http://secondlife.com/statistics/economy-data.php?d=2009-12-...
Although I don't use it any more, the vitriol and scorn that SecondLife engenders amazes me. I've no idea where it comes from. At heart it's basically a huge 3D chat room, albeit a fairly sophisticated one.
I think the vitriol directed at SL is somewhat justified - its creators have cast it as some kind of world-changing social experiment, but in reality it's a glorified 3D chat room. We in the tech community generally dislike this sort of unsubstantiated hype.
What a testament to the exponential growth of things like Facebook and Twitter that an app that has garnered millions upon millions of users in just a few years can be described as "extremely niche" with a straight face.
And though I used to agree with you, I think SL will be remembered as a somewhat paradigm-shifting social experiment, in that it first introduced many people to the idea of virtual worlds, especially in terms of virtual economies where people make real money.
There's a lot of possibility in SL, it's a shame that interacting with it is so clunky and awkward.
OTOH there's WOW, which is better looking and easier to get started in. They're heading for 12-million users, which at $15/month makes SL look like Woolworth's.
But the ability to design objects, do shows et al means that for Maker-types the equal of SL exists nowhere else (that I know of).