offering also the option of a more structured user participation and to stop relying mostly on user-generated content. It was working brilliantly with early adopters, but probably it's not working at all with a broader audience.<br />
But I'm wondering: are we sure that Second Life reached the whole 10% who's capable of embracing it without imposed guidelines and goals? if yes, is this it? only 538.000 users? If not, why not?</p>
Roisin Hotaling commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fbdc8208834
2007-12-19T19:23:42Z
2007-12-19T19:23:42Z
Roisin Hotaling
http://roisinhotaling.blogspot.com/
As a RL resident of Portland, Oregon, I'd say there's not a thing wrong with SL plateauing at a similarly...
<p>As a RL resident of Portland, Oregon, I'd say there's not a thing wrong with SL plateauing at a similarly sized user base. And like Garrett, I'd rather not recruit RL friends and family--much of the point of being in SL, for me, is to be different from who I am in RL. Ultimately, those who "get it" will stay and will continue to bring their creativity into SL. That's just fine with me.</p>
Olando7 Decosta commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fbd9fe68834
2007-12-19T16:57:49Z
2007-12-19T16:57:49Z
Olando7 Decosta
The conceptual barrier argument seems to be very true. At least, it corresponds with the difficulties we (residents that is)...
<p>The conceptual barrier argument seems to be very true. At least, it corresponds with the difficulties we (residents that is) have explaining and convincing other people that Second Life and virtual worlds in general are fascinating. People, including some really creative guys, often just don't get it as if they were hard-wired to reject the notion of living a virtual life. <br />
But indeed, even if that would be the case, it remains worthwhile, virtual worlds and especially Second Life are great cosmopolitan communities were I meet very interesting and nice people, where I feel in touch with avantgarde thinkers and where I learn a lot about media and society. </p>
Garrett Larkham commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54faa9cc58833
2007-12-19T16:12:15Z
2007-12-19T16:12:16Z
Garrett Larkham
http://garrettlarkham.blogspot.com/
As much as my wife and I love SL, we still won't tell family and friends about it (her kids...
<p>As much as my wife and I love SL, we still won't tell family and friends about it (her kids know). I guess it's because of preconceived notions of "Virtual This and That" which hold us back from trying to recruit. I'm just waiting for someone close to me to rezz on their own and tell me how excited they are. Then we'll be on common ground. </p>
HatHead Rickenbacker commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fbd74ae8834
2007-12-19T14:14:22Z
2007-12-19T14:14:22Z
HatHead Rickenbacker
http://www.hatheadinc.com
When I visited the CSI build, many of the new people I talked to thought that CSI was all there...
<p>When I visited the CSI build, many of the new people I talked to thought that CSI was all there was to Second Life. I wouldn't hang around much if I thought that's all there was to SL.</p>
Lauren Weyland commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54faa677a8833
2007-12-19T12:58:23Z
2007-12-19T12:58:23Z
Lauren Weyland
http://laurenweyland.blogspot.com/
very interesting. I thought we had plateaued and couldn't understand why. My general thought was that SL needs a little...
<p>very interesting. I thought we had plateaued and couldn't understand why. My general thought was that SL needs a little note before signing on explaining that it will take a bit of time to get up and running but after that there are many who will help you in-world. Recently I started a new account to see how things worked lately. In some ways it's more frustrating then ever.</p>
ArminasX Saiman commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fbd2a568834
2007-12-19T06:27:49Z
2007-12-19T06:27:49Z
ArminasX Saiman
http://secondeffects.com
I am fascinated by the concept of a conceptual barrier. I believe this may actually be the case, since in...
<p>I am fascinated by the concept of a conceptual barrier. I believe this may actually be the case, since in RL I often try to explain SL to folks, but many simply cannot comprehend what I am talking about. Even when they see it they still don't get it. I've often felt these types were somehow physically/mentally incapable of envisioning themselves within a virtual environment. Clearly we (civilization and technology) are starting to push the envelope of human conceptual capability.</p>
Haney Armstrong commented on 'Half a Million Member Metaverse: Second Life Plateaus at 538K Active Users'
tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef00e54fa9fccb8833
2007-12-19T04:52:35Z
2008-01-25T02:33:54Z
Haney Armstrong
http://profile.typekey.com/haneyarmstrong/
thanks James - I'm still a believer that SL will continue to grow. Disclosure, yada yada. But that figure for...
<p>thanks James - I'm still a believer that SL will continue to grow. Disclosure, yada yada.</p>
<p>But that figure for Afghanistan brings back memories of a meeting where someone pointed out that Afghanistan is the first, top choice of a pull down menu and might not really be true indication of where it's at. </p>