Before I exited Linden Lab's office, Philip Linden passed on some pretty interesting info-- and like with any server data about the world, it's a peek inside the mind of God. Recently, their database expert crunched the numbers to analyze SL activity not just by country and state, but by local region.
Which cities have the most Second Life Residents? The results, as they say, may surprise you. The Top 20 after the break...
1 - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
2.12 Residents per 1000 Fort Lauderdalians, according to the database as compared to the last census! Lots of Lindens had lots of theories about these amazing numbers-- for example, an excess of college students and retired senior citizens, the city's large and active GBLT community, or a combination of all three.
2 - Newark, New Jersey
Despite myself, I picture Carmella Soprano sitting at AJ's computer, playing Tringo and blinging out her big-haired avatar. Tony comes barreling into the room: "WHAT THE HELL CARM YOU BEEN ON THAT GODDAMN THING FOR THE LAST 8 HOURS!" Carm, voice quivering but not backing down: "Because it gives me something you never could, Tony. MY FREEDOM!"
3 - Santa Rosa, California
4 - Akron, Ohio
5 - Austin-San Marcos, Texas
.98 Residents per thousand Austinites-- not surprising, given Austin's unique confluence of creativity and high-tech savvy. And I hope to see all of them, when a bunch of Linden Lab staffers and myself speak at next week's South by Southwest.
6 - Salem, Oregon
7 - Portland/Vancouver, Oregon-Washington
8 - Ann Arbor, Michigan
9 - Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky
10 - Daytona Beach, Flordia
11 - Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington
My guess is this cohort includes Redmond-- and the Microsoft campus.
12 - Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, California
13 - Boise City, Idaho
14 - Bakersfield, California
15 - Nashville, Tennessee
16 - Washington DC area
Who uses Second Life more: Democrats, or Republicans? Folks who work in the Pentagon and the State Department, or folks affiliated with lobbyists and foreign embassies? Debate among yourselves.
17 - Spokane, Washington
18 - San Francisco Bay Area, California
Astoundingly weak showing for all the Internet companies in the region, not to mention Linden Lab itself. Whattup widdat, all my SF peeps? You're being showed up by Akron, Ohio, for godssake!
19 - Rochester, New York
20 - Oklahoma, Oklahoma
Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk
and watch a prim hawk
Makin' scripted circles in the sky?
I think it was Jeska Linden who suggested that most of these areas are considered "college towns", which would explain much, but not all. Any other theories behind this geographic spread?
Who uses Second Life more: Democrats, or Republicans?
I must ask this - who cares? Why must everything be cast in terms of red and blue?
Posted by: Elde Eponym | Saturday, March 04, 2006 at 12:05 AM
Actually, Oklahoma City is not a college town. Norman is sufficiently far away to negate that explanation. However, there are two likely reasons for it showing on the radar.
1) Tinker AFB is in the SE corner of the greater metropolitan area (about 20 minutes north of Norman). While the U.S. military closes bases, Tinker expands (there's even a Navy base to act as a refueling point iirc). There are also quite a number of temporary duty servicemen and women assigned there. SL would be a good way to stay in touch with family. Plus, the area doesn't have much to do in the way of activities. I used to know one game modder who was stationed at Tinker; he's now with Ritual I think.
2) Surprisingly, OKC has become increasingly populated with East Asians - Vietnamese and Indians in particular (it had Japanese and Chinese from way back; servicemen marrying women overseas and being transferred). Growing up there, most of my friends were Asian. My family sponsored a Vietnamese family in the early 70's. Back then they were an extreme minority. Not so anymore. And while visiting a few years ago, I learned that a whole section of the city had become a "Little Vietnam". Similarly, I'd been told that Indian companies were buying office buildings in downtown.
For these reasons, OKC is probably less like what people tend to imagine and increasingly similar to cities like Austin. It's extraordinarily low cost of living and stable, military-reinforced economy makes it an attractive destination for a variety of people. It's a long way from being the refuge of rednecks!
Posted by: csven | Sunday, March 05, 2006 at 10:08 AM
As for Akron, having lived there in the latter half of the 90's, I'm not too surprised tbh. Not only is Kent State located there, but the University of Akron is pretty nice. Additionally, there is a decent alternative/goth/industrial scene in the area... I always considered it spillover from Cleveland's Lakewood area.
Also, some time back, I found that the area was well-represented on blogs like LiveJournal; mostly members of the goth community. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that people who jumped on blogging when it first became available are now in Second Life.
Maybe my comments on both OKC and Akron will spark someone to provide some additional info on both those cities and others and we can come up with a common thread. There are a couple of cities I would have expected but don't see (e.g. Toronto).
Posted by: csven | Sunday, March 05, 2006 at 10:25 AM
ROFLMAO Hamlet, Carmella Soprano...
Posted by: Tequila Jimador | Tuesday, March 07, 2006 at 03:56 PM
I'm surprised to see Rochester on there (I might even by counted among that number, having lived in that area of NY when I joined, but I've since moved to Arizona). Sure, there's colleges and a tech school (RIT) but it's not an area with a population I'd call "tech savy".
On the other hand, unless you live in the city proper, most of the area is small rural towns and farmland (the one I moved away from is far from the smallest but still rather boring), SL just might be the best entertainment in town.
Posted by: Elle Pollack | Tuesday, March 07, 2006 at 11:06 PM
Better late than never comment, eh?
I guess I'm there as part of the #19 - I originally joined while still living at home in Texas, but have since moved up to Rochester, NY where I attend at one of the colleges Elle mentioned (RIT). Surpringly, there's very few RIT students/faculty who use SecondLife that I've been able to find so far, so I don't think that that's the explanation.
Posted by: Matthias Zander | Tuesday, March 14, 2006 at 04:46 PM
A reporter contacted me in my home town of Paradise, CA and was looking to interview local Second Lifers. Is there anyway he could contact them, or they could contact him?
Posted by: Alex Bommerang | Wednesday, March 15, 2006 at 02:57 PM
hmm I've not ventured into SecondLife yet ... only just found out about it ... sounds like a sure addiction of complications for me ... i have a few other complications to figure out first ...
But as to OKC I'd like to add this: I spent three weeks there with my father-in-law who should have died minimum of six times in that city ... three times in just that one visit. The medical community there can be very cutting edge when they need to be.
Two years ago I saw a large, poor &/or aging community sitting right next to a growing, high-tech community. Still, in general -- Unless I talked to the ICU nursing staff or the doctors, I was not going to have a chance to speak computer-ese.
So part of me is surprised ... and part of me is not at all surprised.
As to Oregon and Washington ... you might think art and tech ... i think gray wet days 60% of the time ... and this last winter was a record breaker.
This year I've created two rules for my perfect life: Never spend August in or near Dallas, Texas. Never spend January and February in or near Portland, OR.
Can someone explain why Bakersfield is on the list though?
Posted by: pamElise | Monday, May 15, 2006 at 10:24 AM